Brown University will freeze hiring and review its budget to cut expenses, joining Cornell University and scores of other schools reacting to the financial crisis with cutbacks. Anticipating a drop in revenue, all administrative and staff hiring through January will be suspended, and new faculty appointments will be carefully reviewed, Brown President Ruth Simmons said in a statement Tuesday. She also charged several committees to consider postponing construction projects, reorganizing the administration and scaling back expenditures. Options she mentioned include tuition and fee increases, salary pools for faculty and staff, and redoubled fundraising efforts.