Please stay tuned for updates.

Update:

Miss Depew died suddenly after an acute illness on Saturday morning at a hospital in Albany, NY.

President Skorton has released a statement of condolence:

Dear Cornellians,

It is with deep sadness that I share with you the news of the death of Krista Marie DePew, 19, due to an acute illness Saturday morning, May 26, at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y. On behalf of the entire Cornell community, I want to extend my deepest condolences to Krista’s family and her many friends. Krista was a rising sophomore in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and a new member of the Alphi Phi sorority chapter at Cornell. Please join me in taking a moment to acknowledge and remember a cherished member of our community.

Plans for an appropriate commemoration will be made in the days to come in consultation with Krista’s family.

Best regards,

David Skorton
President

The Dartmouth beat the Cornell Daily Stun to this story, reporting that 49% of Cornell graduates have accepted job offers – compared to 47% this time last year. The newspaper also commented that more students received multiple job offers than in the past.

At Dartmouth, a similar survey found that 36% of respondents have job offers, up from 20% in 2011.

While this survey only provides a snapshot of the class, it has proven to be extremely accurate.

Official statistics from last year show that 53.5% of the Class of 2011 had secured a job six months after leaving Cornell, suggesting that the distribution of respondents to last spring’s survey was an accurate depiction of the class. Few students apparently find success in landing jobs in the immediate weeks after accepting their diplomas.

The fact that this number is increasing comes as a welcoming sign for the graduating class, but the growth is slow, and those without a job now may find continued difficulty in their searches over the next six months.

The team that will lead Cornell’s development in New York City continues to grow, adding a familiar personality with ties to a technological powerhouse.

The University announced on Wednesday that Greg Pass, ’97, former Chief Technology Officer for Twitter, will serve as CornellNYC Tech’s founding entrepreneurial officer. The position will primarily be responsible for assuring constant communication between the school and local industries, while also promoting entrepreneurial skills in the classroom.

Pass graduated from Cornell in 1997 with a degree in Computer Science. He stepped down as CTO of VP of Engineering at Twitter almost exactly a year ago on May 20, 2011.

“The idea is for the new program, is that we really ought to have someone specifically focused [on] making sure that the academic program and industry partnerships will successfully result in entrepreneurial value for students and faculty and the New York tech community,” Pass said in an interview with Business Insider. “We want to bring students that are specifically interested in making a difference and having an impact on technological innovation and are entrepreneurial.”

With the move, Cornell has proven determined to demonstrate that they have the networks and influence necessary to make the CornellNYC Tech campus a reality and to turn New York into a technological powerhouse that can rival Silicon Valley.

In the last week, New York has been outshining its West Coust prototype. Two days after tech icon Google (who had previously backed Stanford in Mayor Bloomberg’s contest) announced that they will rent space to Cornell for the school’s first five years of operation, Pass has followed suit and cut his ties with his Silicon Valley comrades in favor of a move back East.

“I see this as a unique opportunity to give back to my profession and figure out how to better cultivate the types of students interested in making an impact,” Pass continued. “How can we actually educate those types of students better and give them a better education to increase the size and quality of the talent pool?”

Answering this question now falls on the shoulders of Pass and his growing team of technological gurus.

111 8th Avenue, New York – the temporary home of Cornell NYCTech

Cornell University’s new Applied Science campus in New York City will be temporarily housed in property owned by Google, according to a New York Times story this morning.The move will help the University live up to its promise of holding classes in the city this fall. President Skorton said in an interview with the newspaper that students and teachers would travel down from Ithaca for seminars and workshops this fall. Classes will begin in the Google building, located at 111 8th Avenue, in the fall of 2013.

Google bought the property in 2010 for $1.9 billion. Cornell will have access to the top floor, which Google executives have valued at $12 million.

The deal with Google says that we must be out of the building in five and a half years.  This ties in exactly with the fact that Cornell has promised to begin holding classes on Roosevelt Island in 2017. It leaves little room for error, however, throughout the construction process.

Perhaps the most significant implication of this partnership is that it indicates that large technological corporations are behind Cornell (and its Israeli partner Technon) in its quest to establish a stronghold in the New York City High-Tech labor market. Previously, Google had publically announced its support of Stanford University in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s contest for $100 million and the plot of land on Roosevelt Island.

This is not the first time that Cornell and Google have gotten together on a technological endeavor. In January 2011, the Insider reported that Google had given Cornell faculty members $800,000 to research the usefulness of social media networks like Facebook.

The new calendar would include shortening study week to five days, shortening exam week to eight days, and cutting Senior Week from four days to two days. In exchange, students will be given off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and will include a two-day break in February.

If  approved of by President David Skorton, these changes will become officially adopted by the University. This will mark the first change to the academic calendar since 1984.

These changes are largely unsupported by students, who point out that exams are an incredibly stressful time period, and study time should not be sacrificed for short breaks during the school year.

Students received the following email Wednesday night around 7:19pm from their class councils:

DEAR PRESIDENT SKORTON,

WE DO NOT APPROVE OF THE NEW CHANGES TO THE ACADEMIC CALENDAR MADE WITHOUT STUDENT INPUT!!

THIS DIRECTLY AND NEGATIVELY AFFECTS OUR MENTAL HEALTH

PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO US!

Tell all of your friends! Let’s show the administration we’re tired of them ignoring what we have to say and that we WON’T STAND FOR THIS!

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2012/05/09/despite-student-outcry-new-calendar-approved-narrow-majority

At around 9:20pm, they received another email from class council, stating that the previous email was a result of a list serve hack. The email included the following:

Dear Cornellian,

 We would like to personally apologize for the message you recently received titled, “We Don’t Approve of the New Changes to the Academic Calendar.” Your Class Council does its best to email you only when necessary to inform you of class specific opportunities, but an unknown individual hacked into the list serve of all four undergraduate classes and sent out the message. Such an action is unacceptable, criminal and not condoned or approved by Class Councils or the Dean of Students Office. Even more disappointing is the effect this action had and will have on student efforts to protest the Faculty Senate’s decision. While these changes will not effect all current classes, they will directly effect future generations of Cornellians.

A look at school and social issues:

• Editorial: A Plethora of Policies—fidgeting for diversity
• Ideological Fetishism: intellectual conformity in A&S
• Ethnic studies: unscholarly selectivism
• Concocted Compassion and Crocodile Tears: how our superficial moral standard resembles China
• War on women? No kidding
• and of course… Colonel Cornell and the Equity-Enforcing Entanglement

Also:

• Wolfowitz: an underappreciated public servant
• Science and ethics: not so different

A report released by the Electronic Frontier Foundation shows that several years ago Cornell had been authorized by the Federal government to own and operate drones. Through a Freedom of Information request, the Foundation was able to obtain FAA records of domestic drone licenses. It turns out that among the various military and law-enforcement agencies licensed to operate drones were 19 universities, including Cornell.

While Cornell’s license has expired, many other schools - such as the Universities of Connecticut, Florida, Alaska, and Ohio, and even a community college – maintain active drone authorization. It is theorized that university licenses are related to research activities, and that the schools may be developing drone technology, but also that many schools’ strategic locations make them potential hubs for drone surveillance operations. However, the report states that the FAA has not yet released information on the types of drones being flown at each location, which could be used to determine their missions.

Drones – officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – have become prevalent in the military, as they can be used for reconnaissance and even carry missiles without putting a pilot in danger. However, they have recently been acquired by many civilian law enforcement agencies,creating a controversy over privacy rights.

A map of all US drone locations - including Cornell

Therefore, in his selection of a running mate, Romney must select someone who will decisively convince the conservative base to come out on Election Day and vote for him. A logical pick for Romney, who seems to have trouble getting the base excited, is New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Christie is a favorite of the base and the Tea Party and would attract a lot of interest from Republican voters who feel uncomfortable with a Romney Presidency.

Christie also has the added benefit of being a “regular guy,” coming from a Catholic family, which is attractive to many voters who are uncomfortable with the idea of a Mormon president. This addition would nicely complement Romney who is often coined “unrelatable,” a facet of his wealth and stoic demeanor. Furthermore, Christie has a proven track record of conservative politics, whereas it is often difficult to discern what Romney thinks on most issues.

Many other favorites being discussed for the role of VP have said they have no interest in job, but Christie, who has endorsed Romney from the very beginning has left the possibility open, saying: “[If] Romney calls and wants to discuss it [the VP position] with me, I will sit down and talk with Gov. Romney about it.” Given the fact that Christie has campaigned for Romney since October, it is unlikely that he would say no to the position, should it be offered to him.

Another asset of Christie is his great rhetorical ability, which should help Romney in both debates and other public speaking engagements, anchoring Romney’s current lead in the Gallup polls, against Obama, and leading him to victory in 2012.

To win the presidential race, Romney needs to excite and motivate his Republican voter base, while simultaneously persuading independents of his policies. Romney is already viewed by the public as a moderate republican who is perhaps too fiscally conservative for liberals, but too socially liberal for conservatives. While this may appeal to moderates and independents, it does not create enthusiasm from his republican voter base. In order to overcome this weakness, Romney needs his running mate to act as a rallying factor.

Rubio could be this rallying factor. He has already proven his potential to appeal to staunch conservatives. He has the support and approval of Tea Party activists behind him, as well as the G.O.P establishment.

In fact, he has many characteristics that contrast with Romney’s political weaknesses.

While Romney has been criticized for being a privileged white guy, Rubio’s diversity as a son of  hard-working Cuban immigrants has been celebrated. He appeals to the Hispanic voter base, and could rally them behind Romney. Also, Rubio is Catholic, which appeals more to the conservative base than Romney’s Mormonism. In addition, Rubio’s charm is undeniable. This becomes especially apparent in his speeches, where he uses charisma to secure the audience’s trust and support. While Romney could fail to motivate conservatives to spend time in polls, Rubio would be  able to use this charm to motivate conservatives to vote.

Romney would do well to pick Rubio, and not a former opposing primary candidate, as his running mate.

This primary campaign has been extremely heated; choosing a former opponent would allow the press to exploit the differences and tensions in the candidates. In contrast, Rubio has already come out in full support of Romney. After endorsing Romney, he called on the remaining Republican primary candidates to support Romney as well.  Rubio’s wish to unite the party can be cited in the press as a strength.

Like all potential VP candidates, Rubio is not without some downsides. he is largely new and inexperienced in Washington and has said that he is not interested in potentially running in this election. However, one only needs to look at Obama to realize that long-term political experience is not necessarily required. Also, if Romney calls on Rubio to be his running mate for the good of the party, Rubio may change his mind and not be opposed to running.

Rubio said at CPAC 2012 that “being American has changed the world and made it better”. His patriotism and appeal to conservatives makes him Romney’s ideal choice for a running mate.