Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison M.A. ’55, had a joyous homecoming yesterday in a packed Bailey Hall, which welcomed the renowned writer with a standing ovation. Morrison, who graduated from Cornell 54 years ago, read from her most recent offering to the literary world, A Mercy, published last year.

At the horrific hour of 5 a.m., the alarm clock interrupts our much-needed slumber. Are. You. Kidding. Each of us roll, quite literally, out of our beds, the freshmen in their dark dorms and townhouses, the sophomores in their silent sororities or houses, and the juniors and seniors in their cozy (read: dingy) Collegetown apartments and homes. We shuffle into our respective bathrooms, bleary-eyed and beaten, stumbling on the masses of empty Gatorade bottles and Wegman’s pasta cartons strewn across the room, evidence of the wild night of heavy hydration and excessive carbo-loading. We struggle to put clothes on properly (sweatpants first, THEN then shoes) and hobble outside to pick up other teammates or to wait for our ride.

Isys Johnson ’11 often finds herself in the company of her four-legged friend Jack, a 10-month-old German Shepherd. Johnson’s most recent sidekick, Jack accompanies her to lectures in the School of Hotel Administration, to dining halls and on runs around campus.

Coming off a dominant 2008-09 season, the men’s track and field team will look to repeat its victory in the Indoor Heptagonal Championship.

The recent stretch of nice weather in Ithaca provided no relief for the community in the region that depends on it the most. With rain and cold prevalent from May through July and the resulting spread of plant diseases, local farmers felt the effect in their crop yields this past harvest season.

With 12 resolutions and three amendments on the table, yesterday’s Student Assembly meeting was a packed legislative session. The focus, however, surrounded discussion of Resolution 30, which proposes a number of changes to the S.A.’s Election Guidelines.

A recent increase in crime near campus prompted leadership from the Cornell University Police Department, the Cayuga Heights Police Department and the Ithaca Police Department to hold a panel discussion last night to clarify the facts of the recent spike in crimes and explain the prevention systems in place.

Though many of the “Reimagining Cornell” academic task forces released earlier this month call for major overhauls of some academic programs, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations Task Force report does not recommend any changes to its academic programs, faculty levels or students services.

As the country faces its most serious economic recession in years, the rate of young, well-educated professionals settling in Upstate New York is reaching critically low levels, creating a brain drain in the region, according to some University faculty members.

The wrestling team is used to winning. They are used to winning because, in all honesty, that’s what they do best. You can see it in the face of head coach Rob Koll when he talks about this team, his team. He has faith in these young men; this team, his team. They will win, he says. How does he know this? He just knows.