New request
Above the rim
Facebook friendships bring professors closer to students outside the classroom, page 13
Senior contributes elevated play and athleticism to the men’s basketball team, page 23
Thursday
Febr ua ry 2 4 , 2 0 1 1
The Ithacan
Winter
Assistant News Editor
million provision will go toward the salary and benefit pool for faculty and staff and $800,000 will be used to kick off the college’s new marketing initiative. As always, a 2 percent projected provision will be added to the budget for contingency. Sgrecci said about 95 percent of the college’s budget comes from tuition. Programs were not cut by the budget in order to minimize the tuition increase, but some divi-
Fresh from covering revolts in Cairo, award-winning ABC News anchor and correspondent David Muir ’95 will deliver this year’s commencement address May 22. Muir joined ABC News in August 2003 as an overnight news anchor MUIR is an Ithaca and moved on College alumnus and ABC News to become one correspondent. of the network’s lead correspondents on several major domestic and international stories. He has won multiple Emmy awards and has also reported from across the globe — including China, the Middle East, South America, Eastern Europe and South Africa. Muir was named sole anchor of the weekend editions of ABC’s evening newscast, which was renamed “World News with David Muir” on Feb. 14. He had been anchoring the Saturday broadcast since 2007. Senior class president Danielle Giserman, who is on the commencement committee, said the executive board wanted to host someone who can relate to students and be a positive reinforcement. “I don’t know who would be better to come speak to us as graduates than someone who is an alum and someone who reports in the real world when we’re about to go into it,” she said. Brian McAree, vice president for student affairs and campus life and chair of the commencement committee, said finding a commencement speaker is not an overnight process. Choosing a speaker begins in the fall and is a yearlong decision. It also involves getting input from the Division of Institutional Advancement and the Office of Alumni Relations. “[We look for] not only someone who was a wonderful student leader here at Ithaca College and had a quality experience but someone who has gone on since graduation to really make a name for themselves and really contribute to society and also the world,” he said. McAree said because Muir is a young, accomplished journalist, he will have a lot of advice to offer the graduating class. “He has sat in those same seats in 1995 that our students are sitting in today as graduates,” he said. “He’s going to really create a sense
See tuition, page 4
See speaker, page 4
by Gerald Doherty staff writer
When she was considering applying to Ithaca College and Cornell University, senior Madison Ryckman received a blunt warning regarding weather from her high school guidance counselor. “She said, ‘People from Colorado do not do well in upstate New York,’” Ryckman said. “I thought, ‘That’s ridiculous.’” Hailing from Denver, Colo., Ryckman said she was not prepared for the seemingly eternal gray winters of Ithaca. “Pretty much every person I’ve met from Colorado or any kind of sunny place — almost all of them feel the difference and suffer from the lack of sunlight,” Ryckman said. “It’s a really cloudy place with really bad weather. It’s just gray every single day.” According to the Mayo Clinic, seasonal affective disorder is triggered when a person is exposed to less sunlight than usual. When the brain receives less light, it produces melatonin, which helps regulate sleep. However, too much melatonin can lead to drowsiness and fatigue. According to Mental Health America, a nonprofit organization, the main age of onset is between 18 and 30, making students at
See depression, page 4 Photo Illustration by Michelle Boulé
2011-12 tuition raised 4.9 percent to $35,278 The Ithaca College Board of Trustees has finalized the budget for the 2011-12 academic year. Tuition will increase by $1,648, from $33,630 to $35,278. The 4.9 percent increase in tuition is the same percentage of increase as last year and more than the 4.8 percent increase the previous year. Next year’s total cost of attendance will be $48,132, an increase of 4.76 percent. This is slightly lower than last year’s 4.8 percent increase in total attendance cost and is the lowest percentage of increase in the past nine years. President Tom Rochon sent out a letter to families following the decision. He promised that the college is doing everything it can to ensure students are getting their money’s worth. “I believe the budget we have developed reflects our ongoing efforts to control expenses and to implement the lowest possible cost adjustment while continuing to improve the already high quality of an Ithaca College education,” he said in the letter. The college compared its 2011-12 tuition with the 2010-11 tuition of 20 other private colleges and universities to which it is usually compared. Six colleges listed their tuition — including room and board — for the 2011-12 academic year. The college had the second highest tuition out of the six listed. Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and administration, said the college’s standing among these 20 colleges is not an accurate indication of placement. Instead, he said the college’s cost of attendance should be compared to colleges with high application overlaps. “Those schools include places like Northeastern, American and Syracuse, and our tuition is
How we stack up
$36,971
Elon University
$38,412
Hamline University
I t h a c a , N . Y.
Volum e 7 8 , I s s u e 1 9
By Kelsey O’Connor
Students struggle to get motivated during Ithaca’s unrelenting winter
contributing writer
Students require options that will help them to deal with debt, page 10
ABC reporter to address 2011 grads
blues
By Erica Palumbo
facing debt
Ithaca College’s tuition is the second highest among these five New American Colleges and Universities that recently announced their 2011-12 tuition.
$48,132
$39,870
Butler University
Ithaca College
$49,560
Quinnipiac University
Source: Institution Websites Designed By Yu-Chen (JAne) Chen
$2,000 to $3,000 lower than all of those for the current year, and we expect that differential will continue for next year as well,” he said. Sgrecci said financial aid is at the center of the college’s 2011-12 budget outline. About $84 million of the total $250 million is being budgeted for financial aid, which can be compared to the $79.7 million that was budgeted for financial aid for the 2010-11 academic year. Sgrecci said $1.7 million will be used to maintain the new Athletics and Events center, a $3
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