INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 7
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Science
Sports
Weather
Denied
A Century of Plant Bio
Flying Colors
Sunny HIGH: 79 LOW: 55
The Student Assembly appropriations committee said one group would be ineligible for byline funding. | Page 3
Cornell’s Department of Plant Biology celebrated its hundredth year this summer. | Page 8
Cornell women’s cross country ranked No. 10 in a national 2013 preseason poll. | Page 16
Schumer to Forge Cornell,Govt.Ties
MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pledges to help C.U.become site of first dairy food safety center By ALEXA DAVIS Sun Staff Writer
During a tour Tuesday of Cornell’s Stocking Hall, the new home to a food science facility and the reopened Dairy Bar, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pledged to help Cornell become the site of the nation’s first dairy food safety center. Schumer, who hopes to urge the federal government to bolster its partnerships with the University, said a dairy food safety center would provide a platform for an upstate N.Y. dairy and food region initiative: a project that would stimulate growth in dairy and food industries in the state. Schumer, joined by Cornell administrators, local elected officials, faculty and dairy industry partners, said such an establishment would bring Cornell’s research to a national stage, increase the amount of funding received by the University and create new economic opportunities within the state. Ithaca would be an ideal location for a national dairy food safety center because both Cornell and upstate New York have a reputation for being leaders in the dairy industry, according
to Schumer. The recent $105 million renovation of Stocking Hall, coupled with strong industry support for dairy programming from companies like Wegmans, are only two of many qualities that make Cornell’s dairy program unparalleled by programs at other universities, New Schumer said. “Dairy safety is a very steps| See DAIRY page 4
Senator Schumer speaks about his plans to help the University create a dairy food safety center at Stocking Hall Tuesday.
County Judge Hopefuls Make Their Case Cmail Not at Risk of By TYLER ALICEA Sun Senior Writer
Just one week before the Democratic primary election for Tompkins County Judge, candidates — including two Cornell alumni and the defense attorney in the criminal trial of three former Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity pledges — spoke about their qualifications at a public forum at Tuesday. The four candidates are Pamela Bleiwas ’87, Joe Cassidy, Kelly Damm and Seth Peacock J.D. ’01. The elected judge will serve for 10 years and act as a magistrate for county, surrogate and family courts, according to a press release from the
Tompkins County Public Library. Kay Sharp, president of the Tompkins County League of Women Voters — which is a sponsor of the event — moderated the forum, which took place at the Tompkins County Public Library. Bleiwas, who has been practicing law for 22 years, said her experience — which she said is nine years longer than other candidates — makes her an ideal candidate for the job. She added that family court is her specialty. Peacock, who moved to Tompkins County to attend Cornell Law School, said he wants to be a See JUDGES page 5
MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The candidates speak | Tompkins County Judge candidates spoke about their qualifications at a public forum at Tompkins County Public Library Tuesday. The candidates from left to right are Joe Cassidy, Pamela Bleiwas ’87, Kelly Damm and Seth Peacock J.D. ’01.
Google Data Mining By JONATHAN SWARTZ Sun Senior Writer
As anger grows over the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance programs, which have given it access to Gmail users’ emails, Cornell officials said students using their University-affiliated email accounts are not at risk for data mining by the Internet giant. Privacy advocates expressed outrage when Google stated in a June 13 court filing that Gmail users should have “no legitimate expectation[s] of privacy in information he [or she] voluntarily turns over to third parties.” In the last few months, Google, along with other tech companies like Facebook and Verizon, has faced increasing pressure from the public to explain its role in the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. Despite the concerns civil liberties organizations, politicians and journalists have raised over the NSA’s surveillance program, University officials said
students and community members are safe using their Cornellaffiliated Gmail accounts. According to Tracy Mitrano J.D. ’95, director of IT Policy, the University has an enterprise contract with Google that offers a greater degree of privacy protection than the “Our contracts enterprise most concontract sumers have with prohibits data Google. Under the mining except Univerfor internal sity’s contract, stu- purposes such dents and as indexing.” faculty are protected Tracy Mitrano f r o m J.D.’95 Google’s data mining and advertisements. “Our enterprise contract prohibits data mining except for internal purposes such as indexing –– a function that all users appreciate when they look for specific emails,” she said. “Also, while a student is at Cornell, advertisements are not See GOOGLE page 4