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INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 12

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

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ITHACA, NEW YORK

16 Pages – Free

News

Arts

Sports

Weather

A ‘Non-Linear’ Life

12 Years a Student

A Running Start

Mostly Cloudy HIGH: 81° LOW: 66º

The Sun talks to President Skorton about his life journey in the first installment of “Cornell Close-Ups.” | Page 3

Zach Zahos ’15 examines the unique educational value in Hollywood movies about race. | Page 8

Univ. Bus Subsidy Not InWriting,TCAT Says

The Cornell cross country team will open the 2014 season against Army on Friday. | Page 15

Idea exchange

By SOFIA HU Sun Senior Writer

Cornell’s agreement with the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit to pay the bus service $1 per ride for bulk fare was never formally written down, according to Frank Proto ’65, vice chairman of the TCAT Board of Directors. “This agreement was not memorialized in a written Memorandum of Understanding, but Cornell made its payments pursuant to that agreement [on $1 per ride],” Proto said. The $1 per ride number was first calculated from how much it would cost a non-Cornellian with a monthly pass to ride the bus, according to TCAT General Manager Joe Turcotte. “[With a $45 monthly pass], if you take approximately 22 to 23 work days in a month and you travel to and from work via TCAT, then the average cost is $1 per ride,” he said. While the University paid this figure from 2006 to 2010, it steadily began paying less per rider in the following years. Cornell paid 84 cents per rider in 2013, according to See TCAT page 5

HAEWON HWANG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Kelsey Kruse ’16, founder of the startup company Saund, presents to the audience at the Cornell Entrepreneurshp Kickoff event Tuesday, held in the POPSHOP.

Cornellians: S.A. Diversity Initiative Unlikely to Influence Legislation By NOAH RANKIN Sun City Editor

This article is the final part of a series regarding changes to the Student Assembly’s United Student Body initiative. In the wake of changes made to United Student Body — the Student Assembly initiative passed in spring 2013 that requires several student groups to outline Diversity and Inclusion Plans to receive funding — many students have voiced support for the S.A.’s pledge to increase diversity on

campus through face-to-face collaboration. Some students, however, voiced concern that this emphasis comes at the cost of United Student Body being unable to affect S.A. legislation. The Slope Day Programming Board is an example of a byline-funded organization that has fallen under United Student Body’s requirements since last year. Garrison Lovely ’16, executive director of SDPB, said he believes USB’s framework strikes the “difficult balance” of encouraging diversity within individual organizations.

C.U.Named 15th Best U.S.University By ANNIE BUI Sun News Editor

Cornell was named the 15th best national university by U.S. News and World Report, which released the 30th edition of its Best Colleges rankings Monday. The University’s ranking rose one place from last year when it was ranked 16th best national

university. Previously, Cornell had been ranked 15th for three straight years from 2010 to 2013. This year, another Ivy League institution — Princeton University — claimed the spot for best national university, clutching onto a title it has now held for four straight years. The methodology for the

national universities rankings takes into account factors such as undergraduate academic reputation, student retention, faculty resources, student selectivity and financial resources, according to U.S. News and World Report’s website. Annie Bui can be reached at abui@cornellsun.com.

Princeton University: 1 Harvard University: 2 Yale University: 3 Columbia University: 4 University of Penn.: 8 Darthmouth College: 11 Cornell University: 15 Brown University: 16 BRITTNEY CHEW / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Ivy rivals | After surpassing Brown University, Cornell is no longer the lowest ranked Ivy on the U.S. News and Report’s national ranking.

“Diversity on campus and in student organizations is a very difficult issue to address,” he said. “Doing nothing can lead to insular, isolated student organizations that don’t represent Cornell's composition. Doing too much can lead to backlash and accusations of overstepping authority.” Lovely said that while SDPB does not have a selective membership process, under United Student Body it will look for cross-programming opportunities to make Slope See USB page 5

Rick Wallace Poised to Win Ithaca City Court Primary Local attorney Rick Wallace appears likely to win the Democratic primary for Ithaca City Court Judge, with unofficial results as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday reporting that he seized 41.3 percent of the total number of ballots cast. The other contenders — Kristine Shaw J.D. ’01 and Seth Peacock J.D. ’01 — garnered 21.12 percent and 37.42 percent of the vote, respectively, according to

the Tompkins County Board of Elections. With 1,827 ballots cast in total,

WALLACE

Wallace received 745 votes as of Tuesday night, with Peacock close behind at 675 votes and Shaw with 381 votes.

Wallace, Peacock and Shaw are competing to fill one of two positions for Ithaca City Court Judge. The other position is currently occupied by Scott Miller. Peacock — who was appointed by Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 to become interim city court judge after the June resignation of Judge Judith Rossiter — will fill the rest of his term until Dec. 31. — Compiled by Annie Bui


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