Duffield Hall, the remarkable new facility for advanced engineering technology, became fully functional in October. The Mars mission continued to produce important new results. The Cassini mission to Saturn returned spectacularly beautiful photographs and significant data about the satellites of Saturn. Cornell's research funding continued its steady growth, tracking the pattern of federal support for research. The vitality of our research enterprise is apparent.

We are concerned, however, about issues that plague university research. Regulations on the management of university-based research are becoming increasingly stringent. In addition, a downturn in the size of the national research budget is certain.

In response to these issues, Cornell has taken essential actions.