INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 78
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Keep on Truckin’
Cold Comfort
Roommate Power
Snow HIGH: 34° LOW: 25º
North Campus food truck Louie’s Lunch gets a brand new truck with several improvements. | Page 3
Tamar Law ’17 finds solace from the cold with Wild Child’s warm performance at The Dock Sunday. | Page 9
Gymnastic co-captains Hannah Clark ’16 and Haylie Cronin ’16 dish on everything in “Ten Questions.” | Page 15
College Rating System Unlikely to Affect C.U. Faculty criticize White House’s proposal to rank nation’s colleges by retention,accessibility,aid By JONATHAN SWARTZ
Cornell. Prof. Ronald Ehrenberg, industrial and labor relations, said he believes the ranking system is still largely undefined Though the Obama Administration is months away and the Department of Education has only produced a from releasing a universal, nationwide college rating sys- “sketch of concepts.” tem, Cornell professors and administrators are expressing “We don’t know if institutions will be ranked high, adedoubt that such a metric would impact the University quate or failing [as] three [distinct] categories or [if] within significantly. categories there will be more detailed rankings,” Ehrenberg President Barack Obama first proposed the ratings said. system in August 2013 in an effort to Ehrenberg added that he thought improve access and affordability for Cornell would “be fine” regardless of its students by holding colleges and “I think Cornell will be position in the new system. universities accountable for their fine regardless of how “If the ranking scheme ever is tied to cost and performance. The system funding — [for example,] high performwe appear on that will be released at the beginning of ing institutions would receive higher Pell the 2015-2016 academic year, Grant funds — this will largely be irreleranking.” according to the Department of vant to us because only a very small share Education, and a current draft of of the grant aid our students receive come Prof. Ronald Ehrenberg the proposal was released Dec. 19. from Pell Grant funds,” he said. According to the draft, colleges and However, Joel Malina, vice president universities may be judged on graduation and retention for University relations, said that Cornell applauds the rates, the schools’ accessibility to low-income and first-gen- Department of Education’s goal to create a new metric. eration students, the ability of their graduates to pay back “We commend President Obama and the Department of their student loans and the percentage of students receiving Education for taking on one of the most important issues of Federal Pell Grants. our time — how to make higher education affordable for and Some faculty and University officials have voiced skepticism as to how much the plan will actually affect colleges like See RATING page 4 Sun Senior Writer
JABIN BOTSFORD / THE NEW YORK TIMES
State of the Union | President Barack Obama speaks at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia on Wednesday.
Cuomo’s Student Loan Plan Aims to Reduce Graduate Debt By CHRISTOPHER BYRNS Sun Staff Writer
Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) proposed a plan last week for New York State to cover loan payments for certain college graduates, a development Cornell administrators and professors have expressed tentative support toward. Under the proposed plan — which Cuomo unveiled during his State of the
State Address on Jan. 18 — the state will work with the federal Pay As You Earn program, covering loan repayments for the first two years after graduation. To be eligible for the plan — called the “Get On Your Feet Loan Forgiveness Program” — a student must attend college in New York State and continue to live in the state after graduation, participate in See DEBT page 4
Down to business
Presidential Councillor Bartels ’48 Dies at 92 In addition, Bartels Hall — which Henry Bartels ’48, a presidential councillor and member of the Cornell hosts a climbing wall, the athletic ticket office and offices for University Council, died several coaches — is Jan. 16, the University named in their honor. announced Wednesday. He Before his time at was 92. Cornell, Bartels spent two Bartels, who graduated years at Rutgers University with a degree in industrial and served as a naval aviaengineering from Cornell, tor in World War II. After donated millions of dollars graduating in 1948, he to the University for acadeBARTELS ’48 worked in metal manufacmic and athletic causes, turing at Insilco Corp., according to the according to the University. University. Bartels is survived by his wife, two Along with his wife, Nancy Bartels ’48, he established a world affairs fel- sons and four grandchildren. lowship in 1984 and made a $15 mil—Compiled by Noah Rankin lion gift to Cornell athletics in 1999.
S.A. Calls for Open Course Evaluations Skorton: University-wide system would be ‘challenging’ By SOFIA HU Sun Senior Writer
KERN SHARMA / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Andrew Halpern ’16, Alex Spitzer ’16 and Einar Veizaga ’16 table for the Cornell Autonomous Underwater Vehicle business team in Duffield Hall Wednesday.
A Student Assembly resolution proposing that most University courses be subject to an open evaluation system may be presented before the Faculty Senate in February. The Student Assembly passed the original reso-
lution — called “Calling for Implementation of Open Course Evaluations” — Nov. 20. In the resolution, the S.A. called upon President David Skorton and the University to plan, develop and implement an open course evaluation system that would allow students to access information
including preliminary course syllabi, previous class sizes and course median grades. “We are trying to realize the idea of ‘any person, any study,’ but students have very little access to information about classes they’re See RESOLUTION page 5