With the winds of winter wandering into Ithaca, Oct. 22 may seem like an odd day to reflect on global warming and Cornell’s sustainability efforts. But despite the coming cold, students, faculty and staff will congregate today on Ho Plaza to celebrate the Seventh Annual Campus Sustainability Day. They will reflect on the University’s sustainability efforts, celebrate what has been accomplished, examine possibilities of what is next and begin to turn those possibilities into reality. We do this with good reason and imperative.

The Sun’s March 23 editorial entitled “On the Outside Looking In” is, frankly, a bit perplexing when I think about the openness that distinguishes President Skorton’s administration. When it comes to the well-being of our university, there can never be too much communication, especially in these times of financial challenge. A critical ingredient in that process is transparency of decision making, which has been a top priority for President Skorton from the very start of his administration. And, I am proud to say, that the administration and the Board of Trustees have redoubled efforts to be more transparent since the beginning of the financial crisis last fall.

It's been a rumblin’-tumblin’, rough and wild, but altogether HEROICALLY SA-WEET first week on the job down here at HEROES & VILLAINS. We’ve been on a HEROICALLY wild ride getting things in order and figuring out what the heck we’re supposed to do now that we’re in charge on the 127th. Scary, scary thoughts. Despite the ensuing misery, chaos and debauchery that is a — HEROIC? Naw, more like VILLAINOUS — Sun editorship, we’ve got the HEROIC Spring Break on the horizon and things couldn't look brighter.

Stocks crashing! Endowments disappearing! Budgets trimming! The start of this semester has seen incredibly trying times as establishments across the country fall to shambles. In light of the times, the University plans to cut budgets across the board. Our crack team of Berrypatch reporters have also discovered that in order to pick up some of the fiscal slack, the University Board of Trustee’s voted to incur its own budget cuts for its upcoming Trustee Weekend. The following provisions are to take place ...

Pack ’em like Sardines

The Board of Trustees arrived in Ithaca last night for what will be a series of long and daunting days marked by uncertainty. No one knows when world markets will stabilize or when the job outlook will become sustainable. As the trustees grapple with all of this, we cannot offer any comprehensive solutions. What we can do, however, is posit some advice.

Serving as Cornell’s governing board, the trustees have two overarching responsibilities. First, it is in their power to determine the University’s financial policies, while making decisions pertaining to construction, financial aid and academics. But second, the Board of Trustees must also keep in mind the moral and social responsibilities as managers of a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio.

To the Editor:

Re: “Open Letter to the Trustees — An Immoral Alliance at Hand,” Opinion, Feb. 16

I write this letter in response to Neal Sher’s ’68 Guest Room in yesterday’s paper. I am a member of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University and I am Jewish. I have visited Saudi Arabia as an American Jew. And I have met with then Crown Prince (now King) Abdullah and many members of the royal family in that capacity. I, among many of my fellow trustees voted to approve acceptance of a $25 million research grant for a joint study in nano-technology between Cornell and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). I should also note that one of the principal architects of this gift was my friend and fellow Trustee Lubna Olayan — a Saudi WOMAN.

As I suspect is true for countless other alumni, Cornell had a profound — indeed, lifelong — impact upon me. Those of my tumultuous era (Class of ’68) could not avoid the influence of great thinkers (Walter Berns and Allan Bloom quickly come to mind) who instilled a belief that the university represented (or should represent) the highest level of intellectual honesty; advancing the public good, we were reminded, was among the most noble of personal and professional pursuits.

Indeed, in his 2008 commencement address, President Skorton reaffirmed that those virtues remain at the core of the University’s soul, urging graduates to honor the social responsibilities which hopefully were nurtured at Cornell.

Whether you are returning to campus for your second semester or for your last semester, welcome back!

I am the senior student-elected trustee on Cornell University’s Board of Trustees. Two of the 64 trustees on the Board are students elected by the undergraduate and graduate student body to serve two-year, staggered terms. Cornell is the only Ivy League institution with students who serve as voting members of the University’s highest governing body.