Research challenges a basic, economic assumption and suggests that people compromise their happiness for money.

Two Cornell undergraduates won the 2011 Goldwater Scholarships last month for their achievements in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.

Ben Koffel, grad, deals with his newfound "grown up" money problems. 

Judah Bellin '12 explains how greed can be beneficial for a society.

Health care is big money. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that health care represents America’s largest industry, providing roughly 14 million jobs. The Bureau goes on to mention that seven of the 20 fastest growing occupations are health related. Here at Cornell, medical research is a huge deal, producing shiny new buildings like Weill Hall, and attracting top professors from around the country. And our top students have always been lured towards medicine as an attractive, stable, intellectually stimulating career option.

But question: Jobs and investments aside, is this approach to medicine effective? Does it produce a healthy, productive society in the most efficient way possible?

Although the Office of Financial Aid faces the large responsibility to serve all students, some recently reported errors on its part extend too far beyond the pale. It is understood that this time of year, amidst the shuffle of acceptance letters and registration forms, the office faces stressful working conditions and a high volume of materials to process. But many managerial mishaps have now resurfaced, which the recently announced and commendable expansions to students’ financial aid packets cannot fix.

Four years ago, Cornell didn’t seem to care if prospective undergraduates were fabulously wealthy. This was good for me, because I was not. Nor am I now, in spite of a two-year stint as a highly paid employee at Olin Library. I was fortunate the undergraduate admissions process was completely need-blind, with no regard for family income or potential building donation. Current applicants may not be so lucky.

Four months ago, the University announced it would be expanding the class of 2013 by 100 students in response to the ubiquitous “financial crisis.” This, I thought, could only mean one thing: 100 more wealthy students to help offset our school’s endowment losses.

We’re fucked unless we get people spending again. Tax cuts, government initiatives, refunds, rebates, shovel-ready projects — all forms of stimulation designed to pad the American wallet, to give America a little walkin’ around money as they jazz up the ol’ infrastructure, to get people spending again. This is our real solution to the depression.

Ultimately, we don’t need bailouts or tax cuts or green jobs, but spending. We, the American people, gotta get spending like it’s 1998. Politicians may disagree about the means of stimulation, but there is no doubt that America has to get back to what America does best — consume. Buy shit, people. Spend that hard-earned dime on something real nice, because it’s only as good as what you can buy with it.

Whoever said you have to be rich to do good is mistaken. But whoever said you can’t be rich and also do good is mistaken as well. In the face of these two extremes — torn between the desire to accumulate wealth and the passion for social action — our generation has coined the term “social entrepreneurship” as an attempt to find a middle ground. This revolutionary idea that you can do good while still making money, has fueled the trend of applying business models to non-profits.