INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 135, No. 23
MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018
n
12 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Conservative Activism
Dark Tragedy
Disappointing Defeat
Rain Showers
Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens, leading members of Turning Point U.S.A., will visit Cornell in November. | Page 3
Daniel Moran ’20 evaluates a documentary exploring the life of the late Lee Alexander McQueen, a famed designer. | Page 7
Football was unable to recreate last year’s magic, failing to Colgate 31-0 this Saturday. | Page 16
HIGH: 66˚ LOW: 38˚
Ithaca Mayor Says Cornell Should Contribute More to City By MATTHEW McGOWEN Sun Senior Editor
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 blasted the University in an interview with The Sun on Thursday for not contributing enough to its home city after he unveiled a new budget plan for the city of Ithaca in which Cornell’s contribution increased by only a little less than $30,000. “Ithaca would be a better place to live if Harvard were here instead of Cornell,” Myrick said. “The streets would be better paved, we’d have more police officers and the taxes would be lower.” Cornell’s contribution to the total budget for 2019 is estimated at $1,365,594, a $29,936 increase over last year according to the budget narrative, but Myrick said that the University has an “enormous” impact on municipal operations, and gives little back to the city compared to similar institutions elsewhere. In a Common Council meeting in the beginning of October, Myrick said that Cornell owns $2.1 billion dollars in tax-exempt property, which is nearly equivalent to all other taxable-property in Ithaca, The Ithaca Voice reported. The University is expected to contribute more than
last year partially because the proposed budget plan URSA Space Systems, a geospatial intelligence comincreased the stormwater fees — essentially a tax on pany, and Rosie, an online grocery shopping platform, impermeable surface area — for large property owners both founded and headed by Cornell alumni. like Cornell by 81 percent. According to statistics provided by Rev, the group “We’re not looking for fees that specifically target has raised $18.2 million in capital, generated $7.8 Cornell. What we want them to do is million in revenue and created 76 jobs in to voluntarily make a contribution that Ithaca through the businesses it has helped would make them good citizens,” Myrick launch. told The Sun. According to its website, The McGovern Family Center’s mission is “ to foster the John Carberry, senior director of media development of early-stage Cornell life scirelations, responded to Myrick’s criticism by citing Cornell’s myriad effects on ence startups,” and to increase and retain the local economy as outlined in a 2017 “employment and economic development University fact sheet, including $142 milfor New York State.” In 2017, McGovern raise $47 million dollars for it’s Ithaca clilion in local spending, $5.9 million in taxes and fees, $55.9 million in construction, and ents and created 18 local jobs, according to $65.2 million in venture capital funding the University fact sheet. MAYOR MYRICK ’09 raised by Rev: Ithaca Startup Works and In a statement provided to The Sun, Joel the McGovern Family Center for Venture Development. Malina, Vice President for University Relations said Rev is a startup business incubator that began in Cornell was “proud of its numerous contributions to 2014 as a collaborative project through Cornell, Ithaca the economic health of Ithaca and Tompkins County,” College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College. adding that the University provides “significant finanIn its four years of operation, Rev has spun off several companies that are now housed in Ithaca, including See BUDGET page 9
Cornellians Aid Syrian Civil War Refugees By AVRAHAM SPRARAGEN Sun Staff Writer
JING JIANG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Resisting afro-pessimism | Ndaba Mandela emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship in Africa in a roundtable on Friday.
Mandela’s Grandson Visits
‘Out with the old, in with the new:’ Ndaba Mandela champions African youth, culture By KAREN LI Sun Staff Writer
Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, called for youth empowerment and the celebration of African identity in a roundtable of “friends, brothers, sisters, cousins,” just shy of 20 students Friday afternoon. Ndaba is the founder and chairman of the Africa Rising Foundation, an organization that aims to empower African youth worldwide. Its founding was sparked by a book describing Africa during the slave trade as an “absolute abomination,” Ndaba said. “That is not the perspective that I want my fellow brothers and sisters to continue perpetuating across the world,” he continued.
Instead, Ndaba said that Africa Rising empowers young people to fight “Afro-pessimism” shaped by mainstream media, and to carry the name of Africa through education, entrepreneurship and pride in being African. Native to a South African village with very high unemployment, Ndaba recognizes entrepreneurship — specifically passion, failure, and collaboration — as the road to empowering ourselves and each other. “There’s no room for failure in Africa,” said Ndaba on the lack of support for entrepreneurial spirit on his continent. “But as an entrepreneur, failure has to become your friend. You See MANDELA page 4
This summer, Cornell faculty and alumni volunteered in Lebanese refugee camps to provide aid to victims of the Syrian Civil War, one of the largest humanitarian crises of the 21st century. The two doctors and a historian shared harrowing tales from their mission during a panel on Friday. The event featured Shweta Iyer ’09, a member of the pediatric emergency medicine department at NYU Langone Health, Prof. Josayn Abisaab, emergency medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine and Prof. Mostafa Minawi, history, the director of the Ottoman & Turkish Studies Initiative. All three were stationed in northern Lebanon with the Syrian American Medical Society. “It’s been seven years and the crisis continues. The level of destruction in Syria is almost unparalleled. For half of the country’s population, picking up and leaving was the only option,” Minawi said at
the event. Over 5 million Syrians have fled the country while 6.6 million are internally displaced, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. Minawi stressed the importance of recognizing the common humanity of the Syrian refugees. “It is important for us to remember that most refugees, at one point or another, had lives incredibly similar to ours. Most of them wanted good lives; they wanted to go to university,” he said. Minawi worked as a SAMS interpreter in Lebanon, servicing doctors during medical treatment. He shared the tragic story of a father of three who had his leg blown off. “He considered himself lucky to have lost his leg. It meant that he could finally leave his refugee camp in Damascus, where he was dying of starvation,” Minawi said. All along, See SYRIA page 4
‘It’s been seven years’ | Three Cornellians traveled to Lebanese refugee camps to assist the victims of the protracted Syrian Civil War (one image of which is seen above) that started in 2011.
IVOR PRICKETT / THE NEW YORK TIMES