Hooray for MetaEzra

[Trotsky]

Jerk / Typical...

NOOOooooo!!!  Don't let it end!!  

::popcorn::  ::popcorn::  ::popcorn::

::banana::

It's only just begun.  Our PMs are hotter than the Sigma Nu girls at Dunbars.

[mnagowski]

The main lesson is probably that $50k per year expenses for the Ancien Regime is too high in a world that churns out PhDs like toilet paper and in which a hundred or more competitors provide a comparable* product at a big discount.

And this is exactly the point: the choice won't be between Harvard and Yale and Cornell.  It will be between Harvard and Yale and (if one doesn't get in to either of those) the honors program at the state university.  Cornell—along with scores of other private colleges whose primary value is the credential they bestow—will simply be priced out of that segment of the market.

Getting back to the topic at hand, another problem for our fair Cornell is the number of "top" schools offering merit aid to outstanding students with the financial abillity to pay full tuition. WashU, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Carnegie Mellon have all entered into this arena in recent years, which can really upset the admissions dynamic, and, in my opinion, has started to affect the quality of the student body.

Kyle is keen to point out that Cornell needs to address the issue of aid package parity in order to retain its position, but he doesn't offer any solutions. What are the choices? Cut back on quality and the breadth of faculty? Cut sports programs and other extracurricular activities? Solicit alums for more donations? Decrease the diversity of the undergraduate body?

I wonder if there are any types of creative financing Cornell could consider. For instance, what if Cornell cut your tuition by $10k a year if you promised 1% of your annual earnings as unrestricted giving for life?

[Beeeej]

I wonder if there are any types of creative financing Cornell could consider. For instance, what if Cornell cut your tuition by $10k a year if you promised 1% of your annual earnings as unrestricted giving for life?

One potential problem with that, believe it or not, is that it could lower people's sights as far as their charitable giving to Cornell once they've reached the point where they could be giving significantly more. Plus, how do you measure "earnings"?  Just salary?

Not trying to pooh-pooh creative suggestions, just trying to be realistic.  I do wonder, however, how many of the people despairing over the future of Cornell's athletics programs and student body in general have ever given to a scholarship fund at Cornell.  As you've surmised, one of the few reasonable solutions to the problem of not having enough money to pull off what the Harvards and Yales are doing is to go get more money, and alumni giving is one of the few reasonable ways to do it.

[Al DeFlorio]

I do wonder, however, how many of the people despairing over the future of Cornell's athletics programs and student body in general have ever given to a scholarship fund at Cornell.

I've been wondering the same thing.

[mnagowski]

I wonder if there are any types of creative financing Cornell could consider. For instance, what if Cornell cut your tuition by $10k a year if you promised 1% of your annual earnings as unrestricted giving for life?

One potential problem with that, believe it or not, is that it could lower people's sights as far as their charitable giving to Cornell once they've reached the point where they could be giving significantly more. Plus, how do you measure "earnings"?  Just salary?

Income would be a better measure, presumably. But I think the point of mandating unrestricted giving to 1% would be to allow restricted giving over that threshold. So if you wanted to support the unicycling club or endow a professorship, it would have to be over that amount.

Not trying to pooh-pooh creative suggestions, just trying to be realistic.  I do wonder, however, how many of the people despairing over the future of Cornell's athletics programs and student body in general have ever given to a scholarship fund at Cornell.  As you've surmised, one of the few reasonable solutions to the problem of not having enough money to pull off what the Harvards and Yales are doing is to go get more money, and alumni giving is one of the few reasonable ways to do it.

It's a very fair question. I organized a scholarship dinner for the local Cornell Club this past fall, and of the fifty or so attendees, I was the only one to give. I am probably just a poor fundraiser, however.

[jtwcornell91]

Jerk / Typical...

NOOOooooo!!!  Don't let it end!!  

::popcorn::  ::popcorn::  ::popcorn::

::banana::

It's only just begun.  Our PMs are hotter than the Sigma Nu girls at Dunbars.

I was gonna say "get a room" but it sounds like you already have.

[ebilmes]

It's only just begun.  Our PMs are hotter than the Sigma Nu girls at Dunbars.

Sigma Nu is a fraternity...

[Trotsky]

It's only just begun.  Our PMs are hotter than the Sigma Nu girls at Dunbars.

Sigma Nu is a fraternity...

You gots ta read between the lines, boy.

[Trotsky]

One potential problem with that, believe it or not, is that it could lower people's sights as far as their charitable giving to Cornell once they've reached the point where they could be giving significantly more.

That was my gut response.  It also changes a charitable gesture that makes people feel good into a commitment that breeds resentment.

It would be interesting to see the distribution of gifts for different universities.  Cornell, which AFAIK has a low overall percentage of donors / alumni (not sure if that's still the case if you only count the private colleges) might also be more skewed than the others, with a larger percentage coming from the top few donors.  (One good thing about the Idle Rich -- they're pretty handy during development drives.)

The distribution curve might simply reflect the wealth / earnings distribution of graduates of different schools.  It doesn't seem like Cornellians have a dearth of affection for their alma mater.

[Robb]

The distribution curve might simply reflect the wealth / earnings distribution of graduates of different schools.  It doesn't seem like Cornellians have a dearth of affection for their alma mater.

Not at all.  I chuckle when I think of a friend I worked with in Vermont (UWash undergrad / UMich grad) who was always amazed at how into Cornell we Cornellians were.  He eventually left the company and moved to Sunnyvale, where he ended up living in the same apartment complex as KeithK.  He only THOUGHT he was escaping us by moving to CA...

[RichH]

I chuckle when I think of a friend I worked with in Vermont (UWash undergrad / UMich grad) who was always amazed at how into Cornell we Cornellians were.

Which had to be why CU was chosen for Andy Bernard.  You have to wonder if writers of "The Office" had too many close encounters with CU alumni.

[Trotsky]

Which had to be why CU was chosen for Andy Bernard.  You have to wonder if writers of "The Office" had too many close encounters with CU alumni.

98% of the people writing for television are from 5 schools.  Sometimes our number comes up.

[Jerseygirl]

I chuckle when I think of a friend I worked with in Vermont (UWash undergrad / UMich grad) who was always amazed at how into Cornell we Cornellians were.

Which had to be why CU was chosen for Andy Bernard.  You have to wonder if writers of "The Office" had too many close encounters with CU alumni.

I thought that one of the writers was an alum? There's a great line (blink, or more analogously, earmuffs yourself for a second, and you'll miss it) in the episode where Michael starts a bunch of rumors after accidentally letting it out that Pam is pregnant. Of course, one of the rumors is that Andy is gay. He grills someone about where they heard that, and one of the sources he names is, "...one of my brothers from Chi Psi?" A great, subtle knock on the homoeroticism of frats, and in particular, on one filled with entitled douchebags. And yeah, of course I went to afterhours there...I mean, how ELSE was I going to infiltrate them to spread my feminist gospel?

[mnagowski]

I chuckle when I think of a friend I worked with in Vermont (UWash undergrad / UMich grad) who was always amazed at how into Cornell we Cornellians were.

Which had to be why CU was chosen for Andy Bernard.  You have to wonder if writers of "The Office" had too many close encounters with CU alumni.

I thought that one of the writers was an alum? There's a great line (blink, or more analogously, earmuffs yourself for a second, and you'll miss it) in the episode where Michael starts a bunch of rumors after accidentally letting it out that Pam is pregnant. Of course, one of the rumors is that Andy is gay. He grills someone about where they heard that, and one of the sources he names is, "...one of my brothers from Chi Psi?" A great, subtle knock on the homoeroticism of frats, and in particular, on one filled with entitled douchebags. And yeah, of course I went to afterhours there...I mean, how ELSE was I going to infiltrate them to spread my feminist gospel?

Kevin Reilly '84, the NBC executive responsible for renewing the show after its first rather mediocre year is a Cornell alum. So, to give thanks, the writers from Harvard and Dartmouth decided to write Cornell into the story.

http://cornellsun.com/node/25688