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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 95 News
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015
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Arts
Nutritional Nuggets
Cornell Close-Ups profiles Prof. Levitsky, who went from “hating” college to teaching nutrition. | Page 3
ITHACA, NEW YORK Sports
Weather
Treasure Chest
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The men’s wrestling team came in third place at the National Duals competition this weekend. | Page 16
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U.A.Aims to Centralize‘Disjointed’Campus Code
Students say overlap and policy ambiguities inhibit campus awareness of rights By SOFIA HU Sun Senior Writer
tionalizing the Rights of Cornell Community Members” given to the U.A. Tuesday, Minikus said University policy is “located all over the place in a disjointed fashion.” She proposed centralization as a means of raising awareness about what a person’s rights are on campus and which administrators are in charge of handling, implementing and revising codes.
Codes, Codes, Codes
is authorized by the Board of Trustees and subject to recommendations from the Codes and Judicial Committee, according to the code. The “responsible office[s]” for Policy 6.4 — which address sexual assault and violence issues — includes the Office of Workforce Policy and Labor Relations, the Office of the Judicial Administrator and the athletics department. The Academic Integrity Code is established by the Faculty Senate. The Residential House Rules — which all residents of University residence halls and program houses must follow — can be found on the Living at Cornell website. Residents are also subject to the terms and conditions of their housing contract. In addition, policies regarding Greek Life are overseen by the Office of Fraternities, Sororities and Independent Living. However, these codes often overlap, according to Minikus. A student living in a residence hall must follow both the campus code ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER and the house rules, though dif-
These codes deal with many aspects of life on campus, including academic integrity, dorm living and Greek life. Not only are students subject to a number of codes, different administrators handle each one. The Campus Code of Conduct — which sets forth “basic principles and important policies” regarding “conduct” —
If you are a student leaving Uris Library at 3 a.m. and a Cornell University police officer approaches you and asks for your identification, what are your rights? If you are a professor and a CUPD officer asks to search your office, what are your rights? If you are an employee and a CUPD officer asks to search your gym bag, what are your rights? Members of the Cornell community are subject to a number of University policies and codes that often overlap, which is contributing to a lack of awareness of the rights Cornellians have on campus. Ambiguities and overlap in these codes has led to cases in which Cornellians are unsure or ignorant of how to assert their rights, according to Amanda Minikus grad, a judicial codes councilor. Minikus and Student Assembly members are trying to address this issue by centralizing these codes and making them widely available to all Taking a stand | Amanda Minikus grad, Sarah Balik ’15 and Juliana Batista ’16 propose centralizing campus Cornellians. In a presentation titled “Institu- codes at a University Assembly meeting Tuesday.
See CODES page 4
C.U. Police Find U.A.: No Advance Notice for Free Speech Events 250 Bags of Heroin At Parking Lot By SOFIA HU
Sun Senior Writer
By GABRIELLA LEE Sun Staff Writer
Cornell Police charged a 24-year-old man Tuesday afternoon for the possession of 250 bags, or $4,000 worth, of heroin, according to police. An officer on routine patrol checked on an occupied vehicle in a parking lot owned by the University in the 400 block of Stewart Ave., where they found a hypodermic needle on the floor of the vehicle, according to police. Henry D. Roshane — a Jamaican citizen — was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and arraigned in Ithaca City Court, according to a press release.
Roshane is currently held in the Tompkins County Jail on $3,000 bail. Cornell Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection were able to determine upon further investigation that Roshane entered the United States in 2004, but has since “remained illegally,” according to police. Two other occupants of the vehicle were released at the scene. Roshane and the other occupants of the car are not affiliated with Cornell, according to the release. Police said one of the occupants was also wanted “out of Florida for non-extraditable drug warrants.” Roshane is due to appear in Ithaca City Court Friday. Gabriella Lee can be reached at glee@cornellsun.com.
The University Assembly declined President David Skorton’s request to include a provision in the Campus Code of Conduct that would recommend event planners to submit advance notice for free speech events Tuesday. In an 8-1 vote approving Resolution 3 — titled “Response to the President’s Request for ‘Limited, Voluntary Advance Notice’ — the U.A. decided not to amend the Campus Code of Conduct. Skorton first asked that the U.A.’s Codes and Judicial Committee introduce “a limited advance-notice procedure to allow staff to adequately prepare and safeguard participants” on June 26, in response to a resolution the U.A. passed March 11. That resolution proposed several amendments to the campus code to clarify freedom of speech. A draft of the resolution included a suggestion that protesters provide advance notice for on-campus demonstrations, but this was removed following lengthy discussion and protest from community members. With the vote yesterday, the U.A. again affirmed the decision not to include recommendations for advance notices.
CJC decided against the President’s However, according to Prof. request, because such notifications are Randy Wayne, plant science, the “potentially restrictive to spontaneous campus code does not provide recomexpression and contrary to the spirit mendations. and purposes” of the campus code, “It’s not in the code to give recomaccording to the resolution. mendations,” said Wayne, who is also “It’s important that we add no addi- a member of CJC. “It’s principles.” tional restrictions that would make The U.A. has considered issues on expressions of free speech limited on freedom of speech in the campus code this campus,” said Joseph Fridman ’17, since 2013, following an Nov. 2012 a CJC member and undesignated at- incident where both Students for large representative for the Student Assembly. “We “It’s important that we add no decided to preserve the fideliadditional restrictions that would ty of the code and we decidmake expressions of free speech ed not to act on President Skorton’s suggestion after limited on this campus.” discussion with the CJC, Joseph Fridman ’17 which included members of the Employee Assembly and S.A. [as well as CJC member] Kathy Justice in Palestine and Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee protested on Zoner.” Prof. Ronald Booker, neurobiolo- Ho Plaza at the same time. gy and behavior, a member of the A Faculty Senate investigation of the U.A., said he believed President protest — during which a Cornell Skorton’s requested addition on an University police officer allegedly advance notification would have been pushed faculty members supporting SJP a “recommendation” to the campus and threatened them with arrest — reccode and not a set principle. ommended clarifying the campus code. “It might give someone pause on the The Senate also concluded that the right benefits and costs of having a permit,” to protest without having to file a form Booker said. “You don’t recognize a dif- called the UUP should be preserved. ference between a recommendation and a principle. We want thoughtful consid- Sofia Hu can be reached at shu@corenllsun.com. erate actions [from protesters].”