TUESDAY
LEMON DROP HI
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october 4, 2011
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T H E I N DE PE N DE N T S T U DE N T N E W SPA PE R OF S Y R ACUSE , N E W YOR K
INSIDENEWS
INSIDEOPINION
INSIDEPULP
Filling in Student Association continues
Stuck in the middle The Daily Orange Editorial
Showstopper
to fill representative seats during Monday’s meeting. Page 3
Board commends scholarships directed at middle-income students. Page 5
INSIDESPORTS
“The Cradle Will Rock” shines with a talented cast and a timely plot. Page 9
Moving parts
In 2003 and 2004, Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College had to adjust after a move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. Page 16
More than 600 utilize online religious policy By Marwa Eltagouri STAFF WRITER
This year, Syracuse University did something a little different than years past: It held classes on the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana and the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr. To allow students to be exempt from classes from religious observances, the university had students request the day off through their MySlice accounts — a policy hundreds of students have utilized this year. During the fi rst two weeks of school, students logged into their accounts, clicked on a link that read “My Religious Observances” and selected the specific classes from which they wanted to be exempt. Professors were then notified of the students’ requests and were able to work with students to prepare for their absences. “About 600 SU students have submitted one or more notifica-
tions,” said Sandra Hurd, associate provost of academic programs, in an email. The university has yet to determine the number of requests for specific holidays, but plans to do a hand count, Hurd said. The university plans to analyze the statistics regarding students that submitted a notification on their MySlice at the end of the spring semester and relay the information to professors by making them aware of the most submitted holidays. That way, professors could take religious observances into account when planning course syllabi, Hurd said. “Most professors are sensitive to the needs of students who are observing a religious holiday,” said Azhar Ali, president of the Muslim Students’ Association. “And students need to become more aware of it next year for it to be effective.” SEE OBSERVANCES PAGE 4
The Syracuse Center of Excellence, located at 727 E. Washington St., has secured commitments and awards of more than $44 million in state funds and about $28 million from federal sources since 1998.
Center of Excellence receives highest LEED rating Text and photo by Veronica Magan STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
at l a n tic coa st confer ence
Sporting event ticket sales expected to stay consistent By Liz Sawyer ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Despite Syracuse’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, ticket sales for sporting events are expected to remain relatively similar to what they are now, said Daryl Gross, SU’s athletic director. Although SU does not have a “huge” contingency of fans that go to away games now, Gross said he is confident the fans who currently travel to Big East away games will continue to do so when the conference officially changes in 2014. Gross said he thinks that joining the ACC — a conference which covers much more of the Southeast than the Big East does — will expand the fan base to new regions of the United States, as well as cater to some of the many graduates who
live outside the Northeast. “I think what you’re going to find is when you go to Atlanta, we got a good Atlanta population. When we go to Florida, we got a good Florida population,” said Gross, adding that SU alumni and fans are located throughout the country. Last year, when the SU men’s basketball team played South Florida in an away game, 8,000 fans made the trip down to support the team, Gross said. He said he hopes this will continue when SU plays Miami in the future. Gross said he also expects athletes to receive roughly the same number of tickets to away games for friends and family members as before even though ACC stadiums tend to be larger. “Everyone pretty much has the SEE TICKET SALES PAGE 4
The Syracuse Center of Excellence received the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, Syracuse University announced Sept. 23. Located at the intersection of interstates 81 and 690, the building catches the attention of those driving through Syracuse. “It’s almost like we’re a billboard on the thruway that something interesting is happening in the middle of Syracuse,” said Ed Bogucz, executive director of the Center of Excellence. The Center of Excellence, a part of SU, is a laboratory for environmentally friendly innovations. From its initial conception in 1998, the goal was to create a state-of-the-art building for studying and testing new ideas in green constructing. From the very beginning of the design process, the team was already aiming to get the highest rating on the LEED system. “We’re the Center of Excellence, so we better make the highest grade,” Bogucz said. LEED is a classification created
by the U.S. Green Building Council that evaluates buildings based on their effect on the environment and its occupants. “It’s like the nutrition label of a box of cereal, but for green buildings,” Bogucz said laughing. The Center of Excellence earned the Platinum rating, which is the highest
“I think it connects the university and the city, and it raises the profile of the city’s architecture.” Rachel May
SU COORDINATOR OF SUSTAINABILIT Y EDUCATION
of the system. Everything from the location, to the design of the building and its energy performance made a difference in receiving the highest rating, said Rachel May, coordinator of sustainability education at SU. The building is “aesthetically pleasing, it’s pretty, but it’s also serving a function,” May said. “I think it connects the university
and the city, and it raises the profile of the city’s architecture,” she said. The five-story building features a combination of green qualities that are open for tours offered every other Friday. To start, it was constructed in an angle that takes maximum advantage of daylight, reducing the use of artificial lighting and electricity costs. The building is mostly covered by glass to allow the entrance of natural light. But it also has a system on the windows that retracts heat, said Tracy Verrier, an intern at the Center of Excellence and graduate student at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The building can get really hot during the summer, so the system regulates the entrance of heat to the building to avoid excessive use of air conditioning, she said. The building uses geothermal technology, which means it uses water to maintain a cool or heated environment for its occupants. Each work environment has its own temperature control to avoid wasting energy in cooling or heating places that are not being used. All of the furniture and carpeting in the building SEE COE PAGE 4