In a bold move last week, the University of Kentucky made John Calipari the highest paid coach in NCAA history by signing him to an eight-year, $31.5 million contract. Calipari’s salary is paid for exclusively by the Kentucky basketball program’s exorbitant budget. But we can’t help but wonder whether some of the new coach’s salary could be better used to help the university academically in a time when both the state of Kentucky and the nation in general are in a fiscal crisis.

Cornell needs money and it needs money now. As evidenced by Sanford Weill’s announcement yesterday that he has made a generous advanced payment of $170 million to the Medical College, Cornell's campuses are strapped for cash and are looking for ways to make up for the billions lost.

We applaud President Skorton's success in soliciting the donation from Weill. But we doubt that it will be the president who will pick up the phone to add that personal touch to every donor solicitation.

Based on a federal court ruling last month, the age to obtain Plan B without a prescription will soon be lowered from 18 to 17 years old. The verdict was reached as the result of a lawsuit against the F.D.A., which stated that the previous policy was formed based on inappropriate concessions to conservative lobbyists in the Bush administration.

The state of program houses has long been a contentious issue at Cornell. With student enrollment in them far from what it once was and financial constraints limiting resources across the University, the future of program houses is unclear and is an issue that will be at the forefront on campus in the coming months.

On Thursday we saw a preview of the campus activism that will take center stage in the coming weeks, as student groups eulogized what they see as the impending death of program houses at Cornell. Targeting the “inaction” of the administration, the protesters sought to ignite the flame and shine light on an issue, which until now, has been modest and unpronounced.

We’ve just rubbed our bodies down with aloe to sooth our burns after soaking in the HEROIC sun all day on the slope. It feels so, so good to be burned to a crisp after months in VILLAINOUS hibernation. Now, in light of the Sun, we couldn’t be happier to say that we’re done for the semester with rocking fake tans and unnecessary sunglasses. The Sun’s shining and we’re crossing our fingers that it’s here to stay. Nothing makes us happier here at HEROES & VILLAINS than sunshine and sangria and we’re proud to say that we’re ready for more.

The over 6,500 high school seniors who were admitted to Cornell on Tuesday have reason to celebrate. The college admissions process is both torturous and maddening; accordingly, the end is always a welcome relief. This admissions season, however, has been ever more tainted by the unfortunate consequences of the economic downturn, and we implore the University not to lose sight of its commitment to financial aid.

Tonight, the Ithaca Common Council will hear a debate on the Collegetown Urban Plan and Design Guidelines that consulting team Goody Clancy developed last fall. We applaud the student-lead effort to lobby Common Council and implore students to head downtown tonight to ensure that the student voice be heard.

However, up until this point, we feel this student voice has been misinformed.

This weekend, students, faculty and administrators came together to discuss the future of service-learning — a contemporary approach to learning that combines community service and academics. We admire the work Cornell has done with regards to public service in recent years, but its future and role in academia is something that must be brought to light as the financial crisis rips away at some of the world’s most vital resources.

Cornell’s esteemed Public Service Center backs a number of impressive faculty, staff and student-lead service initiatives. But, as it stands now, these projects are meant to exist outside of the classroom.

Today marks the deadline to apply for the Staff Retirement Incentive program. Engineered and implemented earlier this month, the program was a “one-time-only” opportunity for staff to apply to retire early, in an effort to help alleviate excess financial strain on the University.

We saw the incentive plan as an appropriate gesture. Predicting massive layoffs, the University gave staff the chance to reconsider retiring amidst the financial turmoil in exchange for an “enhanced contribution” to the employee’s retirement fund in addition to a lump-sum payment.

We at HEROES & VILLAINS frankly figured we wouldn’t have to put out a paper today, based on our totally sweet job breaking Slope Day on Wednesday. So that, paired with the fact that we're completely ready for another Spring Break, made us feel entitled to fiercely uncork the champagne and start playing flip cup. That was, until the powers that be told us to cut the crap and get to work. So we’re a few beers in, but here goes nothin’ …