Welcome back. (Or, for those of you who are new, welcome!) We hope you’ve had a relaxing summer. Apparently, life on The Hill continues even when we’re not there to live it. But we certainly do not expect you to follow every Cornell discovery, shift in C.U. administration and campus-related criminal conviction while at a distance, so we’ll sum it up for you. Over the next two days, The Sun will provide you with the Cliff’s Notes version of Summer, 2006 in Ithaca, New York:

University President David Skorton took the reins at the start of July. Thus far he’s been a successful freshman, passing his swim test and acclimating well to his temporary residence in Mary Donlon Hall. In his first public address to the Big Red student body yesterday, Skorton encouraged the Class of 2010 to “put themselves in an uncomfortable situation.” (Skorton may have found his in his choice of housing, but after one week of Orientation in a freshman dorm, he’ll surely be able to handle anything else to come his way).

Another Cornellian in a tough position this summer was Lee Bienstock ’05. After going 15 rounds with Donald Trump in the Board Room on NBC’s “The Apprentice,” Bienstock was bested by final contestant Sean. Though a strong competitor, the 22-year-old Bienstock’s youthful energy (he volunteered as a project manager 4 times, more than any other contestant) couldn’t top Sean’s claim to experience. With 11 more years of real-world experience than Bienstock, the show’s youngest contestant, Sean ultimately topped the recent Cornell grad, but not without a fight.

And police officers nationwide this summer ended their fight with alleged Collegetown Creeper Abraham Shorey. At a July hearing, Shorey was held on $1 million bail; he will stand trial Sept. 12 on charges of three counts of burglary, one count of assault with intent to commit rape and one count of attempted rape by force or violence, with a knife. Starting in September 2003, the Collegetown Creeper has been connected with at least 20 incidents involving female Cornell students. The alleged Creeper was indicted in Fall 2004, but fled Ithaca shortly thereafrer.

Cornell debuted three new wine grapes this summer, Noiret, Corot noir and Valvin Muscat. These grapes are broadly adapted to the wine-growing regions in the East and Cornell experts say they produce high-quality varietal wines that are superior to those currently available to Eastern growers today. Your school has just enabled you to diversify your liquor cabinet.

Tune in tomorrow for more of the things you might have missed.