INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 132, No. 81
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Actress and Advocate
Let’s Go Leo
Handling the Ivies
Mostly Cloudy HIGH: 36º LOW: 27º
Marlee Matlin, renowned deaf Oscar winner, shares her story.
Marina Watts ’16 makes Leonardo DiCaprio’s case for the Best Actor Oscar win.
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Women’s basketball team defeats conference opponents Brown and Yale this weekend. | Page 16
President Garrett Begins Treatment For Colon Cancer
SAMANTHA BRIGGS / SUN ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITOR
By SUN STAFF
In a statement Monday, President Elizabeth Garrett announced she is undergoing treatment at Weill Cornell Medicine following a colon cancer diagnosis. Garrett, who was inaugurated as Cornell’s 13th president in September, is undergoing an “aggressive treatment program” and will reduce her travel schedule and commitments in the months to come. “The senior leadership of the university will be handling many of my commitments, representing me and keeping me up to date as we continue to move Cornell forward to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” she wrote. “I am optimistic that with the support of my family, friends and the Cornell community, I will be able to resume a fuller schedule soon and manage this illness,” Garrett added. “Advances in research and clinical care in cancer offer great hope to patients like me, and Cornell and Weill Cornell lead in advancing science in this arena. I am truly grateful to all the wonderful friends and colleagues who are helping me out through this difficult process.” The Sun’s News department can be reached at news-editor@cornellsun.com.
Tompkins County Creates Resident Housing Survey By CHLOE RIPPE Sun Staff Writer
The Tompkins County Planning Department launched a housing survey Wednesday to encourage people who live, work or study in Tompkins County to share their housing experiences and needs.
The survey, open through Feb. 22, is intended to give the county an updated understanding of the housing needs of the residents of the county, since its last housing needs assessment survey was taken 10 years ago. Megan McDonald, senior See SURVEY page 4
Making a Kasich
JOSHUA BRIGHT / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Gov.John Kasich (R-Ohio) stands with David AuCoin, a 71-year-old veteran at a campaign appearance in Plaistow, New Hampshire on Monday.
Talking it out | Provost Michael Kotlikoff addresses the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly who voiced their concerns Monday on the College of Business in McGraw Hall.
Grads Criticize College of Business
GPSA voices disappointment over lack of transparency By JULIA GREENBERG
nance process. In response, Nathaniel Rogers grad, GPSA vice president for operations, said it was “hard The Graduate and Professional Student to say that the faculty felt like they were Assembly voiced their frustration with the involved in the process.” administration’s lack of transparency in the Rogers also said that some graduate studecision making process. dents in the GPSA — an organization which Kotlikoff defended the Board of Trustees’ gives them “the unique opportunity to impact decision citing multiple past studies regarding how Cornell operates”— are frustrated because the need for such a conglomeration of schools. they do not feel that they are part of the These studies, Kotlikoff explains, have process in making recent decisions such as the identified “fragmentation of our business pro- $350 student health insurance fee and the cregrams as a liability for our University.” ation of the College of Business. “In many cases,” he said, “What’s happenWhile the provost apologized for not ing is these proinvolving the comgrams are spending mittee, Kotlikoff resources on those “This is an issue that we could not explained that “this faculty that they is an issue that we really engage publicly with would like to spend could not really on their more spe- a conversation without having an engage publicly cialized faculty and with a conversation programs that diswithout having an avalanche of opposition.” tinguish the school, avalanche of oppoand that arises from Provost Michael Kotlikoff sition.” the fact that we’re Some GPSA not leveraging our members expressed resources and allowing students to access disappointment by this lack of public commuresources across these schools.” nication. The provost described the need for the “It’s striking to me that step one of provost “most efficient organization” which would Kotlikoff ’s process is that the trustees facilitate hiring of new faculty for business approved this empty vessel that really isn’t an programs. empty vessel, that already has kind of the He maintained that preserving the identity framework for the combination... that they and excellence of each individual school — want. That doesn’t seem to be in the spirit of one of the main concerns in response to the the shared governance system that we have at recent decision — will be a “major goal” in the the University,” said Alex Brown grad, GPSA upcoming process. field representative. “It kind of flies in the face Kotlikoff also discussed how faculty from of what faculty and grad students and undereach of the involved schools are “working graduates have been telling the administratogether to determine the faculty governance tion.” process.” Various committees, including Brown explained that he was not criticizing undergraduate and graduate student synergy See GRAD page 4 committees, will also be involved in the gover-
Sun Staff Writer