INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 132, No. 130
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Balancing Act
Who Runs the World
On the National Stage
Sunny HIGH: 56º LOW: 30º
Prof. Paul Velleman shares passion for academics and the arts.
Jael Goldfine ’17 discusses misogyny in visual art.
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The men’s and women’s track teams will travel to Pennsylvania to compete in the Penn Relays. | Page 16
Myrick’09 Extols Ithaca Plan at Town Hall Points to reduced crime,negative externalities in foreign cities with supervised injection facilities
By DREW MUSTO Sun Staff Writer
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09, Ithaca Common Council and other Ithaca officials discussed The Ithaca Plan and development in Collegetown at a town hall meeting in Klarman Hall Atrium Tuesday. Myrick praised the promise of the Ithaca Plan — which include the introduction of a controversial supervised heroin injection facility. “First, [the facility] saves lives,” he said. “Vancouver, where they have done this for 13 years — it’s been used two million times without a single overdose death. We have 30,000 people in this town. One person each month dies from opiate overdose in Ithaca, and 125 people will die today in America.” Myrick also bolstered his plan with evidence from Switzerland’s injection facilities. “In Switzerland, which has 23 supervised injection facilities, overdose deaths have decreased by twothirds,” he explained. “If we had what Switzerland has in America, 5,000 fewer people would have died last year. The facility will keep people alive.” Myrick added that the facility will reduce public heroin consumption and increase safety. “Large crimes like rape, burglary and assault, and small crimes like graffiti and loitering, all went down around the Vancouver facility,” he said. “When you bring people indoors and into the light, you reduce all the negative externalities of drug use.” The injection facility will also reduce HIV and
BRITTNEY CHEW / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Above the influence | Ithaca’s Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 (gesturing) defends his controversial Ithaca Plan at a town hall meeting in Klarman Atrium yesterday, alongside other city officials.
hepatitis transmission rates, according to Myrick. “These are diseases that should have been eradicated long ago, yet they are increasing in almost every county in New York State,” he said. “More people each month are getting HIV in New York state because of I.V. use. That will not happen at the supervised injection facility.” Myrick added that the high cost of HIV medication adds pressure to the lives of users and could
potentially exacerbate the strains that lead them to use heroin in the first place. “Why is that? It’s complicated, but the simple reason is that the time immediately after you use is actually the time you have the least withdraw symptoms,” he explained. “So some users will have a moment of clarity immediately after use — they may decide they
Classes Cancelled After Rockefeller Blackout By JOSH GIRSKY Sun News Editor
Rockefeller Hall was closed for several hours on Tuesday after the building lost power due to a transformer failure, according to Rebecca Valli, Media Relations Specialist. The closure was announced
at 8 a.m. in an email sent to the Cornell community. Classes were initially canceled until 10 a.m., but later cancellations were extended until 4 p.m. No occupants were allowed in the building while it was closed, according to the University. “For me and for my students, it was an unexpected and
U.A. Suggests New Cornell Store Price Model
guilt-free vacation — but one that, like all vacations, we’ll have to pay for later,” said Prof. Robert Thorne, physics. Matthew Lehman ’19 agreed, saying that one of his canceled classes has a test coming up later this week. “It was really bad timing to have classes cancelled during
prelim season,” he said. Power was restored by 3:30 p.m. All classes after 4 and evening activities were held as scheduled, announced the University. Josh Girsky can be reached at jgirsky@cornellsun.com.
Clean sweep
By JONATHAN LEVENFELD Sun Staff Writer
The University Assembly passed a resolution by a vote of 9-2-1 recommending that the Cornell Store shift its financial model to reduce the cost of academic materials at its meeting Tuesday. Gabriel Kaufman ’18, U.A. undergraduate representative, and the resolution’s sponsor, explained that the current revenue generating See ASSEMBLY page 4
DAMON WINTER / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Donald Trump gives a thumbs up after his five primary victories on Tuesday.
See TOWN HALL page 4
East Avenue Closes For Utility Work And Road Repairs Due to underground utility work and road repairs, the portion of East Avenue between Tower Road and the Lincoln Hall driveway will be closed to vehicle traffic beginning today. Although the sidewalk on the West side of the road will also be closed, the East side will remain open, according to a TCAT press release. Maintenance crews will be replacing catch basins and valve boxes, installing raised crosswalks, milling and paving and re-striping the road, according to The Ithaca Journal. Bus stops will be rerouted along West Avenue, Tower Road and Garden Avenue and serve stops along the detoured routes, the release said. The Campus-to-Campus will continue to stop at Sage Hall, according to a press release from Cornell Media Relations. “Passengers are asked to anticipate delays, but to please be at their bus stops on time,” the TCAT release recommended. — Compiled by Josh Girsky