During a lengthy three hour meeting yesterday, the new CRs executive board was elected.  The new slate:

Chairman:  Konstantin Drabkin ’11

First Vice Chair:  Bill Lane ’10

Second Vice Chair:  Ryan Stack ’12

Treasurer:  Jonathan Roberts ’12

Secretary:  Marc Leh ’12

The elections took place in descending order, and by 8:30, when Secretary was being elected, everyone was pretty tired.  So it was quite ironic that it took four votes to finally choose a winner for the position.  There were more than a few groans; Grace MacRae tied Marc Leh in the first three.

Congratulations to all the winners (especially the Review’s very own Bill Lane), and good luck in the upcoming year.

Cornell’s chapter of the College Republicans’ elections are coming up tomorrow, so as the other active conservative voice on campus, the Review has a few things to say. Coming off of a recent Democratic sweep in Washington, we at the Review believe it is a vital time for the College Republicans and the Review to work more closely together to ensure that the current administration does not go unwatched and that the conservative voice ring louder than before throughout the campus. The next four years is our opportunity to be on the offensive: to call out the faults of the democratic party and the liberal leanings on campus; to emphatically take our place as the current minority opinion, and iterate the ideas we hold which would serve as a better alternative.

After November’s failings, it is important that conservatives at Cornell are reflective on their own stance and emphasize those beliefs most relevant to the current state of the Union, but still become energetic in the publicity of their beliefs. It is time to take the initiative and garner new respect and support for conservative ideals, and this can only be done with the successful cooperation between all facets of Republicans and conservatives on campus.

Ben Neighbor, a rising senior in the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, has stood out as the CR Presidential candidate strongly holding these same beliefs. We at the Review feel it is important for the holder of such a position to have significant experience and time spent on campus, and Neighbor was the only candidate to reach out to the Review and discuss ways in which the two organizations can work together. With the university facing great financial difficulty and the University’s subsequent controversial budgetary decisions, it is important that conservatives can work in tandem to call attention to these issues. During a period in which conservative backs are against the wall, drive and ambition are indispensable attributes of a Republican leader. It is now the time for the College Republicans to become more active and develop a public presence on campus. Aside from the Pataki event, the Republicans have done little activism to make their views known. Neighbor is the ambitious candidate who can make this happen. He has many ideas that are conducive to this goal, such as having more social events, holding charity events as well as political demonstrations, and reaching out to the Tompkins County GOP.

On the same note of rising ambition, the Review looks to Ryan Stack and Marc Leh as strong candidates for Second Vice Chairman and Secretary, respectively. As sophomores next year who have been actively involved on campus, they also look forward to the cooperation between the CR’s and the Cornell Review over the next four years.

This week Cornell University was graced by two esteemed experts on Middle Eastern foreign policy, who gave talks regarding different elements of that field. Following General Anthony Zinni’s talk on the prospects for peace in the bitter and bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Prince Turki al-Faisil, member of the al-Faisil royal family of Saudi Arabia and former ambassador to the United States, gave a talk on what recommendations he would make to the Obama administration regarding Middle Eastern policy in this particularly sensitive time in the region.

Unlike Zinni’s talk, which basically focused on his ideas for the direction of foreign policy in America and gauging their chances at success, the prince’s talk was part history lesson, and part “indirect advising session” for President Obama. Al-Faisil explained how understanding the history of the United States and Arabia’s relationship is vital to any foreign policy dialogue between the two nations today, and curiously proposed that the US take a more active role in the peace process. This stands in direct contrast to Zinni’s hands-off approach, recommending that the United States merely intervene when it has to.

The prince concluded with his input on such diverse Middle-Eastern issues as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the aforementioned peace process between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. All in all, the talk was an intriguing and understandable look into the potential future of Middle Eastern foreign policy, told very knowledgeably by Prince al-Faisil.

Full Analysis of the Prince’s speech will be available in the next issue of the Cornell Review. So be there, or be square. Photos by Oliver Renick:

A little bit more than a month ago students and professors had the pleasure of hearing Robert Malley speak at Cornell. General Anthony Zinni, a retired four star general and former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command, spoke today in Goldwin Smith about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Zinni began by saying that he feels that the peace process is unfortunately taking a backseat because of the U.S.’s concentration on conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that more things are currently working against the peace process now than he has ever seen before.

Arms open: General Zinni speaking in Goldwin Smith Hall. Photo by Dennis Shiraev

Unlike Malley, who spoke in more general terms about the need for mutual understanding and empathy in any final agreement, Zinni directly cited things that he believed have not and will not work in the negotiations. This list included, but was not limited to: 1) special U.S. envoys to the region, which are temporary and never have enough presence in the negotiations; 2) summits, because all issues cannot be put on the table and negotiated at one meeting, and 3) agreements “in principle,” because these lead to high expectations and nothing else. More generally, he said that we, the U.S., are mistaken if we think that this conflict can be resolved quickly and expediently. We need to start approaching this process as a long term peace negotiation process.

Check out the next issue of The Cornell Review for a full and detailed analysis of Zinni’s lecture.

Around 9:15 tonight I hopped out of the shower, slapped on some worn slippers and a ragged t-shirt, and cruised down the hall of my dorm to visit – who else – Bill Nye, ‘the Science Guy’ (‘77)! Apparently Nye had been with the Dickson Faculty-In-Residence Nadine and Michel Louge, and, giving short notice, decided to have a brief encounter with the residents.

In a light-hearted event, Bill came bearing brownies, and gave a brief intro speech recounting his time at Cornell before answering some questions from the crowd. Nye posted up casually against a windowsill, hovering over a crowd of almost 100 Cornellians. Here are a few of the things he said for those who didn’t have the opportunity to attend – or did have the opportunity but innately deleted the list-serve email.

'The Science Guy' fielded questions about greatness, bowties, engineering, and Cornell in a laid-back appearance at Dickson Hall. Photo by Oliver Renick

The first question addressed to BNTSG was simple yet loaded: “Why are you so great?” Among laughter, Nye asserted that he is awesome thanks to the great school he went to, Cornell, and the opportunities and knowledge it provided for him. He used the question as an opportunity to tell the audience about his career and where he started. He spoke about his first job, doing engineering work for Boeing, and then transitioned into discussing his TV career. According to Nye it all began when he entered a Steve-Martin look alike competition, and then won a stand-up comedy competition shortly thereafter. He often pitched the show ‘the Science Guy,’ and was rejected several times before the idea became a reality.

When asked to talk about his favorite episode from BNTSG, he refrained from choosing a single episode, using an analogy to Broadway dancing; if you’re dancing with a bunch of different great people, you won’t want to say, if you’re even able to choose, which of them was the best partner. Instead, he said that there were things from each episode that he loved and thought were especially appealing.

While speaking, BNTSG was extremely laid back and very funny. He answered questions about his bowtie, the best trajectory for a pong ball (45 degrees, then work from there, according to BNTSG), but his biggest hit among the audience was when he answered a question about his favorite Cornell memory, in a joking manner (see video below):

On a more serious note, Nye also stressed the importance of taking advantage of the education that Cornell students can receive, and the opportunities that await them if they can complete the tough curriculum at the University. Among other things, Nye mentioned that he will make an appearance at Astronomy 102 tomorrow before heading off to the west coast. When asked if he would be around for the weekend to make an appearance at TEP’s pledge party, he declined, saying he would be busy in LA.

Check out more of Bill Nye in his Discovery: Planet Green show, Stuff Happens.

We Cornellians all know about the fraternity party scene here on campus, and the weekend events the frats sponsor usually don’t have a spot in the news. However, Friday night attracted a significant amount of heat and excitement.

Apparently the Lambda Chi Alpha house is prone to attacks from fire, as this was the second weekend that the fraternity forced drunken party-goers into the streets due to smoke and fire alarms. Last weekend the

The roof is on fire! Good thing Lambda had plenty of foam to put out the flames!

house was under siege when some begrudged kids rejected from the party allegedly set the house’s shed on fire. Firemen and police stormed the grounds as a crazed, scared, inebriated, mostly under-classmen diaspora took place in the surrounding area. Once again, the partygoers had to be evacuated from the fraternity house. Whether the alarm was triggered by the fog machine, foam machine, or just somebody raging against the machine, is unknown at this point. Either way, it went off, and instead of bathing in a cesspool of foam, Keystone, and foot fungus, everyone was forced to leave the foam-party and wait outside in their soaked clothes and flip-flops in the chilly air, fighting hypothermia, waiting to receive their jackets which remained inside. We kid, but it was a tad bit chilly outside.

Might I recommend to Bear Grylls a new location for Man vs. Wild? A Cornell fiesta in the winter? They’d pick him up for public nudity in a heart beat.

With so many intoxicated, hungry Cornellians making the last-ditch attempt to make it to an eatery somewhere across campus, encounters with the Cornell Police, and therefore JA documentations, ran high. In an unrelated incident, Cornell Police officers at Theta Delta Chi fraternity (aka Thumpty, Thumdee, Humpty, Dumpty, any other variation you have to contribute) told Cornell Review reporters that there was chaos there, as well. According to one of the policeman on the scene, one of the wretched ‘townies’ managed to sneak into the party and cause a ruckus. The Ithacan then proceeded to get into a fight with one of the brothers at the house (then presumably lost), until the police showed up.

The problem? The officer was kind enough to tell Insider reporters that it was relatively simple: brothers at fraternities were not responsible in checking IDs to make sure all the booze-cravers were from Cornell.

Drunkies walking back past Humpdy-Dumpty's, where a fight broke out

The officer said that incidents including Ithaca kids get especially nasty, because these drunkards do not receive the same treatment as Cornell kids; basically, instead of JA or PRB documentation, they get…arrested. Sucks for you, townies! Now stop crashing our parties.

On a more serious note, I would like to comment that the brothers and sober monitors from at the Lambda Chi Alpha House did a good job in evacuating the very large crowd. They’re 2/2 on successful frat evacuations this year.

Photos by Oliver Renick

Addressing an audience in a mostly-filled Bailey Hall this afternoon, Governor Pataki spoke words of optimism about the future of the United States economy and preached a pragmatic approach to solving our current economic problems. Before praising the resilience of American character and the great character of American government, Pataki joked that he was glad to be back in Tompkins county, even though this was the one county that repeatedly voted against him during all of his gubernatorial races. He also recalled a humorous incident in which a man told him that he regretted Pataki’s decision to pay for a prostitute.

Pataki speaking in Bailey Hall. Photo by Dennis Shiraev

The Governor stressed that recovery would come soon, and that there will be many new opportunities in the American manufacturing industry as well as the “green energy” industry. To get out of this crisis, we need to have a pragmatic approach that proposes real solutions to real problems instead of simply confining policies to anachronistic ideological frameworks.

One of the most salient themes of his talk was the idea of using government power to provide incentives for efficient market outcomes. Pataki said that what was need is not big government, not passive government, but effective government.

Most of the time I would consider this last point to be empty rhetoric, but Pataki gave great examples of what he meant by ‘effective’ government: 1) New legislation to allow for inter-state voltage transits (easier to get “green” energy from its production site to major cities). 2) Incentivize the production of hybrid vehicles. 3) Government funding of research and innovation that is matched by private funds.

Overall, I believe his amalgam approach to markets/government intervention is one that has the potential of finding a lot of support in the future.