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MONDAY
dec. 4, 2017 high 50°, low 43°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
N • Mitchell Scholarship
P • On a new note
Cameron MacPherson is the first Syracuse University student to receive the prestigious, national academic George J. Mitchell Scholarship award. Page 3
Syracuse Symphony Orchestra went bankrupt seven years ago, but the symphonic music community came together to keep the sound alive. Page 9
dailyorange.com
S • Spread your wings
Bourama Sidibe has grown into one of Syracuse’s top defenders. He improved his shot-blocking timing by snatching pigeons as they flew by him. Page 16
on campus
GOP plan threatens loan aid By Casey Darnell and Kennedy Rose the daily orange
A tax bill passed by the United States House of Representatives would eliminate a deduction for interest paid on student loans, a move that could have an impact on undergraduate and graduate students alike. The Senate bill, passed Saturday morning, does not remove the deduction but is subject to change when the House and Senate compromise on the final version. Republican lawmakers rushed the process to try and get the bill signed into law by Christmas.
12 million Approximate number of people who used the deduction for interest on student loans
Welcoming the holidays
source: internal revenue service
Vocal and instrumental musicians kicked off the holiday season Sunday night with the annual Holidays at Hendricks concert in Hendricks Chapel. The concert featured the Hendricks Chapel Choir, the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble, the SU Singers, the Crouse Chorale, the SU Concert Choir and the combined Vocal Jazz Ensembles. paul schlesinger asst. photo editor
on campus
Author weighs in on sexual assault culture By Sara Swann news editor
When Syracuse University was ranked the No. 1 party school in the country nearly three years ago, author Vanessa Grigoriadis saw an opportunity to analyze SU’s sexual assault culture. In her recently published book, “Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power and Consent on Campus,” Grigoriadis said she wanted to tell the truth about sexual assault and consent on college campuses. Over the course of two years, Grigoriadis visited several colleges in the United States to gather perspectives from students, parents and university officials about sexual assault and attempt to dispel the confusion surrounding it, she said. One chapter in particular is dedicated to telling the stories of some students at SU, particularly those in Greek life, and how they handle sex and sexual assault. Grigoriadis said she chose SU because of its combination of a “strong Greek scene” and Division I sports. The Daily Orange spoke with
Grigoriadis, who’s also a contributing editor at The New York Times Magazine and Vanity Fair, about her new book and how the topic of sexual assault has become a larger narrative in today’s news.
no. 1
Ranking SU held on a list of the country’s top party schools when Grigoriadis wrote her book
The Daily Orange: What was
the research and reporting process like for your book? How long did you spend at each university?
Vanessa Grigoriadis: Well
first I started at Wesleyan University, where I went to school, in Connecticut. I went back there and met a bunch of students who were either survivors or were involved in the fraternity system. Part of my book talks about the closure of fraterni-
ties at Wesleyan, which happened when I was reporting my book. I kept up with all the activism that was going on there. In Syracuse, I popped out there probably three or four times. I was there when the sit-in happened, the 18-day sit-in. I decided to focus on the sororities at Syracuse. Some of the sorority members that I met, I wanted to try and use them as the platonic ideal of a smart, wily and also curious group of young women who were entering a social scene that I saw to be too focused on men. reporting, what surprised you most?
ing themselves in the bed of a guy they didn’t know very well. And that’s one of the trickiest scenarios because you could argue both people were blackout drunk, so who is really to blame? Or was that girl targeted by that guy? I think Syracuse has a lot of rumors about stuff being slipped into students’ drinks at frat parties. ... Most of those seem to be rumors and not reality. … Doctors say the date rape drug is alcohol. Much more often girls will think they’re drugged, but they’re actually just very drunk. There’s not an epidemic of guys slipping stuff into girls’ drinks; not to say it doesn’t happen.
V.G.: At Syracuse it was surprising
The D.O.: It is often said there
The D.O.: In your research and
to me (that) women had such divergent ideas on what constitutes sexual assault. It really is a murky term and it is hard to define. Some people think sexual assault includes groping and other people think that’s making a mountain out of a molehill. I did hear a lot of stories, girls telling me at Syracuse about being wasted and waking up and not remembering anything and find-
needs to be a change in sexual assault culture, but what has to happen for there to be an actual change in this culture?
V.G.: It’s so hard. If I knew the answer to that, I would have a billion dollars because I would sell it to all the universities because all these universities are curious about see sexual
assault page 6
The student loan interest deduction is available to any eligible taxpayer in the U.S. who pays interest on student loan debt, allowing taxpayers to deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest annually. About 12 million people used the deduction in 2015, according to the IRS. “I just see it as a continued part of this calculated attack on higher education, which would overwhelmingly harm the working class and the middle class,” said Maria Carson, a sixth-year Ph.D. student in the department of religion at Syracuse University and an organizer for Syracuse Graduate Employees United. From 2007 to 2016, the cost of the student loan interest deduction more than doubled, totaling about $2 billion in 2016, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Student loan balances increased at nearly the same rate, but the maximum amount that can be deducted has stagnated — capping at $2,500 in 2001. The plan to charge college students more in taxes could have been spurred by Republican lawmakers’ search for ways to offset revenues and pay for tax cuts they want, said David Plank, executive director of Policy Analysis for California Education at Stanford University; the University of Southern California; and the University of California, Davis. “That creates a political problem, see tax
plan page 6