INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 5
FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2014
!
ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Crossing the Line
No Murder Please
Big Shoes to Fill
Partly Cloudy HIGH: 79° LOW: 61º
The Police Benevolent Association criticizes Svante Myrick’s ’09 recent proposed reforms to IPD. | Page 3
Zachary Zahos ’15 calls Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For a “lifeless, often insidious, failure.” | Page 10
Junior quarterback James Few will take over the starting quarterback position this season. | Page 16
Cornell Will Not Increase Subsidies toTCAT University should pay $500K more to address deficit,TCATsays By SOFIA HU Sun Senior Writer
The University will not further subsidize TCAT for free first-year student bus passes, President David Skorton said 12 days after he announced on May 9 — in front of student RULA SAEED / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
protesters at Day Hall — that he would work to retain the passes. “I cannot at this time find a way to subsidize TCAT beyond what we are already paying,” Skorton wrote in response to a University Assembly resolution in support of the bus passes in May. Currently, the University pays TCAT an annual total of $3.43 million — $830,000 as part of an agreement with City of Ithaca, Tompkins County and TCAT and $2.6 million as a bulk fare for all Cornell ridership — according to University Spokesperson John Carberry. However, since 2011, there has been an increase in the number of students who ride TCAT, Carberry said. Ridership reached over four million total rides in 2013, increasing more than 1.6 million rides since 2004, according to data provided by TCAT. Despite the increase in ridership, the University has not increased the subsidies it pays to the bus service. As a result, Cornell’s payment per ride has decreased from $1 per ride in 2010 to 84 cents currently, according to Carberry. TCAT officials said they are worried that this will further increase TCAT’s deficit.
DATA COURTESY OF TCAT
Slice of the pie | The above chart shows the relative ridership of TCAT stops with an annual ridership of over 100,000 rides. Cornellians accounts for 71 percent of all TCAT ridership, according to TCAT. Call to Action
In March, the University Assembly deliberated over a resSee TCAT page 5
Completion of Commons Construction Further Delayed Until Spring 2015 By JONATHAN SWARTZ Sun Senior Writer
The Ithaca Commons redesign project — which was originally set to be completed in July — will not be finished until next spring, due in part to the fatal crash at Simeon’s Restaurant in June, according to Project Manager Michael Kuo. Originally scheduled to be finished on July 31, the renovation was subsequently delayed for
completion in November. However, project officials no longer expect to meet that deadline either and have further delayed the anticipated completion date to spring 2015, Kuo said. In the aftermath of the June 20 accident — which severely damaged Simeon’s and claimed the life of bartender Amanda Bush — the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation was unable to replace its gas pipes near the
Univ.: Touchdown Not Official Mascot Thought Touchdown the Bear was the University mascot? According to President David Skorton, this is not the case, nor will it be in the foreseeable future. Rather, the official Cornell mascot is simply the Big Red Bear, according to Skorton. At the end of the last school year, the Student Assembly passed Resolution 85 — “Supporting the Creation of an Official Cornell Mascot” — which proposed that the University officially recognize Touchdown as the Cornell mascot. Touchdown’s history at Cornell dates back to 1915, when the varsity football team collected $25 to buy a black bear cub, which it named Touchdown, according to the resolution, which was submitted by several alumni and current S.A. members. “Since that day, Touchdown the Big Red Bear has served as the de facto mascot of Cornell University,” the resolution said. However, on June 19, Skorton said in a response to the resolution that he and several other administrators believe the mascot is the Big Red Bear — not Touchdown, the bear cub. — Compiled by Sofia Hu
restaurant, resulting in further setbacks, according to Kuo. Although NYSEG has now completed its work, the setback will not allow for the project’s completion by the end of the season in November, Kuo said. “As the weather gets cold it will be a challenge to get the finish paving completed from endto-end, but that is still our goal,” Kuo said. “We are excited to say See COMMONS page 5
DIANA MAK / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Heart of town | In part due to the Simeon’s crash on June 20, construction on the Ithaca Commons will no longer be completed by November.
Students Contest Campus LGBT Ranking By EMMA QUIGLEY Sun Staff Writer
While Cornell’s recent rating as a Top 50 LGBT-friendly campus has received positive press and promotion in local news and social media, some Cornellians — particularly leaders within the LGBT community — question how the rating was assessed and the message it conveys to new students. The list, which also features Ithaca College in the top 50, was compiled
by Campus Pride, a national non-profit aimed at providing a safer college environment for LGBT stu-
based on criteria such as campus safety and counseling and health services. Though a spot on the
“One can’t encapsulate the queer experience with a checklist.” Jevan Hutson ’16 dents, according to its website. Cornell received an overall rating of five out of five stars on Campus Pride’s online index, which ranks schools
Campus Pride index is often cited by colleges and universities in promotional materials, some within the Cornell community question the high value placed on this
system of rating. “One can’t encapsulate the queer experience with a checklist,” said Jevan Hutson ’16, President of HAVEN, a student administrative umbrella for many LGBT social and support groups on campus. “Cornell would have definitely received a different ranking if it were gauged in a more student-centric fashion.” A September 2013 report on the survey preSee LGBT page 5