INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 132, No. 91
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
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Humanities endowment chairman William D. Adams argues for the importance of humanities. | Page 3
The Second Mother is a “didactic class-struggle movie,” writes Mark Distefano ’16. | Page 9
C.U.Law Students Receive‘Offensive Image’ in Email By SO HYUNG KIM Sun Staff Writer
An “offensive image” was sent out to the Cornell Law School student listserv Monday by the Cornell Black Law Student Association, according to a statement made by the BLSA. The meme captioned “The meme, “ABBA REE I CAN which was sent FRYYY” accompanied a of an Asian man to a student-only photo singing and was attached listserv to an email sent by the BLSA to promote an promoting a unspecified studentstudentsponsored event. Shortly sponsored event after the incident, the traded on offen- BLSA issued an apology sive stereotypes to the law school community. about Asians.” “On behalf of BLSA, we would like to formalDean Eduardo ly apologize for an offenPeñalver ’94 sive image included in an earlier advertisement of a BLSA-sponsored event,” the statement reads. “BLSA was created — and strives to be — a diverse network of students committed to fostering an inclusive environment within the law school comSee LAW page 4
The men’s hockey team focuses attention on fast approaching ECAC tournament. | Page 16
Mayor Svante Myrick’09 Defends New Drug Policy Plan Pledges to make treatment more‘humane and equitable’ By TALIA JUBAS Sun Staff Writer
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 presented The Ithaca Plan — an attempt to address the city’s rampant drug abuse — at a press conference this morning, saying Ithaca is “poised to lead the nation” with the implementation of the country’s first supervised heroin injection site. Two years ago, Myrick said he formed a municipal drug strategy committee to confront the rising death toll from opioid overdosing. The mayor said the nation’s protracted “War on Drugs” has not only levied heavy financial costs, it has also proven ineffective and has enforced a system of oppression and racism. “We need a drug policy to make sure that we are responding in a more humane and more equitable way,” he said. “The war on drugs … has failed.”
The most controversial recommendation in The Ithaca Plan is its plan to open a supervised injection facility, where drug users could receive monitored injections of opioids to prevent overdose without fear of arrest. Despite the controversy this idea has sparked, Myrick said he remains confident in his plan. He compared the radical nature of the policy to public health campaigns to provide sexual education to teenagers in the 1970s and recent needle exchange programs, which he said have led to a reductions in illness and fatalities. He also pointed out that a similar injection clinic has operated in Vancouver for over 10 years, and even after two million
injections he said they have not had one death. The clinic opened as a part of a broader policy restructuring in Vancouver to address the tragic See DRUG PLAN page 4 CAMERON POLLACK / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Planning Board Discusses Remodeling Hughes Hall,Ag Quad LAUREN KELLY Sun Staff Writer
COURTESY OF CITY OF ITHACA
Refreshed campus quad | Top: A rendering shows an aerial view of the proposed Ag Quad. Right: The plan includes a Mann Library plaza.
The City of Ithaca Planning and Development Board discussed the remodeling of Hughes Hall and the revitalization of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Quad on Tuesday. According to University architect Gilbert Delgado, the Hughes Hall project aims to meet the spatial needs of faculty and students and improve exterior aesthetics of Cornell Law School. The renovation will largely focus on a new enclosed loggia connecting Hughes Hall to Myron Taylor Hall and a new staircase of the west side of Hughes Hall. The loggia should provide better access from Hughes Hall to the Berger Atrium and create more open spaces that enhance way-finding through the facility, according to Delgado. He added that, funds permitting, the University plans to repair the dining terrace near the Fork and Gavel Café “to have a more spacious and modern eatery and event space.” The Hughes Hall construction is planned for the summer to not interfere with traffic during the academic year. An estimated completion date has been set for July 2017, according to project documents. The Board also discussed the Ag Quad Utility Infrastructure Upgrades and Landscape Revitalization Project. Delgado explained that maintenance on the Ag quad will provide an opportunity to improve its appearance. “A fair amount of utility work needs to happen in the Ag Quad and because of that we have the opportunity to revitalize the quad’s aesthetics,” he said. Davies Orinda, project manager for Contract Colleges Facilities, further explained that the project is necessary See CONSTRUCTION page 4