So, Twilight, man. What’s up with that? Here comes the most embarrassing confession I will ever make in this column: I went to see New Moon this weekend. Yes, opening weekend.

It’s not (quite) as bad as it sounds. It was a sociological experiment, of sorts. I went to observe me some tweens, and to see what this sexy glittering vampire business was all about. Also, for the lulz.

Only here’s the thing. The audience? It wasn’t all tweens. There were some grown ass people there, unabashedly wearing “Team Edward” shirts and shushing gigglers (me) like it was their job.

Those of you who flipped through The Sun’s opinion section last week may be under the impression that Cornell suffers from a widespread case of prejudice. Last Tuesday, columnist Andrew Daines ’10 argued that a persistent anti-religious bias permeates our ivory tower. “Faith,” he wrote, “[and] specifically the faith of others, seems to be a source of mistrust on campus.” He continues, “It is an unfortunate and very real feature of our campus life that faith-based political beliefs are often rejected out of hand.”

Last Thursday, the University of California Board of Regents approved a 32 percent increase in student fees (equivalent to tuition). For the first time ever, in-state residents will pay over $10,000 a semester in student fees, limiting the possibility of public higher education for many Californians. In a larger sense, these fee hikes signify a growing trend towards privatization, and away from public education, challenging the University of California’s core commitment to its citizens. Students have protested these fee hikes, setting an example for others across the country. In light of economic struggles at universities nationwide, Cornell should learn from the U.C.’s misfortunes as we move forth with the “reimagining campaign,” by emphasizing preventative measures and student involvement in budget cut processes.

As the University Assembly ponders a clause that would prevent discrimination of membership in special-interest student organizations, an appropriately complex debate is playing out on campus. Citing a potential conflict between “discrimination, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly” on campus, the U.A.

Increasing student enrollment is not a sustainable plan to help offset the budgetary shortfall. Though an easy way to generate funds in the form of tuition dollars, the plan, according to the Student Enrollment Task Force Report, would “place significant strain on the core of the University” and therefore should not be enacted.

So, another semester comes to an end. I’ve only got one left now. I feel I had more when I started. Four years, that’s a lot of time. Eight semesters, that sounds like even more. We all throw a couple away. Count your time in pong cups you’ve crushed, it seems like a lot longer. Count it in Govt’ Mule concerts you’ve been to, turns out you’re not here for very long (if at all). Count your time in Ithaca High kids you saw smoking pot at that concert and you’ll think you’re here forever.

It’s been a rough November, folks. Highlights include second-round prelims, GRE subject exams, failed immune systems, stalled health care legislation and Mayan prophecies of doom. And to top it all off: boy drama.

I’ve dated exactly once in my life. Risa and I were sworn enemies in the second and third grade, but our unadulterated hatred eventually settled into a life-long friendship. In sixth grade, I asked her out on the set of “Happy Valley High,” a cheap, g-rated, made-for-middle-school version of “Grease.” Our first date consisted of pizza in the back of the auditorium one Saturday afternoon. We broke up a few hours later.

One of my highest priorities as president is to ensure that Cornell admits and enrolls students of all backgrounds — and helps them succeed. We are making progress, especially at the undergraduate level. Through more effective recruitment and greatly enhanced need-based financial aid, the class of 2013 is the most racially diverse group in our university’s history. We are also proud of the economic diversity of our student body, which ranks seventh among the nation’s top schools in Pell Grant recipients, according to the 2010 US News & World Report.

It appears we are succeeding in increasing contact among students of different backgrounds on campus. According to the Cornell PULSE (Perceptions of Undergraduate Life and Student Experiences) survey, administered in March 2009, well over half of all undergraduate students, including underrepresented minority students, felt that their experience at Cornell contributed significantly to their skill in working effectively with others and had a positive influence on their ability to relate well to people of different races, nations and religions. The vast majority of students also reported having frequent conversations with students who differed from them in race, ethnicity and political beliefs.

Towards the end of my first year of law school I, like most of my classmates, attended a meeting in preparation for the writing competition. The writing competition is used for the law journals at Cornell to select their associates for the next year. At this meeting all the journals gave a brief presentation and distributed a handout providing information on their journal; during the presentation for one of the journals, I noticed that when they formed they originally funded themselves with a bake sale. This struck me as an excellent idea, and I decided I wanted to start my own law journal, The Cornell Journal of Space Law, which I would fund by selling cookies shaped like rocket ships, the sun, etc. (if this idea failed it was suggested to me that I should solicit Richard Branson for funds). While I never followed through with this idea, I do actually remain very interested in space law as a field, and many law students still approach me to discuss or joke about space law.

Today, thousands of student activists from around the country are cheering loudly — and for good reason.

A nation-wide alliance, the United Students Against Sweatshops, drove a persistent group of protesters to fight for the rights of sweatshop laborers who had been stripped of their jobs at a Russell Athletic factory after workers tried to unionize.