Telluride House The Cornell Branch of Telluride Association

Robert Hockett, Associate Professor at Cornell’s Law School, recently came to us to talk about “Bailouts, Buy-Ins, and Ballyhoo”: the causes, historical antecedents, and possible solutions to our current financial crisis. The title really did not to justice to this talk, which was exemplary in its clarity and lucidity. Talking entirely without notes, Professor Hockett — who has training in philosophy, economics, and law — addressed analytical, historical, and normative dimensions of the crisis while steering clear of the jargon that has come to plague us in the halls of the academy. I wish that Treasury Secretary Paulson had been here, as I’m confident he would have profited Hockett’s talk and from the ensuing discussion. Academic events like this one are only one of the many privileges of living here.

Posted under Events, Musings

Here are a couple of pictures from our Halloween formal dinner, though I can’t seem to find pictures from the actual dinner itself. I guess people were hungry or tipsy from cocktail hour beforehand. Here’s a picture of Jim and Julie posing in front of the coffin:

and here are some people dancing afterward, including me in the foreground and our faculty fellow Suman in the background:

Posted under Events, Pictures

You know, this is really an amazing day. The campus has been buzzing with anxiety all day, and professors in all of my classes rambled on for at least 10 minutes at the beginning of each class about the historic nature of this day. Now it’s about 11:00 PM EST, and I’m surrounded by my fellow Housemates in the living room of Telluride house watching streaming ABCNews.com projected onto the wall. Wine, cookies, and sparkling cider have been broken out by one and all, and Ian just took an order for victory cocktails. I haven’t been able to focus on any of my work since 8:00 PM because people have been anxiously pacing around the House…and now John McCain is giving his concession speech. It is an honorable speech. But I didn’t mean to ramble on about the election. What I really want to say is — there isn’t anyone I would rather be watching this historic election with in the world.

Posted under Musings