The Ithacan Thursday, April 5 , 20 12
Under the hood
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Volume 79, Iss u e 2 4
Students join movement after Trayvon Martin's death
NY consumers get exemption on clothing tax by kristen mansfield staff writer
From left, sophomore Cöelis Mendoza, senior Romi Ezzo and junior Meira Keil wear hoods to stand in solidarity with Trayvon Martin.
photo illustration by rachel orlow
by candace king Staff writer
Students at Ithaca College and campuses nationwide are pulling up their hoods to shed light on the racial Check later this profiling discourse surweek for online rounding the Trayvon coverage of Martin case. On Feb. 26, 17-year- Trayvon Martin. old Martin was returning home from 7-Eleven with Skittles and iced tea in hand in Sanford, Fla. Martin was unarmed and wearing a hooded sweatshirt at the time when 28-year-old
George Zimmerman, a crime watch volunteer, shot and killed the black teenager. The “Hoodie Movement” emerged in reaction to Martin's death and as a call for Zimmerman's trial. Though details of the altercation before Martin's shooting remain obscure, many outraged Americans are calling for justice. While Zimmerman is claiming self-defense under the “Stand Your Ground” Law in Florida, the case remains under investigation. The “Stand Your Ground” Law, implemented in 2005, makes it lawful for citizens to act in self-defense using any means necessary
for protection and still be immune from criminal prosecution. More than 20 states in the United States, including Florida, have implemented this law. Because of this, Zimmerman has yet to be charged and tried. Due to the outcry surrounding Zimmerman's impending arrest, Senator Chris Smith, D-Fla., announced his own task force to examine the law. President Barack Obama, along with other political figures such as Mitt Romney and Bill Clinton, and celebrities like Tyler Perry
See trayvon, page 4
Environment takes hit from historically warm winter by marissa smith chief proofreader
The warm winter has students enthralled, but environmental experts are warning it could negatively affect everything from plants to health. Jessica Rennells, climatologist in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University, said the off-season weather is expected to neutralize by the end of June and is raising questions about global warming. “Extremes like these we experienced are something that you’d expect to see in a changing climate, but you can’t say that one strange season is a result of that,” Rennells said. According to the Northeast Regional Climate Center, the warmest recorded temperature in Ithaca for the month of March was 85 degrees Fahrenheit in 1977. This past month had three
separate days of temperatures reaching 77 degrees, and nine out of the 31 days of the month breached 70. In the past five years, the highest March temperature was 66 degrees. Sophomore Jeremy Betterley, co-president of the Ithaca College Environmental Society, said the recent weather has left him unnerved. “It has the appearance of climate change because it lends itself to greater variability in the weather,” he said. “Among the environmental students that I know, we’re all like, ‘Well, this weather is nice, but it sure is unsettling.’” The unusual weather also has the spring biological ecosystem out of sync. “Things are about three to four weeks ahead of schedule here in upstate New York,” Paul Curtis, extension wildlife specialist at
See weather, page 4
fighting chance Start-up mixed martial arts league combines luck and skill, page 23
March highs and lows of the last five years 77° 66°
64°
60°
56°
11° 3° 2012
2011
7°
6°
-5°
2010
2009
2008
Source: northeast regional climate center
A recent New York state clothing tax exemption may soon have local consumers making bigger clothing purchases. Clothing, footwear and items used to make or repair clothing sold for less than $110 are now exempt from New York state’s 4 percent sales tax because of the sales tax exemption reinstated as of Sunday. Despite the cut, Tompkins County will still maintain its own 4 percent sales tax POTRIKUS said the exemption on clothing. The new ex- may be a sign of a growing economy. emption replaces the sales tax exemption that was only on items $55 or less, which was implemented in April 2011. The first 4 percent exemption on clothing and footwear under $110 occurred in 2000, but has often been suspended in order to balance the state’s budget. Ted Potrikus, executive vice president of the Retail Council of New York State, said the difference in tax rates among states bordering New York created incentive for residents to shop elsewhere and caused legislators to consider a state tax break. “The reason for its implementation initially was primarily for merchants down around New York City and the Southern Tier where you could bounce around the border and shop in PA or New Jersey, where they have lower or no sales taxes,” Potrikus said. Merchants in New York City were losing business, he said, so the legislature tried a tax exemption for a week in the fall of 2000. What began as a twoweek tax holiday has since turned into a yearly standard. The tax reduction will not bring the entirety of New York to the same level as Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where there are little to no sales taxes on clothing and other goods. New Jersey boasts having no sales tax on all clothing items, while Massachusetts and Pennsylvania set clothing as nontaxable with a few exceptions. Each county in New York has the right to regulate local property and sales taxes, so only 11 counties will truly be at a zero percent tax rate on eligible clothing and footwear that individually cost less than $110. “Anything over 4 percent is what’s charged by the local government,” Potrikus said. “The state will get rid of its sales tax on clothing and footwear, and if local governments want to go along with it, they can.”
See tax, page 4
coming of age
trophy kid
Junior celebrates her Bat Mitzvah with Hillel in Muller Chapel, page 13
Activism needs to go beyond raising awareness to make an impact, page 10
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