Gaining depth
opinion custodial work-study not for all, page 10 accent roommates explore racial differences, page 13 photo finish football falls to fisher, page 28
Injury-plagued Bombers bring in two players, page 23
Thursday
Octobe r 2 2 , 2 0 0 9
The Ithacan
Strength in
numbers? Local unions look to organize Ithaca College employees By Mallory Diamond Senior Writer
The Cortland-Tompkins County Building and Construction Trades Council and its affiliates, led by council president David Marsh, plan to begin an organizing drive among Ithaca College employees who lack union representation. In a letter to President Tom Rochon, the council proposed that all parties, including the college, enter a neutrality agreement in order to ensure that employees be able to make an informed decision about unionization without being threatened or coerced. As defined in the contract, neutrality prohibits threats or delaying tactics that might interfere with employees’ efforts to unionize. It also prohibits the college from organizing a campaign to oppose union representation. Marsh said Rochon declined to sign the neutrality agreement. Rochon also declined to comment for this story, but Marsh said he doesn’t necessarily believe Rochon to be the problem. “I have purposely not targeted the president … because I think
illustration by michelle barrie
he is a progressive, labor-friendly person,” Marsh said. “Now unfortunately, other decision makers, some of which influence his decisions, may not feel that way.” Because the college has declined to sign the neutrality agreement, the council has committed to educating interested college employees, who can be legally organized, on the possibility of unionization with the organizing drive. Marsh said the council has not yet initiated the organizing drive. “It would happen very strategically, and it would be planned well,” Marsh said. Marsh said the primary organizing drive would be conducted separately from the council’s ongoing protest, which began in late summer, of the college’s choice to employ nonlocal and nonunion contractors in the construction of its $65.5 million Athletic and Events Center. The college was subsequently awarded this year’s Goat of Labor award by the Midstate Central Labor Council and the
See labor, page 4
College data shows largest number of ALANA students By Allison Musante Managing editor
Ithaca College is showing a steady progression in diversifying its student population, enrolling the largest number of students from African, Latino, Asian and Native American backgrounds in the past 10 years, according to this year’s opening enrollment report. The number has also grown significantly in proportion to the total population on campus. A total of 844 ALANA students are enrolled this year, including undergraduates and graduate students, compared with 701 last year. The 143-student difference is the largest year-to-year increase the college has seen in at least the past 10 years, followed secondly by a 58-student increase between fall 2002 and fall 2003, according to data provided by the Office of Institutional Research. Eric Maguire, vice president for enrollment management, attributes the jump in part by the college’s over-enrollment of freshmen, but also in its ability to consistently attract and retain ALANA students
over the past decade. “The raw numbers show a reflection of the larger class, but on a percentage basis, we’re still showing continued progress,” he said. “I hope to continue to increase that percentage in the future.” The freshman class has a record-size ALANA class this year of 297 students, which make up nearly 15 percent of the total freshman class. In fall 2000, ALANA students accounted for less than 9 percent of the freshman class. Gerard Turbide, director of admissions, said the report reflects successful recruitment efforts not only on part of the admissions office and the creation of diversity task forces, but also how many current students and faculty promote diverse campus life to prospective students through campus tours, club outreach and Fuse Magazine. “The success of bringing these students to campus has a lot to do with the degree in which our campus is engaged in these conversations,” he said. “ALANA students, like all students, find when they
visit here that something speaks to them and confirms that this is the right place to be.” The report also showed more students declining to identify with a single ethnic group. This year, nearly 16 percent of the college population is labeled “unknown,” compared with 1.4 percent in fall 2000. 1200
“Students are finding it increasingly difficult to identify with a box on a form as our society becomes more multiracial,” Maguire said. Junior Chasity Dittmann, spokeswoman for the African La-
See students, page 4
Diversity report
This year the college saw the largest increase in ALANA students and students who chose not to identify their ethnicity.
1000
1087
585
800 600
774
418
400 295
200 0
222 138
149
93 85 53 56 2009 2008 Nonresident Alien
152
184 119
70 65 2009 2008 Black
design by michelle barrie
162 133
252 135 117
2009 2008 Hispanic
287
40 total 26 total 502 26 female 14 female 356 239 14 male 12 male 88 118 151 2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008 Asian/Pacific Native American Unknown Islander 169
Male
Female
source: Office of Institutional Research
find more. online. www.theithacan.org
I t h a c a , N . Y. Volum e 7 7 , I s s u e 8
Carbon neutrality proposal passed by board of trustees By Tristan Fowler Online Media editor
The Ithaca College board of trustees approved the Climate Action Plan on Oct. 9. The plan seeks to eliminate the college’s net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The plan establishes three benchmarks on the path to carbon neutrality through increased efficiency and investing in renewable energy. The first benchmark will reduce the college’s carbon emissions by 25 percent by the year 2015, then an additional 25 percent by 2025 and the last 50 percent by 2050. Marian Brown “Basically, it’s a said the Climate self-investment in Action Plan will efficiency and effec- be effective. tiveness,” said Marian Brown, special assistant to the provost and vice president of academic affairs. A committee of faculty, students and staff, with guidance from outside energy consultants, produced the Climate Action Plan, as a requirement of the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment, which President Emerita Peggy Williams signed in September 2007. This plan is a living document and will depend on available financial resources, said Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and administration and chair of the committee. “The climate action plan is a road map or blueprint,” Sgrecci said. “It’s an idea about what the priorities are and how we go about approaching the respected problems.” Rob McKenna, senior consultant at Energy Strategies — a company that consults businesses and higher education institutions about energy costs and policies — said the college prioritized its choices according to the greenhouse gas management hierarchy, putting energy avoidances and reductions first and carbon offsets last. “That hierarchy drives the thought process behind the climate action planning process,” McKenna said. The college will use the greenhouse gas emissions inventory from 2007, which was equivalent to 32,600 metric tons of CO2e, as its baseline for reduction. The first five years of the plan, when the college will reduce emissions by 25 percent, are well defined. The college plans to “seal the envelope” by managing the energy use of all campus facilities, upgrading controls for lighting and HVAC systems and assigning responsibility to someone to oversee campus energy use. For the second phase of the plan, from 2016 to 2025, the college will consider installing solar thermal systems to heat water for resident and dining facilities, two commercial-scale wind turbines to produce electricity and replacing the HVAC systems with more energy-efficient ones with lowto-neutral carbon emissions. After exhausting options of efficiency and renewable energy, the college will still be 28 percent short of its goal. One contingency of the last stage is the
See plan, page 4