INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 135
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
20 Pages – Free
Science
Opinion
Sports
Weather
Leaves and Stems
Fountain of Youth
Clearing Hurdles
Partly Cloudy HIGH: 66º LOW: 40º
A Cornell study finds that women faculty are preferred twice as much as men for STEM positions. | Page 10
Daniel Fayad ’18 says While We’re Young is an accessible, refreshing film and “easy to identify with.” | Page 12
Both the women’s and men’s track and field teams had impressive finishes at this weekend’s Penn Relays. | Page 20
Suspicious Device Found on Campus Bomb squad safely removes package from outside Clark Hall By ANNIE BUI Sun Managing Editor
SAMANTHA BRIGGS / SUN ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITOR
Scooter away | Authorities respond to a report of a suspicious device found outside Clark Hall yesterday.
A suspicious device was found outside of Clark Hall on Cornell’s Central Campus Tuesday afternoon. A Cornell employee approached an officer from the Cornell University Police Department at 2:07 p.m. with a report of a “suspicious package located along Sciences Drive between Clark and Bailey Halls,” according to the University. CUPD, the Ithaca Police Department, Ithaca Fire Department and Bangs Ambulance responded to the scene, according to the University. Authorities were cordoning off the area surrounding the building at approximately 2:40 p.m. As of 4:50 p.m., police and the Endicott Bomb Squad were on the scene with explosive detection dogs. The local bomb squad was able to safely remove the device at 5:35 p.m., according to the University. The device is currently being analyzed at a laboratory, and no further
information is available. Around 6 p.m., the University sent out an alert through its CornellALERT system that the incident had been resolved and the area around Clark Hall reopened, according to the University. Classes were cancelled for the remainder of the day in Clark Hall and in nearby buildings, including the Space Science Building, Savage and Kinzelberg Hall, Olin, Bailey Hall, Baker Laboratory and Newman Hall. CUPD, who is currently investigating the incident, is seeking the public’s help for information regarding the device or any suspicious activity. On April 14, the Endicott Bomb Squad removed a “small, improvised explosive device” from Bartels Hall. However, the University said investigators “have no reason to believe” the two incidents are related. Annie Bui can be reached at managing-editor@cornellsun.com.
Svante Myrick ’09 Student Activists Investigated by CUPD Zoner: Unrelated to health fee protests in Day Hall, Statler Seeks Reelection For Ithaca Mayor By SOFIA HU
Sun News Editor
By ANDREW LORD Sun Staff Writer
Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 announced on his Facebook page Tuesday that he will seek reelection this fall. Myrick, who turned 28 in March, was one of the youngest American mayors in history when he took office in 2011. He said he is seeking reelection because he has brought the City of Ithaca “on the right track” over his four years in office. “Four years ago ... our city was on the brink of fiscal collapse,” Myrick said in the Facebook post. “We were facing an annual structural budget deficit of $3 million, the threat of mass layoffs, huge tax increases and the delay of critical infrastructure investments … [Since then] we've closed the deficit, lowered the tax rate [and] created jobs faster than any community in New York State.” However, Myrick acknowledged that there is still “more work to do” over the next four years. “While our unemployment is low, the cost of housing is too high,” he said. “Our infrastrucMYRICK ’09 ture is still needs more investment. Our city needs an active and effective advocate in Albany and Washington.” Myrick said his dedication to serving the Ithaca community drives him to serve. “I love this city, I love to serve this city and I hope my service can make a difference,” he said. Andrew Lord can be reached at dlord@cornellsun.com.
The Cornell University Police Department is currently conducting a criminal investigation into the activities of student activists, having contacted at least three for voluntary meetings with an investigator. Police contacted student protester Daniel Marshall ’15 on April 15,
asking to speak with him regarding an incident. According to Police Chief Kathy Zoner, CUPD was asked to “conduct a criminal investigation into alleged felonious behavior.” “This investigation does not relate to the conduct of students in the Office of the President on Feb. 9, 2015 nor on March 26, 2015, outside the Board of Trustee meet-
Dozens of Cornellians Hold Die-In on Ho Plaza By RUBIN DANBERG BIGGS Sun Staff Writer
Nearly 100 Cornell students, staff and faculty staged a “die-in” on Ho Plaza Monday in support of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. During the die-in, participants lied down in order to obstruct the daily course of business and attract attention to their method, event organizers said. Monday’s protests came as Baltimore, Maryland received national attention for riots in response to the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died in police custody. However, one of the event’s organizers, Noelani Gabriel ’16, said the timing of the die-
in was an “unfortunate coincidence of planning the action exactly during the rebellions in Baltimore following the murder of Freddie Gray.” “However, this makes the topic of police violence and white supremacy more salient,” she said. The Baltimore riots are just the latest in a long string of high-profile incidents in which police officers have allegedly used undue force against black citizens. Gabriel said the event organizers wanted to bring attention to these topics on campus. “It is something we wanted to bring attention to on campus because so often,” Gabriel said. “Conversations about race are ignored or
ings — or inside the open session — at the Statler Amphitheater,” Zoner said. However, the CUPD daily crime log for March 26 lists a pending case regarding an unauthorized use of computer at the Statler Hotel. The summary of the incident reads, “Investigator dispatched to take a See CUPD page 4
The squad
ALEJANDRO HERNANDEZ / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Rachel Zao ’15, Sarah Dellet ’18 and Jayant Mukhopadhaya ’15, a Sun designer, cycle on Ho Plaza Tuesday to raise money for affordable housing with Bike and Build.
avoided,” she said. Bariel went on to express the organizers’ distrust of the University in allowing their protest to continue, citing recent action that the University has taken to quell dissent. “We were wary of announcing the action because of the suppression
of student organizers from the University and its law enforcement arms, which ironically, re-emphasizes the necessity for the rally in the first place,” she said. Gabriel, on behalf of the organizers, further stressed a desire to include See DIE-IN page 4