INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 131, No. 46
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Plentea of Flavors
A Thousand Words
Wrapping It Up
P.M. Showers HIGH: 67° LOW: 48º
Caravan Serai, a new tea shop on the Commons, promises to offer an international variety of high-quality organic teas. | Page 3
Shay Collins ’18 says Elisabeth Meyer’s, art, exhibit Print Text Language explores an “oftneglected” world of books. | Page 9
Univ. Backs Cuomo’s State Consent Policy
The Cornell sprint football team will conclude its season this Friday when it plays host to Mansfield. | Page 16
COURTESY OF THE CITY OF ITHACA
By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Senior Writer
Cornell officials say the University is already aligned with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D-N.Y.) recent affirmative consent policy — in contrast to a “no means no” definition of consent for sexual activity. On Oct. 2, Cuomo declared that New York State would require all 64 State University of New York schools to ensure their policies on sexual assault included a provision for affirmative consent, following the passing of a California bill requiring students to obtain consent that is “affirmative, conscious and voluntary” before engaging in sexual activity. The California bill — SB-967 — mandates that in order for any college in California to receive state funding, the college must adopt a policy concerning sexual assault that requires affirmative and ongoing consent that “can be revoked at any time” from all parties involved in a sexual encounter. “It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity,” states the bill, which was signed into law on Sept. 28. “Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent.” Cuomo will also work to adopt affirmative consent legislation for New York’s private colleges. However, Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant J.D. ’88 says she believes Cornell already observes such a policy. “If we think about it as a continuum with ‘no means no’ versus a ‘yes means yes’ type of consent, I would say we are much closer on the continuum to ‘yes means yes,’ even though we’ve never articulated it in exactly that way,” Grant said. According to Cornell’s current sexual assault policy, Policy 6.4, consent is defined as “words or actions that show a voluntary agreement to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity.” According to Grant, this aligns with the idea that silence cannot be accepted as “yes.” “One of the things that I think is important to know is that when somebody is experiencing trauma, it can impact the language part of the brain,” Grant said. “While the stereotype might be that somebody who’s being assaulted will fight back and scream no, it’s actually not the most common response.” Grant added that silence is particularly common in campus sexual assaults because of the relative frequency of “acquaintance See CONSENT page 5
Towering above | Pictured is a 2012 rendering, looking northwest from the intersection of S. Cayuga St. and W. Clinton St., of a planned nine-story tower expansion of Hotel Ithaca. The new tower is not yet under construction.
City Sees Boom in Hotel Projects
Three currently proposed in central downtown area
By ANNIE BUI Sun News Editor
In the next few years, Ithacans and visitors alike may notice some stark changes to the Ithaca skyline — primarily as a result of multistory hotel projects that may crop up downtown. Marriott Hotel to Break Ground Later This Year
This week, it was announced that Binghamton-based firm William H. Lane will be the general contractor for the downtown Ithaca Marriott project, according to the construction blog Ithaca Builds. The 10-story hotel will boast 160 guest rooms, a restaurant and meeting space. Final design submissions of the
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construction site and hotel were presented to the City Planning and Development Board in October 2012, according to Ithaca Builds. The hotel will be located on the corner of Aurora and Green Streets. The cost of development for the hotel is projected at $32 million, according to Ithaca Builds. The project is expected to break ground later this year, with an estimated completion date of spring 2017. The developer for the project is Bethesda, Maryland-based Urgo Hotels. Hotel Ithaca Expansion May Finally Gain Traction
A planned major expansion of the Hotel Ithaca may finally gain some traction after an Ithaca agency voted to increase the maxi-
mum amount of a low-interest loan it would award the project, The Ithaca Voice reported Tuesday. While the director of the Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency said the expansion has failed to transpire because of financing issues, the loan may help Hotel Ithaca put together the financing package needed to fund the project, according to The Voice. Plans for the expansion — announced in early 2012 when the hotel was still branded as a Holiday Inn — include a 15,000 square foot conference center and a new nine-story tower boasting 115 guest rooms, according to Ithaca Builds. The Hotel Ithaca is owned and See HOTELS page 4
C.U.Will Offer Four New MOOCs Next Spring By NOAH RANKIN Sun City Editor
JENNIE LI / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students gather in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room Wednesday for a Taste of Culture event.
This spring, Cornell will embark on its second year featuring MOOCs — massive open online courses — by offering six free courses in collaboration with leading MOOC provider edX. Four of the courses — Introduction to Global Hospitality Management, Computing Technology Inside Your Smartphone, The Ethics of Eating and Civic Ecology: Reclaiming Broken Places — are new to the University’s MOOC roster, while the other
two — Networks and American Capitalism, A History were offered last year. The courses will begin at various times in the spring. According to a University press release, the four new courses were selected from 15 submissions, a process similar to last year’s. Though anyone can audit the courses from the edX website for free, in order to receive a “Verified Certificate of Achievement,” one must pay a fee that varies by course, according to the edX website. Without the guaranteed returns of traditional courses,
MOOCs are costly — each course requires approximately $70,000 in non-faculty costs and an estimated 200-300 hours for the University to produce, The Sun previously reported. However, professors in a panel last February stated that the main objective of MOOCs is not to turn a profit, but to expand educational fields and promote Cornell visibility. “We are not in the business of money,” said Joseph Burns Ph.D. ’66, at the February panel. “We are in the business of education — See MOOCs page 4