INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 73
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Winter Recognition
A Warm December
Taking On the Lions
Chance Of Snow HIGH: 32° LOW: 14º
Nearly 1,000 students graduated in December, an untraditional path to earning a degree. | Page 3
Hadiyah Chowdhury ’18 calls the new Decemberists record “genuine and warm, like visiting an old friend.” | Page 9
Women’s basketball will face Columbia for the second time in two weeks. | Page 16
Experts,Ithacans Split Over Cuomo Fracking Ban By CHRISTOPHER BYRNS Sun Staff Writer
In light of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D-N.Y.) decision to prohibit hydraulic fracturing throughout New York State, locals and experts expressed varying opinions, citing both environmental and economic issues. Cuomo’s decision makes New York the first state with substantial reserves of natural gas to ban the practice, according to The New York Times. Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 expressed his satisfaction with Cuomo’s decision. “The people of Ithaca could not be more thrilled … Governor Cuomo has used a fact based and rational decision making process to make the best choice for New York State,” Myrick said. “This administration continues to make New York a progressive leader in the United States.” Prof. Bob Howarth, ecology and envi-
ronmental biology — who co-authored the “first ever peer-reviewed analysis of the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas” — also approved of the ban and said Governor Cuomo made “the right decision.” “Our research indicated that far from being the ‘bridge fuel’ claimed by industry, shale gas has a larger greenhouse gas footprint than any other fossil fuel,” Howarth said. “In the subsequent few years, hundreds of other new studies have documented major risks of contaminating drinking water supplies, threatening public health, and increasing earthquakes. New York will be far better off without shale gas.” Industry expert Thomas Shepstone — who participated in a panel debate at Cornell nearly a year ago — said Cuomo made a “political decision with no foundation in science.” “[Cuomo] sold out the economic interests of the Southern Tier, which is failing miserably in comparison to
A chilly first day
MICHAELA BREW / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students back from Winter Break walk on Ho Plaza on the first day of the spring semester.
adjoining areas of Pennsylvania,” Shepstone said. “It’s a classic problem reflecting the political reality of New York, a state where the vast bulk of the land is effectively governed by a huge majority of urban voters.” Cuomo’s decision follows this past summer’s ruling from the New York
State Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — which said that towns had the authority to ban fracking within city limits, The New York Times reported. Christopher Byrns can be reached at cbyrns@cornellsun.com.
Former Student Witnessed Risley Residents Shocked ‘Systemic Racism’in Prison By Discovery of Meth Blakinger ’11 reflects on privilege in Washington Post Lab in Sub-Basement By ANNIE BUI
indefinitely and banned me from campus,” Blakinger wrote. “I had descended Keri Blakinger ’11 was from a Dean’s List student arrested in December 2010 to a felon.” after police found her in Soon after her release possession of several ounces from prison, however, of heroin. A couple of Blakinger said she was able months later, she pled to work in journalism as a guilty to third reporter for The degree criminal Ithaca Times. possession of a The University controlled suballowed her to stance. continue taking But last classes again. month — after The main reahaving served in son Blakinger prison for almost gave for why she two years — believes Cornell BLAKINGER ’11 Blakinger walked gave her a “secacross the stage at Barton ond chance” is brief: she is Hall for her graduation, a white. bachelor’s degree from an “Second chances don’t Ivy League institution come easily to people of under her belt. color in the United States,” In a column published she said. “But when you are in The Washington Post white, society offers routes Wednesday, Blakinger to rebuild your life.” recounts her journey from Blakinger said it was being a senior at Cornell to only after her time in being thrown behind bars. prison that she realized “Cornell suspended me how much she benefited
Sun News Editor
from “systemic racism” in society. In one example, she described an incident where prison officials were acting “overtly racist.” “I watched prison officials send a black inmate to solitary confinement for wearing her pajamas at 10 a.m. … but nobody ever troubled me about it [when I did the same],” she said. “There were many times that black inmates were hassled for things that white inmates weren’t.” According to Blakinger, race was not the only factor that played a role in her reduced sentence and return to Cornell. She cited the liberal climate of Tompkins County — with its “long-standing commitment” to incarceration alternatives — and the rolling back of New York’s “notorious” Rockefeller Drug Laws that would have tripled her sentence.
See BLAKINGER page 4
By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Senior Writer
Residents of Risley Hall expressed shock and anger after a backpack full of chemicals commonly used to make methamphetamine was found Tuesday in the basement of the North Campus dorm. Inappropriate handling and disposal of these ingredients can cause fires, as well as other chemical and health hazards, according to a University press release. Students said the incident left them surprised and disappointed in a community that is usually highly inclusive and collaborative. Laura Dera ’16 said she was “disgusted” to hear of the discovery. “Risley Residential College is a collaboraSee RISLEY page 4
BETH SPERGEL / SUN FILE PHOTO
Where’s Walter White? | Risley Hall, a North Campus residential college, was the site of the discovery of a backpack with chemicals used in making meth.