INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 132, No. 41
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2015
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Dining
Sports
Weather
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Probs
Lettuce Taco ’Bout It
Culture Shock
Partly Cloudy HIGH: 66º LOW: 37º
Government professors discuss the negative effects of big money in political campaigns. | Page 3
Kay Xiao ’16 says Dos Amigos’s authentic, Cali-style Mexican food speaks for itself. | Page 8
Men’s hockey head coach aims to improve Big Red’s chances this season through a shift in team culture. | Page 15
Cornellians Debate Financial Aid Myrick’09 Presents
Admins seek to balance need for diversity with faculty salaries
2016 City Budget To Common Council
By TOM SCHREFFLER Sun Staff Writer
Several University administrators and professors spoke about a major financial dilemma that may threaten to decrease current financial aid allocations at a faculty forum Wednesday. The forum — “Cornell’s Financial Aid Policies: Unimaginable Outcomes?” — follows up comments that Dean of Faculty Prof. Joseph Burns Ph.D. ’66, astronomy, made at a Faculty Senate meeting last week, where he questioned “Need is not an the University’s ability to conobjective issue, tinue increasing financial aid in pace with rising tuition it is a subjective costs while still maintaining compensation for qualified issue.” faculty members. Barton Winokur ’61 “We won’t be able to support a diverse student body [if we decrease financial aid]. We’re Cornell. We can’t do that — that’s unimaginable,” Burns said. “Then by the same token, I stop and I think, ‘Oh maybe we can keep [increasing financial aid], but if we do that, we won’t have any money to support excellent faculty.’ That’s unbelievable.” See FINANCIAL AID page 5
Local Activist Enters Mayoral Race as Write-In Local activist Phoebe Brown announced earlier this month that she will launch a write-in campaign for mayor in an attempt to foster a better city dialogue, though she acknowledged the unlikelihood of unseating Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 in his bid for reelection. Brown has been vocal in the past on issues of economic and community development and the need to advance diversity in and around Ithaca. She is currently a community outreach liaison for Cayuga Medical Center’s Center for Healthy Living. Brown told The Ithaca Voice that she is mostly supportive of the work Myrick has done so far as mayor, but feels that some voices have not been represented in this year’s mayoral race. She said she hopes that creating a point of contention will help refocus the election around certain key issues. “I doubt very seriously I will win, and I want [Myrick] to win, truthfully,” Brown said to The Voice. “But I also want people to not just say, ‘Okay, that’s it.’ That’s not the way our system is supposed to be set up.” Brown’s platform focuses on the need to increase governmental transparency, foster diversity, create affordable housing and ensure Ithacans receive living wages. She has been active in the local Black Lives Matter movement and has worked to improve police-community relations. “Our system was built to help people of every income bracket, and there have been many of us left out for a very long time,” Brown told The Voice. “For me, it's scary to do this. But I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to go for it.’” — Compiled by Rebecca Blair
By TALIA JUBAS Sun Senior Writer
SONYA RYU / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Getting needy | Prof. Suzanne Mettler, govern-
Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 presented his 2016 city budget recommendation to the Common Council on Oct. 1, describing it as likely “the most boring of his administration,” The Ithaca Journal reported earlier this month. “It means we’re finally reaching stability,” he said, affirming that initiatives to spur the economy since the recession have generated increased revenue for the city, according to The Journal. Although the budget will remain largely the same, the mayor’s proposal contains a number of changes to advance his financial goals for 2016, which include reducing the tax burden on city taxpayers and continuing to move operating expenses from borrowed capital. In order to achieve these goals, there will not be an increase in the tax rate, which will remain at a rate of $12.89 per $1,000 assessed value. However, Myrick is also proposing a small increase in the tax levy of 1.7 percent, according to The Ithaca Voice. In addition, the city See BUDGET page 5
ment, speaks about the importance of financial aid.
Cayea Murder Trial Wraps Up With Closing Arguments; Jury Begins Deliberations By REBECCA BLAIR Sun Assistant News Editor
The trial of Benjamin Cayea for the murder of Shannon Jones ’15 wrapped up with closing statements Wednesday after three days of testimony covering 15 witnesses. The 12 members of the jury now have to decide whether to convict Cayea of second-degree murder, convict him of second-degree manslaughter or acquit him in Jones’ Thanksgiving 2014 death. The jury can turn to the manslaughter charge if they find that Cayea acted “recklessly” to cause Jones’s death, but did not have the malice required for a murder conviction, according to The Ithaca Journal. In his closing argument, defense attorney Matthew Van Houten told the jury that Cayea loved Jones and that her death was the result of a “passionate” sexual encounter gone awry. Throughout the trial, the defense argued that Jones and
Cayea often invoked the use of choking — the method by which Jones was killed — in their sex life. “This was something that Shannon pushed him to do beyond his level of comfort,”
Van Houten said. “And also that their passionate arguments often transitioned into passionate sex.” During the trial, Cayea took the stand and retracted the confession he gave imme-
diately following Jones’s death, instead promulgating the sexually-fueled version of events. In his closing statement, See TRIAL page 4
Strike a pose
SONYA RYU / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Students participate in an outdoor Zumba session on the Arts Quad as a part of Mental Health Awareness Week, hosted by the Student Assembly and Class Council.