INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 135, No. 37
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2018
n
ITHACA, NEW YORK
12 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Stop Exploitation
Beautiful Boy
Shots Fell Short
Rain and Snow Showers
CSEC will host a Weill Cornell professor to discuss the issue of child sexual exploitation this week. | Page 3
Isabelle Philippe ’19 says that Beautiful Boy is heart-wrenching and earnest, but somewhat questionable. | Page 6
The men’s basketball team took their first loss of the season this Sunday, falling 73-57 to Colgate. | Page 12
HIGH: 38º LOW: 24º
Light Pollution From North Campus Expansion May Impact Observatory By JOHN YOON Sun Senior Writer
MICHAEL WENYE LI / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
To the stars | Fuertes Observatory, located on North Campus, was built on virtually undeveloped land. Now, increased construction threatens views of the heavens.
On a lucky Friday night, you might be able to see Jupiter’s bands, and even some of its moons, through the telescope at Fuertes Observatory. But such a clear view of the night sky might soon be harder to get from Cornell. Construction plans for the new residential halls on North Campus, slated to begin in 2019 once approved, are concerning Cornell astronomers about light pollution at Fuertes Observatory — home to a 96-year-old refractor, the Irving Porter Church Telescope, into which visitors can gaze on clear nights during the Cornell Astronomical Society’s weekly open house nights. “Undoubtedly the new buildings will contribute to the light pollution,” said Prof. Phil Nicholson, astronomy,
who advises the Cornell Astronomical Society. “There will be more lighting out there from windows and external lighting. It certainly won’t get better.” Plans for the North Campus Residential Expansion project have been under community review since the project’s application report was released in July. Preserving dark skies is one concern among others that have since been raised about the project — and designers are working with the Cornell Astronomical Society to mitigate the light effects as much as they can. A row of trees already can be seen planted on the north side of Fuertes Observatory. The trees are fast-growing to mitigate lighting from adjacent buildings, according to Chris Davenport, project manager at Cornell Facilities
City Budget Passes, C.U. Fees Increase
EDEM DZODZOMENYO / SUN ASSISSTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDIOTOR
Presidential | Cornell president Martha E. Pollack speaks with The Sun on Monday on a variety of student issues in her office in Day Hall.
By MATTHEW McGOWEN
overall tax levy, according to The Ithaca Voice. The budget includes approximately $1 million for the Department of Public Works for a new The Ithaca Common Council voted 9-1 water and sewer crew and the seven-person street repair crew touted by Mayor Wednesday night to approve Svante Myrick ’09, according to the $76,419,721 2019 City The Voice. budget, increasing spending During the budget process, on infrastructure and gleaning Myrick issued the latest iteration more revenue from Cornell and of the frequent criticism that other major commercial properCornell does not pay enough ty owners through stormwater to the city, The Sun previously fees. reported. The Council spent the past “Ithaca would be a better several weeks taking input from place to live if Harvard were city departments and the public here instead of Cornell … the to iron out the final budget, but streets would be better paved, ultimately did not grant funding we’d have more police officers requests from the police and fire MAYOR MYRICK ’09 and the taxes would be lower,” departments for additional officers. Under the new budget, property taxes will see Myrick said in an interview with The Sun after an a 44 cent decrease per $1,000 of assessed value, October budget meeting with the fire and police down to $10.60 from $11.04 in 2018. The loss will be offset by a 2.91 percent increase in the See BUDGET page 4 Sun Senior Editor
Pollack Addresses Greek Reforms, Cornell Tech and NCAA Football By GIRISHA ARORA Sun Managing Editor
Taste of Myanmar
JOSE COVARRUBIAS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Dancers perform a routine at the inaugural Taste of Myanmar event on Monday in Willard Straight Hall, which featured traditional cuisine, live performances, trivia and more.
See OBSERVATORY page 4
As the early sunset on Monday evening signaled the onset of the upcoming winter, President Martha E. Pollack sat down with The Sun for her semesterly chat in her Day Hall office to discuss issues that ranged from Greek life to mental health on campus to the possibility of a football match between Cornell and No.1 ranked Alabama. Pollack confirmed that her second year on campus has been “great,” and she said she believes that some of the things that came out of the “tumults” of the first year have helped shaped the policies and decisions of this year. One of the major decisions taken by Pollack last semester was to implement reforms to the Greek system — the first set of comprehensive reforms since then-Presi-
dent David Skorton challenged the Cornell community to “end pledging as we know it” six years ago. One of the reforms effective immediately was the ban on all hard alcohol (more than 30 percent alcohol by volume) from all residential chapter houses. There have been no investigations or checks to find if Greek organizations are complying with the rule, but Pollack believes it is still in “early stages” and the policy allows a certain level of accountability. “I know there is skepticism about whether we can have 100 percent compliance, but … to me it’s a little bit like speed limits,” Pollack said. “You don’t get a 100 percent compliance with speed limits, but it still sets an expectation, and when there is a violation, there is a policy you can turn to.” See POLLACK page 4