- Obama criticized the rising cost of tuition in his SOTU – but his policies are making it worse.

- Risk and Reward: exploring the teenage mind.

- City of Ithaca goes “100% renewable” by buying carbon indulgences.

- Cornell astronomers study Earth’s other moons.

- Africana professor Robert Harris Jr. on black education.

- Comparing Ivy League meal plans – Cornell’s are most expensive.

- Cornell alum wins $200,000 on nine-day Jeopardy! streak.

- The ten biggest college high-tech stories of 2011.

- A portrait of the fracking boomtown of Williamsport, PA.

A corporation has the legal right to sue and be sued. Corporations also pay taxes as a single entity.

“Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people,” stated Presidential-hopeful Mitt Romney when attacked for his position while campaigning at the Iowa State Fair. A YouTube video of Ron Paul refuting Mitt’s claim has gone viral.

Ms. Dotson’s resolution, described on the 18^th page of the agenda for the upcoming Ithaca Common Council meeting, also attacks Mitt and the 125 year old precedent. Her logic, however, is skewed as a result of her manipulation of words. In her reasoning for calling for the resolution, Dotson attacks a corporation’s right to sue, stating:

“WHEREAS, the illegitimate judicial bestowal of civil and political rights upon corporations usurps basic human and Constitutional rights guaranteed to human persons, and also empowers corporations to sue municipal and state governments for adopting laws that violate ‘corporate rights’ even when those laws serve to protect and defend the rights of human persons and communities”

This proclaimed “illegitimate judicial bestowal” is in reality a series of Supreme Court decisions that contradict with Dotson’s views. The Resolution lacks a clear understanding of the difference between a “human being” and a “legal person.” By choosing to manipulate words and attacking petty definitions, Ms. Dotson overlooks true opportunities for reform. She chooses to drive home the fact that corporations are not “human beings” while ignoring the legal rights that a collection of people have. Instead, Ms. Dotson – who is also the Executive Director of the Ithaca Carshare initiative - pokes problems with the fact that corporations have so much money and power in the media.

No one would deny that corporations do not have human fresh, but this resolution expresses a clear misunderstanding of the fact that corporations are a legal collection of people with the basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the court room, this fact gives corporations the legal right to sue. In the political arena, this fact gives corporations the legal right to contribute to campaigns. A constitutional amendment denouncing corporations as legal persons is a denouncement of these longstanding precedents in our society.

Pannell is the first Cornell lacrosse player ever to be taken with the first overall pick.

Rob was one of four Big Red players taken in the draft, including Roy Land (11), Chris Langton (42), J.J. Gilbane (48). Only the University of Virginia (5) and University of North Carolina (5) were more represented.

Only senior athletes in their final year of collegiate eligibility qualified for the draft.

A former standout at Smithtown High School West on Long Island, Pannell’s former school is a mere 40 minute drive from the Lizard’s home stadium – James M. Shuart Stadium at Hofstra University. This will be convenient, considering the average NLL player made $16,000 in 2009, and many are known to have second jobs, especially Ivy League graduates.

This is surely a big honor for the recent graduate to be named alongside some of hockey’s greats. Greening has 23 points for the Senators this season, including nine goals. Greening, a 2005 7th-round draft pick, played the majority of last season for the AHL Binghamton Senators before being picked up by their NHL affiliate in Ottawa midway through the year. The native Canadian has played in all 44 of the team’s games this season.  

While in Ithaca, Greening helped lead the Big Red to the 2010 ECAC championship and finished as the 36^th all-time leading scorer. He is the only hockey player in Cornell history to receive the Lowe’s Senior CLASS (Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School) Award.

For most of Cornell’s peer universities higher selectivity is crucial during admissions process, which involves the universities keeping their acceptance rates as low as possible. Most universities do this by accepting a greater proportion of its class through Early Decision or creating a massive waitlist at the end of the admissions round. This makes the admissions process extremely competitive and difficult for prospective students, attracting the crème de la crème of students to apply and consequently resulting in long term improvements in their rankings. However, unlike its peers, Cornell has refrained from joining this bandwagon and consequently its acceptance rates have been historically higher than those of its peer-universities.

Why is this the case? Part of the answer lies in the fact that Cornell has a very large undergraduate population. The other half lies in Cornell’s mandate of continuous excellence and thereby building a better class than gaming rankings by keeping low acceptance rates. In doing this, Cornell does not accept more students through the ED round in order to keep RD acceptance rates on the lower end; in other words, Cornell does not risk the acceptance of a good student by filling up seats during the ED round. As a result it creates a better class by choosing the best from each round of its admissions process and thereby granting acceptance to students who are ‘fit’ to successfully complete their undergraduation at Cornell.

Cornell has seven distinct undergraduate schools, each providing top-notch education in its field. By not tangling itself in the selectivity game, Cornell fills each of its seven schools with a high-quality student body each year.

Cornell Review columnist Raj Kannappan’s recent article for The College Conservative: Obama the Narcissist.

Ron Paul is dominating the youth vote. Youth for Ron Paul has grown to over 14,000 student participants.

The secret is out: Philanthropist Charles Feeney’s dedication to giving is making national news.

With the NYC Tech campus announcement, one Hawkeye remarks on how greatly the University of Iowa misses ex-President Skorton.

Cornell scientists are discovering ways to hide a moment in time, 15 picoseconds to be exact.

Don’t quit! Cornell researchers are creating healthier cigarettes.

Men’s basketball kicks off Ivy League play this week. Wroblewski scores 1,000 point.

Halfway through season, Big Red Hockey ranked #13 in national poll, second among ECAC schools.

Lightning strikes twice: Nearly a year after SAE’s exit, TKE is kicked off campus. Appeal process is underway.

On the first day of classes this fall semester, President David Skorton grabbed national attention by publishing an Op-ed in the New York Times asserting that “National fraternities and sororities should end pledging across all campuses.” After a semester of students trying to figure out exactly what that meant, the first day of winter recess has brought a new, attention-grabbing headline to Ithaca, courtesy of President Skorton and his friends in NYC.

According to multiple sources, including the Wall Street Journal which broke the story early this morning, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will announce this afternoon that Cornell University has won the much coveted contest to build an applied-science campus on Roosevelt Island.

Following months of effort by the administration, Board of Trustees, public relations department, and others in the University to build support for the initiative, it appears that the efforts have paid off.

It was believed that the apparent frontrunners in the contest were Cornell and Stanford, which both submitted revolutionary proposals before the October 28 deadline. Columbia, New York University, and Carnegie Mellon were also considered to be in the running, but their proposals received far less media attention. (Cornell’s winning proposal)

With Stanford’s sudden, unexpected announcement that it would be dropping out of the contest last Friday, many suspected that the path had been cleared for a Cornell victory. Then, an hour after Stanford’s departure, Cornell announced a $350 million donation from an anonymous donor to be put toward the new campus. The mysterious gift is the largest in school history.

Support for the “Tech Campus” as it has been commonly called, was high among the student body in Ithaca this semester. The Student Assembly unanimously passed a resolution in mid-October announcing student support. They also formed an “NYC Tech Ad-Hoc Committee” in early September.

At the same time, little information was shared with the student body as to how the campus will actually enhance the college experience of the current undergrads. The good publicity that will come to the University following the announcement, however, is undoubtedly beneficial for all. The $2.1 billion campus is expected to take up to 30 years to be built in its entirety. Cornell has promised to have initial classes running by next September.

A press conference with Mayor Bloomberg and President Skorton will be held at 2:30PM today.

The ploy fell through, however, when none of their competitors followed this pattern (with the exception of the University of Virginia). Five years later, these institutions have realized their mistake and have resurrected their early admission programs, causing quite a shakeup in the entire Ivy League admissions process.

As the chart suggests, the added competition resulted in a decrease in applications for the majority of Ivy League schools (and other competitors). Yale saw the most dramatic decrease, receiving nearly 1,000 fewer applicants then last year. Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, M.I.T. and Stanford also saw decreases.

“Though it is impossible to identify all of the factors that influence early admissions numbers, it is clear that the policies this year are allowing students to sort themselves out more among schools,” remarked Yale Dean of Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel to the Yale Daily News. Brenzel highlighted the fact that early applications are up 20% from 2011, the last time that Harvard and Princeton offered early admission programs.

University of Pennsylvania has also seen an increase since 2006. This year’s drop, however, marked the school’s first decline since 2008-2009, with 26% growth in early applications between 2009 and 2011, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Cornell, Brown, and Dartmouth saw modest increases, perhaps an indication that these schools do not directly compete with the other Ivy League institutions.

Cornell received the fourth highest number of early application, behind only Harvard, U. Penn, and Yale.

I was confronted by “critical” skeptics after touting this theory and, in light of this, feel obligated to defend the theory here by providing historical context. Pointing to slavery, discrimination, and poverty, skeptics are far too eager to label the United States another “imperialist superpower” with “flowery rhetoric.”

1.)    America’s political and legal system has been a model for exceptional governance for decades. From its inception, and not without some difficulty, the American political system was the first to strive to embody the ideals of representative democracy in the form of a democratic republic. The first nation founded upon a core set of philosophical ideals, America was a pioneer in that it actually put representative democracy and social contract into practice and remained stable and prosperous!  At the culmination of the Enlightenment, classical liberalism inspired, fueled, and guided its revolution, as the American mission was born. Being the first nation which explicitly set out to protect the natural rights – individual rights and civil liberates – of its citizens, the US, with its Bill of Rights, was the first country to establish itself as a bastion of liberty. Particularly, the ideals of liberty, limited government, separation of church and state, civilian control of the military, due process (and eventually equal protection), consent of the governed, justice and equality, free press, free speech, free and fair elections, and free exercise of religion, freedom of petition and assembly and right to privacy were elevated as realizable goals. America’s Constitution, first of its kind, enshrined the enlightenment ideals of Separation of Powers, Federalism, and Checks and Balances, which were embodied in its government’s structure and system. Adaptable and adjustable, the US Constitution, a model unto itself, has been the most well-sustained among nations. As a “Shining City on a Hill”, Jefferson’s “Empire of Liberty” is unparalleled.

2.)     Economy – This political environment has provided fertile ground for economic prosperity unseen in world history. It’s unleashed the overwhelming powers of the free market and individual productivity. American capitalism has accounted for much of the American advantage. The frontier culture cultivated a spirit of vitality and rugged individualism which shaped the American entrepreneurial character. This energized American Capitalism and fueled its evolution from colonial mercantilism, to advanced agrarian economy, to thriving, robust Industrial and manufacturing market place, to post-industrial service-oriented commercial economy, to high-tech, digitally based information economy. American business opportunities have attracted corporate capital and investment from oversees and throughout history. Wall Street and corporate finance have supplied capital for investment. Small business and consumerism have been the engines of growth. Sustained Innovation, invention and ingenuity have been ensured by the constitutionally guaranteed rights to private property and private contract. Unprecedented private sector growth and massive economic expansion have been the cornerstones of American Prosperity and the primary signatures of Exceptionalism.

3.)    Upward Social Mobility – This system of American Capitalism has facilitated the highest standards of living, the highest incomes and earnings, the highest quality of life for families, the broadest range and breadth of economic opportunity ever imaginable. Sharply departing from the Aristocratic socio-economic model of old Europe, upward mobility – the prospect of moving up the economic latter from the working poor to the working class to the middle class to the upper income bracket – has been the central feature of the promise which the American Dream ensures and which the American identity embodies.   

4.)    Massive immigration influx is only another example of exceptionalism. Immigration-induced surplus labor has fueled economic expansion. Abundance of opportunity, rapid economic growth and the promise of a better future have secured America’s place in the immigrant’s dream. No other society in history can be said to inspire such animation and willingness to migrate in so many tens of millions. The power to govern the course of one’s own destiny, to oversee one’s own personal agency, and to make the best of one’s own personal potential is most pronounced and achievable in this land of immigrants. The millions of migrants who risk their lives rushing across the southern boarder every day are a testament to this.

5.)    Race/Ethnicity/Religious diversity and Assimilation – Despite what, admittedly, has often been an unforgiving record in this realm, it is an undeniable fact that American society has become a melting pot – or even tossed salad or mosaic – of ethnic and racial coexistence and cultural diversity, the likes of which are quite unique and which animate America’s market place of ideas. Not unified by any common ancestral stock, we’re untied by an idea – a belief in the power of individual agency, individual dignity, representative government and a love for life, liberty and happiness. America assimilates its newcomers and minorities within one to two generations, while European countries seem to be struggling with riotous and stratified minorities who are isolated within their new countries. Tellingly, my most liberal of companions gave pause when I asked them the following question, which seemed to persuasively make the case for exceptionalism: “what other nation on earth, with such a tumultuously painful racial history (similar to that of the US), would elect a racial minority as its President?” Only in America would such an astonishing event be possible.

The Bengali Cultural Association, a pan-Bengali club on campus presented the Bengali Cultural Night on Sunday, November 20 in the Willard Straight Memorial Room. They had some good food but the Bengali faction was much smaller compared to all others. It was exciting to see people, including students and professors, standing in the serpentine line for the food counter. There was some debate among us as the same snack was called by different names in different parts of India. At least we reconciled before we had a babel. Most of the performances (classical and folk dances and Bengali music) were well received except for the play which had people chattering in inaudible, incomprehensible and often un-Bengali sentences. The climax came when someone from the stage asked the audience, “What is the national animal of Bengal?” Good question, but politically incorrect as there is no nation called Bengal. Bengal was partitioned between East Bengal (Bangladesh) and West Bengal (part of India) in 1947! Some front-seater answered “Tiger” and was garlanded. This drama continued incoherently during anti-climactic intervals between shows.