So Long, U-Halls  WRECKING BALL FOR LAST TWO DORMS

THE TWO REMAINING UNIVERSITY HALLS WILL BE demolished by the end of April, making way for the final phase of the West Campus Residential Initiative. According to project manager Andrew Magré, construction is planned to be completed ahead of schedule, with students moving into the last two residence halls in August 2008.

The new Noyes Community Center opened in January, featuring a gymnasium, fitness center, multipurpose room, climbing wall, and convenience store. Also in January, the third residence hall--named Bethe House after the late Nobel laureate and Cornell physics professor Hans Bethe--welcomed its first occupants. Professor of city and regional planning Porus Olpadwala will serve as the house's live-in dean starting in the 2007–08 academic year.

Rising Costs  A YEAR AT CU: $46,000

IN JANUARY, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES UNANIMOUSLY approved a 5.5 percent increase in endowed tuition, to $34,600 for 2007– 08.With room, board, and fees, the cost of a year in the endowed colleges will total just under $46,000. In the statutory colleges, tuition rose 5.8 percent to $19,110 for New York State residents and to $33,500 (up 5.7 percent) for nonresidents. It was also reported that applications for undergraduate admission are up 7.5 percent over last year and up 45 percent compared with 2004.

New students at the Johnson Graduate School of Management face a 10.1 percent hike, to $42,700. Veterinary students who are New York residents will pay $24,000 (up 4.3 percent), compared with $35,000 for nonresidents (up 6.1 percent).New enrollees in the Law School will pay $43,620, a 7.5 increase.

At the same meeting, the board re-elected Peter Meinig '61, BME '62, as chairman for an additional three-year term effective July 1. A board member since 1991, Meinig became chairman in July 2002. The board also approved a change in the election of student trustees: for a four-year trial period, undergraduate and graduate student trustees will be elected in alternating years.

Good Year  ENDOWMENT UP TO $4.3 BILLION

IN THE FISCAL YEAR THAT ENDED JUNE 30, 2006, CORNELL'S endowment rose from $3.8 billion to $4.3 billion, an increase of 14.4 percent. The University's endowment is the eighteenth largest in the nation; Harvard is number one, at $28.9 billion, followed by Yale at $18.0 billion and Stanford at $14.1 billion. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, college endowments overall averaged an increase of 10.7 percent in 2006, the fourth straight year of gains after negative returns in 2001 and 2002.

B-Minus  CU SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS GRADED

IN A REPORT ISSUED BY THE SUSTAINABLE ENDOWMENTS Institute, Cornell received a B-minus for its commitment to sustainability. The Institute rated the sustainability efforts of the 100 American and Canadian universities with the largest endowments. The highest grade awarded was A-minus, which went to Dartmouth,Harvard, Stanford, and Williams. Cornell's rating earned it a spot on the Institute's list of "Campus Sustainability Leaders."

Cornell got A's for its commitment to reducing emissions levels, adopting green building guidelines, and purchasing local food for campus dining halls. But its grade was dragged down by F's in endowment transparency ("The University has made no public statements about making endowment holdings or shareholder voting records available") and shareholder engagement ("The University has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy").

The Sustainable Endowments Institute is a special projects fund of the Cambridge,Massachusetts-based Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; its full report is available online at www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability.

Must-Read  GORDIMER TITLE IS 2007 BOOK FOR NEW STUDENTS

THIS SUMMER, INCOMING FRESHMEN WILL FIND COPIES OF Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer's novel The Pickup in their mailboxes. Set in post-apartheid South Africa, the novel is the focus of this year's New Student Reading Project; it will be the subject of campuswide discussions and other events in the fall. The 2001 title, on the shortlist for the Booker Prize, is about the relationship between a wealthy woman and an illegal Muslim immigrant she meets when her car breaks down. In its announcement of the selection, the University noted that the book "challenges our ideas about who is a cultural 'insider' or 'outsider,' and invites readers to reflect on the role of religion, importance of family, and conflicts between responsibility and the satisfaction of human desire." The New Student Reading Project has been an annual event since 2001.