INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 77
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Opinion
Arts
Sports
Weather
Literally Speaking
Bye Bye, Swanson
Crimson, Then Green
Mostly Cloudy HIGH: 27° LOW: 9º
Sarah Byrne ’15 examines the misuse of the word “literally” in everyday speech. | Page 7
Marissa Tranquilli ’15 says season seven of Parks and Recreation is a farewell tour. | Page 10
Women’s hockey splits the weekend on the road against Harvard and Dartmouth. | Page 16
Alumnus to Pay C.U.$125K in Taxes Following Lawsuit
Duschesneau ’09 filed negligence suit after 2006 accident left him paralyzed By JOON LEE Sun Staff Writer
Federal Judge Lynne A. Sitarski recommended the court increase the amount that Randall Duchesneau ’09, the losing plaintiff in a negligence case against Cornell, owes in taxes to the University, according to court documents. The court originally awarded Cornell $104,000 in May, but this amount was increased to $125,000 last week. Duchesneau became confined to a
After his accident, Duchesneau filed a wheelchair at the age of 21 when, on Oct. 12, 2006, he botched an attempt to per- $75 million negligence lawsuit against Cornell form a but was standing “With the court’s ruling awarding costs to u l t i backflip at Cornell, we hope that this long litigation mately the Teagle is now concluded.” denied H a l l compenGymnasJoel Malina satory ium. Then damages a member of the Cornell Gymnastics Club, he suf- after a jury determined that the University fered permanent spinal injuries that ren- was not legally responsible for the accident. After Duchesneau filed to retry the dered him a quadriplegic.
case, a federal judge denied the motion to appeal the verdict in early 2013. Duchesneau, who was a senior at the time of the accident, first sued Cornell University, the Cornell Gymnastics Club and TumblTrack — the manufacturer of the trampoline-like apparatus on which Duchesneau was injured — in October 2008 in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. See LAWSUIT page 15
Stedwell Remembered for ‘Endless Amount of Energy’ By SOFIA HU Sun Senior Writer
VICTOR J. BLUE / THE NEW YORK TIMES
The union | Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposes education reform during his State of the State address at his New York office on Jan. 18.
Ithacans Support Gov. Cuomo’s Proposed Minimum Wage Hike By REBECCA BLAIR
worker’s pockets and allow them to purchase the necessities that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to purchase Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced to be truly self-sufficient,” Meyers said. Jan. 18 a proposal to raise the mini- “In addition, I would see an increase in mum wage to $10.50 throughout New the minimum wage as being a stimulus York state and to to our local, statewide $11.50 in New York and “There may be job gain economies.” regional City by the end of as a result of more 2016, according to However, Meyers The New York Times. also emphasized that money that people have The proposal — $10.50 is far from a to spend.” which some Ithacans living wage. The expressed support for Tompkins County Pete Meyers — has the potential Workers Center estito alleviate financial mates that a living hardships for Cornell students and wage in the county would be $12.62 an Ithaca residents working a minimum hour, an amount which Meyer said is wage job. “just the bare minimum of what a perTompkins County Workers Center son and families need to live in dignidirector Pete Meyers said that this pro- ty.” posal would be a “step in the right Prof. Darius Conger, industrial and direction” for low wage workers across labor relations, said that Cuomo’s plan the state. See MINIMUM WAGE page 4 “It would put … more money into Sun Staff Writer
Colleagues remember Angela Stedwell — the pedestrian struck in the fatal bus accident on Monday morning — as “wonderfully warm” and “endlessly positive.” Stedwell was hit by a Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit bus while crossing Jessup Road near the A-Lot Monday. Stedwell had worked for the University for 21 years and was a “key person” in Department of Human Development in the College of Human Ecology. where she served as an administrative assis-
tant, according to Prof. role she played supporting Charles Brainerd, depart- the community here at the ment chair of human college,” said Prof. Alan Mathios, dean of the development. College of Some of H u m a n St e d w e l l’s Ecology. responsibilities Stedwell had included workan “endless ing the recepamount of tion desk, energy,” said maintaining all Peter Farley, of the departdirector of ment’s web finance and pages, volunSTEDWELL administration teering on the College of Human for the department. “She was liked by Ecology Employee Rejuvenation committee everyone in the departand serving as the college’s ment and college because green ambassador, accord- of her warm personality combined with her dry ing to her colleagues. “Angie’s official staff See STEDWELL page 5 titles can’t capture the true
Back to school
K.K. YU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jared Strait grad discusses his research in the field of electrical and computer engineering, specifically on improved mobility in electronics Tuesday.