The Ithacan Thursday, December 15 , 20 11
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Volume 79, Is s u e 1 4
RAs oppose meeting time set by Res Life By candace king staff writer
Resident Assistants across campus are petitioning against a standardized meeting time that is set to be implemented by the Office of Residential Life next fall. The initiative will require all student staff members to maintain their availability during the assigned time and day of the PRUNTY said the staff meeting. The proposal new standardized meetings will has been met with benefit staff. backlash from some Resident Assistants. Last week, a petition was drafted in an attempt to reform the new ruling. The current format for weekly staff meetings allows each RA to choose his or her staff meeting time, which requires a two- to four-hour time block. With the new rule in place, every RA will have to attend the designated time and day for the staff meeting. Many RAs were reluctant to speak out at the risk of putting their jobs in jeopardy. Three anonymous RAs sent emails to The Ithacan, in which they shared a common dissent with the proposed meetings. “I made this email account because I know that talking to you about this puts my job at stake,” one RA wrote. “One of the RDs, whom I won't name, preaches to his RAs during staff meetings about how replaceable they all are and that they shouldn't object if they want to keep their jobs.” Junior Gary Cohen, who has served as an RA for three semesters and spearheaded the petition, said the change did not fully take the RA perspective into consideration. "I don't believe in the way that this action is being implemented," Cohen said. "One of my core values is that everybody that is involved in something should have an input ... especially when it affects them. When such a large group of people are not taken into consideration by the minority, it really bothers me." Bonnie Prunty, director of residential life and judicial affairs, said the rule is meant to create benefits for the staff. “One of the added benefits is that if we had some kind of major issue that happened and we needed to pull the entire department together so that they can get all the same information at the same time about something, we would have an opportunity to do that,” Prunty said. Many RAs argue that the meeting changes will detract from their academic
See petition, page 4
Selling short By nicole black staff writer
Finals week: the exams, the essays ... the pills. Students have been using Adderall for years, but now it's returning to the forefront of attention as the nation sees a shortage. The addition of Adderall to the Federal Drug Administration’s list of drug shortages in October has brought the spotlight back on the medication as pharmacies struggle to meet the demand for prescriptions. Those with prescriptions are finding it harder
to get them filled, Nicole Pagano, pharmacist and owner of Green Street Pharmacy, said. The pharmacy has been working with customers and their doctors to change the dosage of prescriptions and make it easier for patients to get their prescription. Pagano said some customers have chosen to look elsewhere when they get put on the wait list. “It’s been difficult because everybody needs their medication, and only the lucky ones get it,” Pagano said. Those with prescriptions are not the only
Photo Illustration by Rachel Orlow
A look at the controversy and culture surrounding student Adderall use
ones who will be affected, though. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that fulltime college students were twice as likely as peers of the same age who are not in school to have used Adderall non-medically in the past year. Junior Susan* sells Adderall pills at Ithaca College for $5 each. Her friend, who does not like taking the prescription but recognizes their monetary value, gives some to Susan to sell. She said he does not live in a college town, so he gives her
See adderall, page 4
City approves suicide net installation under bridges by gerald doherty staff writer
Last Wednesday, the City of Ithaca’s Common Council approved 7-2 a motion by Cornell University to build nets aimed at preventing more suicides under three city-owned bridges. The suicide nets are part of a multi-pronged approach by the university to address troubled students in light of the multiple suicides over the past two decades, which include six deaths during the 2010-11 academic year. Three of those deaths occurred in March alone. The nets are replacing fences that were put on the bridges before. The university, which agreed in September to cover the $6-10 million cost of the installation as well as insurance and maintenance, is set to construct the nets for three bridges on Thurston Avenue and Stewart Avenue this summer. Last
joint effort LGBT athletes spark discussion to wipe out stereotypes, page 23
Thurston Bridge, located near the south side of Fall Creek Gorge, is one of the locations approved for the installation of suicide nets. file photo/the ithacan
month, Cornell won approval from a sight plan committee to construct nets on university bridges. Timothy Marchell, director of mental health initiatives at Cornell,
said the nets are a single but vital part of a comprehensive initiative to stop suicides. He said physical impediments to committing suicide, known as “means restriction,”
borderless
Student travels to Palestine to teach English in violent city, page 13 f ind m or e. onl ine. www.t heit hacan.org
are an effective way to prevent more tragedies in the future. “Because of the ready availability of this highly lethal means of suicide, it’s important to take steps to make it physically difficult to jump from these areas,” Marchell said. Cornell based its support for means restriction on a study of net installation under bridges in Bern, Switzerland, which found that increased media coverage of suicide attracted more troubled individuals to kill themselves at the site, and that physical barriers significantly reduced instances of suicide in the immediate years after installation. “Means restriction is really about creating physical barriers to slow down the process by which someone might attempt to take their own life,” Marchell said. “In Ithaca, given our unique topography, means restriction on bridges is an important
See nets, page 4
double up Core curriculum may hinder choice to pursue two degrees, page 10