free
WEDNESDAY
april 18, 2018 high 44°, low 33°
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 • Committee selected
SU announced the members of a committee that will conduct an audit to make improvements to the campus for community members with disabilities. Page 3
O • On script
Conservative columnist Joseph Pucciarelli argues that Sinclair Broadcast Group’s scripted message for its TV stations is not a political issue, but a media issue. Page 5
P • Bar scene
dailyorange.com
Hungry Chuck’s, a student-favorite bar, closed one year ago. The bar scene on the Hill is quieter now, but bar owners anticipate growth with a new student housing complex. Page 7
S • More than a band
The white tubular band around midfielder Jamie Trimboli’s calf isn’t just an accessory. It’s worn for a former teammate who died on the lacrosse field six years ago. Page 12
on campus
Martin J. Whitman, school namesake, dies By Jordan Muller and Sam Ogozalek the daily orange
Martin J. Whitman, the major Syracuse University donor whom SU named its business school for, died Monday night, the university announced Tuesday afternoon. He was 93. E u g e n e Anderson, the current dean WHITMAN of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, in an email to Whitman students at about 2 p.m. Tuesday said he extended his condolences to the family, who visited campus earlier this month for the university’s annual “Whitman Day.” A cause of death was not included in Anderson’s email. Whitman, a 1949 SU graduate, was an Honorary Trustee of the university at the time of his death. He was first elected to the Board of Trustees in 2003, the same year SU dedicated its business school in his name. He was the founder and co-chief investment officer of Third Avenue Management in New York City, a private investment firm with millions of dollars in assets.
Carl MacEwen, a junior finance major who was in the business school’s atrium Tuesday afternoon, said he heard Whitman give a speech when he visited SU near the beginning of April. “He seemed upbeat, really lively,” MacEwen said. “So it was just shocking to really hear about it.” A handful of students in the business school Tuesday afternoon said they didn’t have a personal connection to Whitman. But some said he meant a lot to the SU community, even if they hadn’t met him. Ben Houle, a sophomore supply chain management major, said Whitman was still involved in the business school at his time of death. “His passing definitely leaves a mark on the university,” Houle said. SU’s business school was dedicated in Whitman’s name after he and his wife, Lois, made a donation to the university. The school was originally named the College of Business Administration. With the donation, SU built a new 160,000-square-foot building where the school is currently located at the intersection of Marshall Street and University Avenue. Whitman supported several initiatives at SU, including the
Protesters rally in front of Rep. John Katko’s office, holding signs to express their disapproval of the recent federal tax bill, which Katko (R-Camillus) supports. kai nguyen photo editor
Community provides input on next police chief staff writer
Syracuse residents gathered on the Northside on Tuesday night to provide feedback to city officials about what they want to see in a new police chief. Current Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler will retire at the end of this year, and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens has been hosting public forums for the community to provide input on who the city should hire to fill his position. Owens said the main goal of the forums is to get some feedback from the community through engagement. “We want to get away from the perception of the police as just a car riding through the neighborhood,” Owens said. At St. Lucy’s Church on Gifford Street, about 50 people spread out around tables to discuss questions about the search process. The questions ranged from what their experiences have been with the Syracuse Police Department to what a new police chief could do for
Activists protest Rep. John Katko’s support of tax bill
see whitman page 4
city
By Bianca Moorman
city
the community. This was the sixth out of nine public forums Owens is hosting, she said. Owens said the city is trying to get input from the community before officials conduct a nationwide search.
We want to get away from the perception of the police as just a car riding through the neighborhood. Frank Fowler
syracuse police chief
The national search will start this summer, Owens said. By November, candidates will be narrowed down, and the new chief should start to transition into the position this December, she said. The main point of concern at the forum was the effects of community see forum page 4
By Casey Darnell design editor
A group of about 30 local elected officials, activists and concerned residents gathered Tuesday afternoon outside Rep. John Katko’s (R-Camillus) office in downtown Syracuse to protest his support for the controversial Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The rally took place on Tax Day, the deadline for residents in the United States to file their taxes. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces the corporate tax rate by 14 percent and decreases the estate tax. Working-class families will pay less in taxes through additional deductions, including a bigger child tax credit. But those deductions will be phased out in 2026. Democrats and some policy experts say the legislation disproportionately benefits “1 percenters” and corporations. “What we were promised were lower taxes, higher wages and job creation,” said Jessica Bumpus, a member of Indivisible Syracuse, a grassroots political organization that aims to inform local residents about their representatives’ positions on political issues. “What we got is higher taxes and threats to our critical public programs.” Helen Hudson, president of Syracuse’s Common Council, attended the protest.
Hudson said she will only receive a $512 tax decrease under the new law, which Congress narrowly passed late last year. “For me, it’s about standing up,” she said. “It’s about telling the big conglomerates and our Congress folks this is not working.” Individuals who earn more than $1 million a year will receive the largest tax benefit from the bill, saving an average of $69,660, according an NPR analysis. Katko was not in attendance, but organizers of the rally brought a cardboard cutout of the congressman to the protest. The cutout was covered in stickers representing corporations that have donated to his reelection campaign. One of those companies, the Blackstone Group, has given $16,200 to Katko’s 2018 campaign. Blackstone is a multinational private equity and asset management firm. After the tax bill passed in January, Katko released a statement expressing support for the legislation. The tax rate for utility companies has decreased, and companies are passing those benefits on to taxpayers, he said. Union leader Ann Marie Taliercio said that while companies such as National Grid see large benefits from the bill, people like her “see it in pennies.” Taliercio is president of
see protest page 4