feet first
Smoke Screen
Graduate student sets the pace for men’s cross country team, page 23
Students enjoy social aspects of smoking hookah despite its many health risks, page 13
Thursday
Octobe r 7 , 2 0 1 0
The Ithacan
Crashing the party
With midterm elections weeks away, the conservative tea party gains momentum locally and nationally
Tea party movement supporters sit near Carl Paladino, center, at a rally Saturday in Watkins Glen, N.Y. About 400 people showed up to the event. claudia pietrzak/the ithacan
By ryan sharpstene assistant news editor
Tea party groups have emerged across the country and are poised to make a serious impact in the upcoming midterm political elections — even in New York state and Tompkins County.
On Sept. 14, Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino defeated former Rep. Rick Lazio, who was supported by the state Republican Party, in the New York Republican primary. Riding on a national wave of resentment of what some tea party supporters regard as fiscal irresponsibility in government,
Paladino will face Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo in a state where the last Republican gubernatorial candidate was defeated 70 to 29 percent. On Saturday, Paladino was the headline
See tea party, page 4
Campus blue light usage declines in cell phone age By katherine alexander contributing writer
Blue light telephones, easily identifiable sources of assistance located campus-wide, have fallen into disuse because of the rise in popularity of cell phones. Blue light telephone use has decreased over the past five years on the Ithaca College campus, according to records from the Office of Public Safety. “You just don’t see as many activations of the blue lights since cell phones became popular,” Laura Durling, assistant director of administrative services at the Office of Public Safety, said. The blue light telephones, named after the easily visible blue lights at the top of the poles, connect directly to the Office of Public Safety, Durling said. With the push of a button, users can instantly speak with Public Safety dispatchers for emergencies or assistance. The blue lights were designed to provide students with a safe and secure campus, Durling said. There are more than 90 blue light telephones on campus, located near roadways, sidewalks and pathways, according to the 2010
times during the past five years. Only two of the activations have been requests for assistance. Both of these activations were in 2007; one call was for medical assistance and the other was from a student who had been locked out of their dorm. The remaining 414 activations were either maintenance or prank calls, Crystal Young, coordinator of administration and operational support services at Public Safety, said. Young said most of the emergency calls made to Public Safety are done with personal phones. As of Oct. 15 this year, 24 calls to 911 were made, 27 in 2009, 32 in 2008 and 58 in 2007, according to Public Safety call reports. SUNY-Geneseo, a New York state university whose student population is similar to Ithaca College’s, has had only eight emerSophomore Sarah Singer demonstrates how to work a blue light Tuesday gency activations since April 2008. near Holmes Hall. Blue light usage is decreasing on many college campuses. The light activations were clara goldman/the ithacan primarily medical emergencies, Annual Security and Fire Safety provide more security to students Joseph VanRemmen, assistant to Report. The lights have been on walking through isolated areas of chief parking and communication services with the campus police at campus for at least 20 years, and campus, Durling said. According to records from the SUNY-Geneseo, said. before the popularity of the cell phone, these safety features were Office of Public Safety, the blue considered an innovative way to lights have been activated 416 See safety, page 4 find more. online. www.theithacan.org
Reach out
College should seek to increase recruiting abroad, page 10
I t h a c a , N . Y. Volum e 7 8 , I s s u e 7
Council votes to poll faculty on plagiarism By kelsey husnick contributing writer
The Ithaca College Faculty Council voted Tuesday to conduct a survey among the college’s faculty members to determine future implications of using a new anti-plagiarism software it approved at its last meeting. Michael Taves, executive director of Information Te c h n o l o g y Services, pre- SCHLESINGER viously made said the college faculty should test the recomthe new software. mendation for the software at a council meeting in March. Since then, the council gathered input from faculty members, most of whom encouraged the anti-plagiarism software, Taves said. The software program, Turnitin, uses a text comparison database to check students’ papers with sources found online to uncover plagiarism. The software can be integrated throughout the campus through Blackboard and other learning management systems, according to Turnitin’s website. The software would cost the college $17,000 a year, or it could be purchased at a smaller cost for specific departments to use. Departments would distribute the software to faculty, Taves said. Warren Schlesinger, council member and associate professor and chair of accounting, suggested faculty test the program. “I would recommend that we [let it be used by] any two departments that want to use it in a holistic way in their departments, and then have funding for 30 faculty members to test it out,” he said. Peter Rothbart, council member and professor of music theory, history and composition, said the new software should be made available to the entire campus. “This is just another tool available to the faculty,” he said. “If you want to test an experiment, then you do it for the whole campus for one year and then see [the results].” Carole Dennis, council member and associate professor and chair of occupational therapy, said the software would also be available for students to use. “A student can check their own papers to determine how close they are [to plagiarizing] or how much they’ve strayed,” she said. The survey will circulate among faculty within the coming weeks, and a decision will be made regarding how the software will be implemented shortly after.