The Ithacan Thursday, F ebrua ry 16, 20 12
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Volume 79, Is s u e 1 8
SGA presses Rochon about IC 20/20 plan By candace king staff writer
By eli sherman staff writer
Bars are closing. Students are going out later. A “night out on the town” doesn't mean what it used to. After more than 70 years of serving both students and local Ithacans, the long-standing Royal Palms Tavern in Collegetown will close at the end of the month after a steady decline in business over the last 10 years. The Palms’ long wooden bar, standing between a line of stools and countless bottles of booze, was once a place where students could be
found after classes, construction workers during their lunch hour and where, on any given night, anyone would come to have a drink. Joe Leonardo, who took over the bar from his father and uncle in the early 1980s, said he has seen a shift in the way people socialize at bars as students seem to be coming out later every year and spending less time at the bar, causing a steady drop in revenue. Leonardo said over the past year, he has made more than 90 percent of his business in less than three hours of the week. He said business at the bar thrives during the 45 minutes
before the last call. “People don’t come out until midnight and 10 minutes after midnight there’s a line down the street,” Leonardo said. Diana Drucker, a 1974 graduate of Cornell University and a realtor, has been a regular at the Palms since 1970 and said the style of latenight drinking has drifted from a more social atmosphere to a late-night stop. “It was appropriate to hang out at bars,” Drucker said. “Professors would sometimes hold
See drinking, page 4
New IC Democrats strategize to incite political activism by gillian nigro staff writer
As the 2012 presidential race heats up, a new campus organization, IC Democrats, is bringing awareness to the Democratic perspective and educating students on the importance of political activism. The Democratic interest group, still in its infancy, was formed by junior Rob Flaherty, who last year served as communications director for Mayor Svante Myrick’s campaign and is vice president for Student Government Association. Though it is currently in the planning stages on Facebook, Flaherty said he has high aspirations for the organization. “We’re hoping to do campaign training, canvassing and also provide a forum for people who want to talk about issues and politics in the 2012 election,” Flaherty said.
teen mom Student spends semester faking pregnancy to study social stigmas, page 13
From left, sophomore Jenny Barish, group adviser Govind Acharya and junior Rob Flaherty discuss plans for a new group, IC Democrats.
durst breneiser/the ithacan
The group plans to offer training to the campus community on how to run for office, campaign effectively and get involved in public service. Flaherty also said they
hope to engage in canvassing for President Barack Obama. “We’re pretty excited about the potential for the organization,” Flaherty said.
Splish Splash
Students engage in Aqua Zumba classes as part of new exercise craze, page 23 f ind m or e onl ine. www.t heit hacan.org
The tentative adviser for the group is Govind Acharya, Institutional Research Analyst at the college and chair of the City of Ithaca’s Planning and Development Board. “Today’s college student is tomorrow’s leader in politics, business and society,” Acharya said. “Not getting involved now is the worst thing a student can do.” Once the group gets up and running, Flaherty expects a great turnout because of the college's Democratic sway. “We definitely acknowledge that the campus environment leans a little more in our direction,” Flaherty said. A study released in January from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at UCLA found that though college freshmen hold
See democrats, page 4
Represent Students should create outlets to express views of dissent, page 10
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Dying bar culture spotlights a shift in college students' drinking habits
by rachel wool
See ic 20/20, page 4
Is bar culture tapped out?
tion Photo Illustra
What began as a discussion to help resolve lingering concerns about IC 20/20 during the Student Government Association meeting last week evolved into a tense discourse with President Tom Rochon about the perceived absence of student opinion in the creation process. SGA invited Rochon to its Feb. 8 meeting to address ROCHON said what some see as the IC 20/20 plan mostly won't affect a lack of student current students. input in the implementation of IC 20/20, especially in its Integrative Core Curriculum, but the meeting took a more combative tone. Junior Rob Flaherty, vice president of communications for SGA, said though he appreciated Rochon’s time and effort to entertain questions, most of the concerns ultimately remained unanswered. “We had concerns before this meeting that the students’ voices were not being heard in the implementation of IC 20/20, and it was pretty clear from the way he responded to our questions that those concerns are still valid,” Flaherty said. IC 20/20, the college’s strategic vision for the next decade that was approved by the board of trustees in May, centers on student, academic and co-curricular development to be implemented before 2020. There are 15 initiatives included in the final plan, which are geared toward fostering an integrative educational experience and increasing diversity. Rochon told SGA that most of the initiatives will not affect current students. “Some of you will be touched by some parts of IC 20/20, but for the most part, you won’t be,” Rochon said. A part of IC 20/20 affecting current students is the establishment of the New York City Center. In another two years, the college will launch a China Center. During the discourse, concerns mostly focused on the first initiative to be implemented next fall — the Integrative Core Curriculum requirement. According to the final IC 20/20 plan, the curriculum will provide “focused, question-based learning in the liberal arts and sciences through a themes and perspectives approach.” There will be about five themes to choose from that will drive their core requirements next fall. Flaherty said the curriculum is a concern because the themes were decided without student input. “There is still a concern about the college deciding to focus on a more centralized academic experience than on