The Ithacan Th ursday, M ay 3, 20 12
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Volume 79, Iss u e 2 8
Farm foundation
Two alumni return to Ithaca community to grow an organic farm
By Kacey Deamer staff writer
Twenty minutes outside Ithaca, there is a dirt road that no GPS can find. Down that dirt road is a little farm where two Ithaca College alumni can be found munching on bok choy while their dog Lena runs across rows of leafy greens. Plowbreak Farm is in its infancy, but Kara Cusolito ’08 and Aaron Munzer ’08 are determined to make the best of their Community Supported Agriculture farm — even if that means using Munzer’s pick-up truck instead of a tractor to make rows in the field for now.
See BOC, page 4
See Health, page 4
From left, Aaron Munzer ’08 and Kara Cusolito ’08 tend seedlings on their farm in Hector, N.Y. The couple is offering CSA shares this summer.
Durst breneiser/the ithacan
A&E Center costs frustrate college concert bureau Some members of the Bureau of Concerts are questioning whether the organization will be able to host a performance in one of Tompkins County’s largest indoor entertainment venues — Ithaca College’s Athletics and Events Center — anytime soon. Funded mostly by private donors, the $65.5 million A&E Center includes the Glazer Arena, with an occupancy of 6,700, that despite being billed as a venue for campus and community events, has only hosted one concert since its August opening. The general consensus among BOC’s leaders remains that the group could not afford to use the A&E Center unless it partnered with an outside group or promoter who could assume much of the show’s financial risk. BOC operates on an annual budget of around $70,000, according to sophomore Robert Hohn, vice president of business and finance for the Student
Sophomore Dave Klodowski of Ithacappella performs in October in the Athletics and Events Center. It was the first concert in the new center.
kelsey martin/the ithacan
Government Association. David Prunty, director of Campus Center and Events Services, said because BOC is an on-campus
fantasy world Students stay true to culture with underground raves, page 13. f ind m or e onl ine . w w w. t h ei t h a c a n .org
organization, the college would not charge a renting facility fee to use the space, but the bureau must meet all production costs that could
staff writer
stretch into the tens of thousands. Prunty said he couldn’t offer a ballpark production expense because he believes the figure will depend entirely on the show’s atmosphere. Despite rising artist fees, which Prunty said will ultimately be the major costs associated with the space, he added that, with proper planning, production costs should be covered by ticket revenue. “The money is not in the production or our services,” Prunty said. “The money is in the artist.” Senior Jimmy Knowles, president of Ithacappella, said the group, which held its Block I concert in the A&E Center, encountered difficulties in preparing for the show, having to outsource much of the sound and lighting equipment. The ensemble group also had to cover labor costs to rig the lighting, lay down the protective flooring on the arena’s indoor track surface — which Prunty estimates at $750 — and prepare additional staging.
See Farm, page 4
online editor
By Noreyana Fernando The Hammond Health Center has announced that beginning next semester, Ithaca College students using the college’s health insurance plan will face a substantial increase in cost and coverage. The increase comes in accordance with the Affordable Care Act that was signed into law by President Barack Obama Scan the QR code to view the health care in March 2010. costs for 2012-13, The col- or visit ithaca.edu/ lege sent finaid/tuition. out an email to students April 26 explaining that the new plan will no longer charge students for routine immunizations, lab tests and X-rays performed at the health center, stocked prescription medications, and medical procedures performed during visits to the center. Currently, students pay $575 annually for the plan, but the price is estimated to almost double to $1,110 next year. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are not allowed to set limits on the dollar amount of health benefits that a plan will cover in a single year or over a lifetime. Currently, the college’s most basic plan has a maximum annual benefit of $10,000. This maximum benefit will increase to $100,000 next year. Dr. Vivian Lorenzo, assistant medical director at the Hammond Health Center, explained that the Affordable Care Act also requires that the college continues to increase the benefit limit and eventually phase it out by the year 2014. “Next year, we will be required to offer a maximum benefit of $500,000 or more,” she said. “And it eventually becomes unlimited.” She said, however, that though the annual fee increased greatly when the maximum benefit went from $10,000 to $100,000, insurance companies don’t expect the jump from $100,000 to $500,000 to significantly affect the annual student fee for the 2013-14 academic year. The fate of the act that brings about these changes now lies in the hands of the Supreme Court, where they are currently debating its constitutionality. In particular, justices have questioned the section of the act that requires every American to have health insurance.
Plowbreak works off of the CSA model, in which community members pay up front for a share of the produce harvested throughout the season. Once harvesting begins, members get a weekly stock of produce. The five-acre field rented by Cusolito and Munzer is only one-quarter plowed but is already seeing some seedlings sprout. The couple moved to Plowbreak in November after maintaining a farm in Dryden, N.Y., for two years. “We rent this field from the folks who
by patrick DUprey
Insurance costs nearly double for next year
Year in review
lit magazine
The Ithacan's annual recap has officially hit shelves across campus.
Check out the special edition of literary works by senior journalists.