With the help of a $650,000 gift from recently deceased Prof. Emerita Helen L. Wardeberg, education, Mann Library and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences –– which will each receive half of the donation –– will be making adjustments to improve their services for the Cornell community.

Starting with the academic year 2010-2011, the University will begin budgeting returns from the the $25 million gift that created the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in June.

The holiday shopping season is truly upon us: Last Friday the most voracious of tramps woke themselves at 4:30 a.m. to go running wild through Target as if they were on that defunct game show, Supermarket Sweep. Hey, at least they made out with that $2 toaster (normal retail value: $6) and a story about “that time when someone roundhouse kicked [them] in the head ... from behind.”

Yesterday, the World Bank announced — to my absolute shock — that the global economy will shrink in 2009.

I’m writing to take a stand that the time-honored tradition of gifts from one foreign leader to another continue despite this forecast.

I mean, where would our country’s relations with Saudi Arabia be if Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz had not lavished $130,000 of jewelry on Bush and cronies in 2003? Or … our relations with Argentina if President Néstor Kirchner hadn’t provided the First Family with 300 pounds of raw lamb?