find more. online. www.theithacan.org

The IthacanThursdayJanuary 28, 2010

Ithaca, N.Y.Volume 77, Issue 15

In syncJunior runners complement each other as relay teammates, page 23

chow tImeBusiness owners take a stab at recreating local restaurants, page 13

challengeRochon asks faculty and staff to think creatively, page 10

Haiti disaster prompts local actionBy Becca Burns

Staff Writer

Jon Bougher ’06 had been filming his docu-mentary in an orphanage all day. He took a break with his film partner, Roman Sasiullian, to eat an early dinner. He was in Delmas 33, Haiti, and it was almost 5 p.m. on Jan. 12.

The earth suddenly began to tremble.“We just felt this rocking and then the whole

house began to shake,” he said.The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti

that day left thousands dead and even more missing. According to the Associated Press, the confirmed death toll has topped 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area alone, with many more dead around the country or still bur-ied under the rubble.

“It was probably the last thing on our mind that would happen in Haiti,” Bougher said.

Haiti is considered one of the most pov-erty-stricken nations in the world, and con-sequently, its infrastructure was not built to support the magnitude 7.0 quake that hit its capital. The United Nations estimates that as many as one million people may eventually have to leave cities that have been reduced to

rubble to restart their lives in rural areas, ac-cording to The Associated Press.

Bougher said about 10 to 15 homes in the area around him collapsed. Those unharmed quickly began searching for bodies.

“They pulled out this one man and started looking through his wallet and saw the pictures of his family,” he said. “Once I saw that [I] pretty much knew that they were going to pull out his whole family before the day was over.”

Later that night, Bougher said a man came to the orphanage looking for pain relievers for his wife. There was only ibuprofen to give him. The next day he came back with his wife. Her shirt was bloody. Her hand was basically a stump. She needed medical attention. Bougher said there was only Neosporin to give her.

“That really woke me up to the problem with aid supplies and medical supplies,” Bougher said.

Two days later, he and Sasiullian tried to fly out of Haiti. The airport was highly disorganized, he said, and there were no set lines — people were waiting in the sun for three to four hours.

“What we saw that day were people scream-ing,” Bougher said. “People were confused. A lot of people saw this as a act of God.”

With the huge loss of life and destruc-tion, many organizations have come togeth-er to help the people of Haiti. For example, the American Red Cross has provided over $150 million in relief funds, according to the AP.

Students, staff and faculty are also helping Haiti on a local level.

Ithaca College will be hosting an organiza-

tional meeting for Haiti relief efforts at 12:15 p.m. next Thursday in Textor 103.

Representatives from the Student Govern-ment Association and the Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs will be facilitating the meeting for students to help with the college’s relief effort.

Two days after the earthquake hit, residents of a neighborhood outside the Port-au-Prince, Haiti airport try to return to a normal life after the destruction of the 7.0 quake.

CourTesy of Jon BougHer

A day after the all-college meeting, Editor in Chief Lind-sey Hollenbaugh spoke with President Tom Rochon to dis-cuss his vision for the college. (Part 1 of a two-part interview.) Lindsey Hollenbaugh: A year ago you had just walked into the college presidency in the middle of one of the worst economic times, facing the

challenge of making some dif-ficult decisions. Now a year later, the tone of this meet-ing was very different. Many appeared to come out of the meeting positive. Is it fair to say that the college is on stable footing for the next few years? President Tom Rochon: We are absolutely on stable foot-ing in the next few years.

And in that sense it looks very different from one year ago when we had to make a significant adjustment, as did every other college and uni-versity. As a reminder, one year ago we cut $4.2 million out of our operating budget, with some modest personnel reductions. But when you’re the staff member whose job is eliminated it’s never

a modest reduction. But we did that and now those changes, plus the record freshman class of last fall — we are certainly now on more stable financial footing. LH: People came away from this believing there will not be any future drastic cuts, is

By Jacqueline Palochko Staff Writer

After a year of budget cuts, salary freezes and job reorganizations, Ithaca College is now on a “stronger basis for stability” compared to one year ago, says President Tom Rochon.

“You will all remember how we felt one year ago,” he said. “We made per-manent cuts in operating budgets, made real sacrifices and we all took a salary freeze. The outlook this January is in-comparably better.”

At the all-college meeting last Thurs-day morning job reassurance, the vision of “creativity and innovation” to chal-lenge faculty in everyday learning and the future of enrollment were discussed in Emerson Suites.

Moving away from “efficiency and effectiveness,” Rochon presented a new vision of “creativity and innovation.”

Rochon said the college is more sta-ble because of the $4.2 million cut in the operating budget, salary freezes and the reorganization in staff jobs.

“The reorganization of jobs was suc-cessful,” he said. “Going forward with re-organization will not mean cuts.”

Chris Gonzales, web marketing re-search specialist in marketing commu-nications, said the meeting reassured him of the college’s future.

“This meeting seemed to be bright-er,” Gonzales said. “We’re all over the anxiety and fear that developed over a year ago in the economic crisis.”

ROCHON LOOKS TO FUTURE Administration outlines optimistic

goals for college

President Tom rochon addresses faculty and staff at the all-college meeting last Thursday in emerson suites.allison usavage/THe iTHaCan

President reflects on past year and refocuses plan

See Rochon, page 4

See meeting, page 4

See haiti, page 5

{ }this WEEK

[Thursday Briefing]2 The ithacan Thursday, January 28, 2010

28 thursday

IC Climate Action Plan, presented by Marian Brown, as-sistant to the provost, will begin at 12:15 p.m. in Clark Lounge.

Difficult to Speak and Impos-sible to Remain Silent, a presentation on a civil rights memorial made by Carla Stet-son, assistant professor of art, will be held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in Klingenstein Lounge.

WICB and VIC Radio Rush Night will begin at 7 p.m. in the Park Auditorium.

The Ithacan Rush Night will be-gin at 8 p.m. in Park Auditorium.

29 Friday

Shabbat Services will begin at 6 p.m. in Muller Chapel.

Shabbat Dinner will begin at 7:15 p.m. in Terrace Dining Hall.

30 saturday

Qigong for Health, a workshop on internal Chinese meditation, will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. at the EAC Montessori School on East King Road.

1 Monday

Winter Wonderland Ball, hosted by the African Latino Society, will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. in Emerson Suites.

Society of Professional Journalists Rush Night, a night to discuss the news and eat pizza, will begin at 7 p.m. in Park 220.

2 tuEsday

Comfort and Challenge in 2010, a dialogue on racial identity and racism moderated by President Tom Rochon, will be held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in Klingenstein Lounge.

Faculty Council meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Clark Lounge.

3 WEdnEsday

“7 Years” and “Harsh Beauty,” two LGBT films in the “Out Of The Closet” film series screening, will begin at 7 p.m. in Textor 103.

The Physics Café, a discussion on the potential uses of super-conductors, will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Emerson Suites.

add your EvEnt

Drop events for “This Week” in the marked box in The Ithacan office, or e-mail Assistant News Editor Aaron Edwards at aedward3@ithaca.edu by 5 p.m. Monday.

CorrECtions

It is The Ithacan’s policy to correct all errors of fact. Please contact Leah Tedesco at 274-3207.

Copy Editors

Margaret Moran, Jacqueline Palochko.

dEsign

Michelle Barrie, Colleen Lowery, Lena Yue.

US offers grants to Haitian studentsHaitian citizens enrolled as international stu-

dents at American colleges and universities could get emergency grants if they’re facing financial dif-ficulties in the wake of the Haiti earthquake.

The Institute of International Education an-nounced yesterday that it is offering grants of up to $2,000 to undergraduate and graduate students from Haiti studying here.

The nonprofit advocacy organization head-quartered in New York tracks international students in the U.S., and says there are more than 850 students from Haiti studying here.

Colleges with eligible students can nomi-nate them for the grants. The organization says the number of grants given out will depend on available funds.

The grants are for Haitian citizens here on stu-dent visas; American citizens and permanent resi-dents are not eligible.

UK court rules against governmentBritain’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the

government overstepped its power when it froze the bank accounts of five terrorist suspects without a vote in Parliament. It said the special Treasury or-ders were unlawful.

The five men had their assets frozen by the Treasury between 2005 and 2007 and have had to apply for permission even to buy groceries and other essentials. They are accused by the government of offenses including meeting al-Qaida leaders and giving support to terrorist or-ganizations in Pakistan, but they have not been charged or convicted by any court.

The men’s assets were seized based on two U.N. Security Council resolutions that imposed sanc-tions on people alleged to be funding terrorism.

The ruling could have far-reaching implications for the government’s ability to freeze assets in the future. More than 50 people living in Britain are be-lieved to be on the Treasury sanctions list.

Mudslide strands tourists in PeruHelicopters ferried out 475 tourists stranded

for two days near Peru’s famed Machu Picchu cit-adel after mudslides blocked a railway and killed a tourist and a tour guide. Authorities hoped to evacuate up to 800 more people yesterday.

About 400 Americans and 700 Argentines were among the initial 2,000 travelers strand-ed, and U.S. authorities sent four helicopters to bolster rescue efforts Tuesday.

The tourists were cut off in villages near Ma-chu Picchu in the Andes mountains Sunday, when mudslides blocked the railway to the city of Cuzco, which is the only way in or out of the area.

People slept in Machu Picchu village’s train station and the central plaza after hostels ran out of space, while restaurants raised prices as food became scarce.

Case challenges gay marriage banTestimony ended yesterday in a historic federal

case challenging the constitutionality of Califor-nia’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The trial included nearly 12 days of wide-ranging testimony on the meaning of marriage, the nature of sexual orientation and the role of religion in shaping attitudes about both.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker heard the case without a jury and has said he will take time to review the evidence before hearing closing arguments, probably sometime in March.

His verdict is likely to be eventually appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the sponsors of Proposition 8 have asked Walker to reserve their option to present more documents based on subpoenas they have is-sued to gay rights groups that opposed the measure.

Former Honduran president exiledFormer Honduran President Manuel Zelaya left

his refuge in the Brazilian Embassy and flew into exile yesterday, ending months of turmoil and his thwarted quest to be restored to power after a June 28 coup that drew international condemnation.

The leftist leader drove past soldiers guard-ing the diplomatic compound in a 20-car caravan and headed for the airport accompanied by Pres-ident Porfirio Lobo, said Hilda Cruz, an assistant of Zelaya’s wife.

Zelaya was going to the Dominican Republic as a private citizen under a deal signed by Lobo and the Caribbean country’s President Leonel Fernandez, who flew to Honduras to accompany the former president.

Lobo, who was sworn into office hours earlier, had said his first task as president would be provid-ing Zelaya a safe passage out of the country.

Zelaya insisted he was still president up until the moment his four-year constitutional term officially ended yesterday.

SOURCE: Associated Press

Business school maintains collegiate accreditation

Provost Kathleen Rountree an-nounced Thursday at the all-college meeting that the Association to Ad-vance Collegiate Schools of Business has affirmed the accreditation of the college’s School of Business.

Every five years, business pro-grams must be reviewed by the AACSB and demonstrate com-mitment to 21 quality standards as specified by the organization. These standards encompass the programs’ faculty qualification, strategic management of resources and faculty-student interaction.

Two years ago, the School of Business was also recognized for its sustainability by becoming the first business school facility for a college or university in the world to obtain platinum LEED certifica-tion, the highest honor in energy and environmental design.

Biology professor awarded four-year research grant

Jean Hardwick, associate profes-sor of biology at Ithaca College, was awarded a $495,000 four-year grant from the National Heart, Lung and

Blood Institute. The grant will sup-port her collaborative research with East Tennessee State University pro-fessor Marie Southerland on how chronic heart disease alters neuronal control of the heart. The project is titled “Remodeling of the guinea pig intrinsic cardiac plexus with chronic heart disease.”

Part of the study will examine the effectiveness of therapeutic treat-ments for chronic heart disease.

College implements new cell phone account policy

Faculty and staff members who use cell phones paid for by Ithaca Col-lege are now required to establish per-sonal accounts with other cell phone providers in order to still receive reim-bursement from the college.

The policy change is effective immediately for new employees, and other employees must regis-ter a personal cell phone account by June 1.

Without the new policy, the college would be required to make a log for every call made from a college-paid cell phone.

For more information, read the full story at www.theithacan.org.

Cornell to host exhibition on digital photography age

The University of Texas will present an exhibition re-examining historical photographic techniques used by modern and contemporary photographers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Herbert F. Johnson Mu-seum of Art at Cornell University.

The university’s presentation will demonstrate the artistic capa-bilities of returning to the 19th and early 20th century approaches to film photography.

The event will feature works by William Henry Fox Talbot, Hill and Adamson, Anna Atkins, Carleton Watkins and more.

For more information, call the Johnson Museum at 255-6464 or visit www.museum.cornell.edu.

Author to discuss novel on success and leadership

Clinton Sidle, director of the Roy H. Park Leadership Fellows Program in the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a top consultant for Fortune 500 companies, will speak about the economic and po-litical crisis at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Barnes and Noble bookstore on Meadow Street.

Known as a leadership guru for

organizations working to improve executive coaching and develop human potential, Sidle has writ-ten three books on success tips and tools for strategic planning.

He will read from his newest novel, “This Hungry Spirit: Your Need for Basic Goodness.”

For more information, call the Tops Plaza Barnes and Noble at 273-6784.

Solar energy workshop to be held for educators

A free professional develop-ment workshop on solar energy concepts titled “A Solar Kit for the Classroom” will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at De-Witt Middle School.

Formal and informal educators are invited to attend the workshop to become familiar with solar technologies, so they can conduct experiments with their students. The hands-on activities will sup-port New York state Learning Standards and Core Curriculum.

Educators will also be given a free Deluxe Solar Energy Educa-tion Kit and teaching materials for their classrooms and institutions.

For more information, or to register for the workshop, visit www.nesea.org/k-12/events.

Nation&World

College&City

Obama addresses the nationPresident Barack Obama delivers his first State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washing-ton, D.C., yesterday. In his speech, Obama outlines his goals and plans in regard to health care reform, global climate change, job creation and federal deficit reduction.

CHarleS DHaraPak/aSSOCIateD PreSS

Thursday, January 28, 2010 news The Ithacan 3

By AAron edwArds AssistAnt news editor

President Tom Rochon moderated a diver-sity listening session Monday that kicked off the college’s five-year diversity plan.

As one of the first events in a series of workshops and programs during MLK Week, the session welcomed members of the college community to express their con-cerns and ideas in relation to ALANA reten-tion rates, diversity-related curriculum and the ratio of faculty and students of color to white students.

Before the session began, Rochon said the college’s Diversity Strategic Planning Commit-tee, led by Brian McAree, vice president of stu-dent affairs and campus life, designed the event.

“I did not tell [McAree] and the committee in any detail how to go about developing that plan, but I did say that I expected they would at some point consult the wider community on what they see as our major diversity priorities,” he said.

After Rochon gave an opening statement about the objectives of the session, attendees at the tables — each occupied by at least one member of the Diversity Planning Commit-tee — discussed their experiences and sugges-tions for the college.

General responses expressed the need for more dialogue among faculty, students and staff to create a better sense of racial toler-

ance on campus.The college’s “I Am Diverse” campaign was

a key point brought up in the meeting and at-tendees expressed opposition to the broad idea of diversity presented in the campaign.

Belisa Gonzalez, assistant professor of soci-ology, spoke on behalf of her round table after the groups were asked to discuss what the col-lege has done effectively to promote diversity.

“[The ‘I Am Diverse’ campaign] almost set up the idea that … we’re going to flatten diver-sity so that everybody is diverse,” she said. “And I understand the logic behind it [to] take out the sting, but our oppression stings. … It costs people of color to share their stories.”

Her comments were followed by the first applause of the afternoon.

Other participants suggested the college increase funding for ALANA programs like the MLK scholarship, Higher Education Opportu-nity Program and Collegiate Science and Tech-nology Education Program to attract students of diverse backgrounds, races and interests.

Senior sociology major Farah Seneque, who also participated in the round table dis-cussions, said she hopes the concerns raised at the event will get people talking about progressive action on campus.

“I’m hopeful,” she said. “I hope that after this discussion the campus will be more will-ing to talk about the real definition of diversity.”

For more information on MLK events, visit www.ithaca.edu.

Diversity plan begins with discussions

Sue-Je Gage, assistant professor of anthropology, notes comments made by faculty, staff and student participants of the diversity listening session Monday in Emerson Suites.

AndrEw BurAczEnSki/ThE iThAcAn

By ITHACAn sTAFF

Mary Ellen Zuckerman will serve as the new dean of the School of Business, the college announced yesterday.

Zuckerman, cur-rently a professor at SUNY-Geneseo, will begin her position at Ithaca College on July 1.

Kathleen Rountree, provost and vice presi-dent for academic af-fairs, said Zuckerman stood out from other candidates because of her leadership experience and personality.

“We could tell from talking with her and from her references that she was deeply committed to student learning, stu-dent achievements and accomplishments,” Rountree said.

Zuckerman served as dean of Gene-seo’s School of Business from 1999 to 2008. She was one of three candidates along with Susan McTiernan and Robert Pitts.

Zuckerman said she thinks her past ex-perience will prepare her for the new job.

“I bring some experience in leading a business school that will enhance what’s already been done and improve things even more for the students and faculty,” she said.

Zuckerman said she is excited about her new position.

“I very much look forward to be part of the Ithaca College community,” she said.

Greg Woodward, dean of the music school and search committee chair, said he is happy about the decision to choose Zuckerman as the business dean.

“She is a good fit for the college,” he said. “Her emphasis on her student learn-ing and student engagement is really key. She is a team builder, and I think that is a great thing for the college.”

Rountree said she looks forward to what Zuckerman will contribute in the fall.

“Dr. Zuckerman will be able to bring the faculty and staff together in plan-ning how to focus the School of Busi-ness — how to gain the respect and reputation off-campus that we know it deserves,” Rountree said.

College names business dean

Students attend climate negotiationsBy Lyndsey LymAn

Contributing writer

Twenty students from Ithaca College’s In-ternational Environmental Policy course joined delegates from 192 nations around the world at the United Nations Framework on Climate Change Convention’s 15th Conference of the Parties last month in Copenhagen, Denmark. Susan Allen-Gil, associate professor and chair of the environmental studies and sciences depart-ment, collaborated with the From Kyoto to Co-penhagen class at Dickinson College taught by Sarah Brylinsky ’08. The conference was an event coordinated for delegates to negotiate an agreement ex-pected to be signed by all parties on climate control issues such as reducing global green-house gas emissions. “Because [the classes] were official del-egates associated with a nongovernmental or-ganization, the students had access to anything any NGO would at the conference, which in-cluded some of the plenary sessions where all of the different countries were discussing vari-ous aspects of reaching an agreement,” Allen-Gil said. Rick Otis ’76, former deputy associate ad-ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, also went with both classes to help edu-cate students about environmental issues. Otis said he was grateful for the opportunity to join the students on their trip to the conference and see them in action. “The Ithaca College students got a very in-teresting introduction to how global the world really is,” Otis said. “They had a chance to see and talk to people who are official delegates from all over the world.” Junior business administration major Ryan Ginga said something as simple as no-ticing the countries listed on the people’s name tags while standing in line to get lunch surprised him. “It was a surreal experience to be standing next to a guy from Japan, and the next guy is from Ecuador, and the next guy is from Tuvalu,” Ginja said. Ithaca College students, joined by students from Dickinson College, listened to speakers and attended talks between global delegates and press conferences.

Also, Ithaca and Dickinson students set up a booth at the conference where they conducted a public opinion poll asking the 15,000 daily con-ference attendees, as well as those voting online, questions about how climate change should be managed and their personal opinion on climate change issues. Allen-Gil said polling was a great way for stu-dents to get involved in the event. “This gave them a way to interact with people there by asking them the daily ques-tion, as well as following what was going on,” Allen-Gil said. Mihir Parikh, a senior environmental studies major, said while he enjoyed meeting different people at the conference, he was unhappy with the final outcome of the negotiations. “Even if something legally binding had come out of it, the whole thing is more of a process instead of a decision-making event,” Parikh said. “That definitely got frustrating. You get too optimistic, and you get let down when

nothing happens.” The result of the conference was a document called the Copenhagen Accord. Delegates from China, India, Brazil, South Africa and the Unit-ed States created the accord, which commits nations to a reduction of enough emissions to keep the increase in the earth’s temperature below two degrees Celsius and give $30 billion to developing nations by 2012, among other key points. Allen-Gil said students not only gained a great understanding of the importance of the climate change issue, but the conference also influenced their goals for the future. “The connections that they made or the talks that they heard have influenced their career path,” said Allen-Gil. Parikh said he wouldn’t change anything about his experience. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Parikh said. “I met so many great people there. It completely changed my life.”

From left, junior ryan Ginja, sophomore Siobhan cavanagh, junior Michelle honan, associate professor Susan Allen-Gil and sophomore Sofia Johnson table at cOP15 last december.

cOurTESy OF BEcky wEBSTEr

By GILLIAn smITH stAff writer

Public Safety is still trying to identify who is responsible for the vandalism of 60 pianos in the Whalen School of Music that occurred Dec. 12, according to Public Safety Investigator Tom Dunn.

Dunn said the perpetrators have not been apprehended.

“We are looking for help in identifying the perpetrators involved,” Dunn said.

Last month, sophomore Andrew Thomson, a composition and instrumen-tal major, said he went into the Whalen Center to retrieve some equipment and found the damaged equipment.

Greg Woodward, dean of the mu-sic school, said practice rooms are now functional.

“The effect of the damage was really short-lived,” he said. “Within a couple days, we were up and running pretty well. They just are not as good looking or in as good as shape as they were.”

Woodward said the pianos probably will not be repaired until the summer.

Dave Maley, associate director of me-dia relations, said the extent of damage varies from piano to piano. No exact dollar amount has been released.

For information regarding the incident, call Public Safety at 274-3333.

Piano vandalism remains unsolved

ZUCKermAn will begin July 1.

4 The Ithacan news Thursday, January 28, 2010

that true?

TR: For the foreseeable future with the economic environment stabilized, there should be no drastic cuts. No one saw the economic catastrophe of last year coming, so I can’t be a prophet and say that a few months from now things might not look very differ-ent. But given the current economic climate we should not see drastic cuts — jobs or any other operating accounts.

LH: Is it fair to say relief was what you were hoping people would leave with?

TR: It is combined with the importance of there being a recognition that we face a very significant challenge, as does every college and university, that’s a little bit different from the challenge of the economic collapse of last year. That’s the challenge that goes back to the fact that before the economic problems our net prices were increasing 7 to 9 percent every sin-gle year. That’s how we financed ourselves. We simply cannot continue to do that. It’s unques-tionably too much of a burden on the backs of students. ... Everyone understood the econom-ic crisis of last year and that we had to react. The current crisis is something that people do not understand as well. But it is something that will require us to act in just as major of a way as the economic crisis of last year.

LH: During the uncertainty of the past year you’ve been clearly gathering informa-tion from faculty and staff about the col-lege’s vision. People look to you for guidance regarding this. How would you define your vision for the college?

TR: My job is to understand the vision and the dreams of the faculty, staff and stu-dents of Ithaca College and then mold those many different visions into something coher-ent — an actual plan for us going forward. ... What I hear from other people boils down to a few very powerful ideas: that we’re a col-lege that cares deeply about each student and their own circumstances, and sees each student as an individual; that we are a col-lege in which applied learning and learning in context is important and we offer those opportunities to students in every school, typically beginning in the freshman year; and increasingly, the desire that we also create opportunities for students to transcend their individual schools and departments and have an education that prepares them for a very complex, interdependent world in which they need skills and experiences from a lot of different fields. Those are three things I think add up to a vision of Ithaca College that is deeply rooted in the past and the present of Ithaca College.

LH: I was stuck by the way you ac-knowledged the shortcomings of Phase II at the meeting. There seems to be a defi-nite shift because of this from “efficiency and effectiveness” to “creative and innovative.” What lessons did you learn from that?

TR: I really felt that people who work here should not feel that they are the objects to but the creators of the next wave. I felt that was my mistake. But the biggest shift in thinking is actually one that pertains to the crisis in higher education that is far deeper than I was thinking. A year ago I felt that [once we got to] an even financial balance what we now needed to do was another ef-fort like that to create some financial room for ourselves to build for the future. That was the Phase II way of thinking. I now re-alize that because we financed ourselves on tuition increases that were twice the rate of inflation. Because we can’t continue to do

that, it isn’t a one-time effort to create some financial room. ... It’s a far more challenging task than Phase II was set up to answer.

LH: “Creativity and innovation” are general terms. You said you wanted to build this into everyday thinking. How will you do that? What specifically can faculty and staff do?

TR: It’s a great question and I don’t have the answers to that because frankly I’m trying to see if Ithaca College can pioneer something that I don’t see other colleges and universities doing. This is a very uncertain endeavor. It’s not risky, but it’s uncertain. Having a group of people who are charged with taking some time from their professional lives and getting to-gether and brainstorming seems like one good way to approach it. But if we leave this up to 10 or a dozen people — I haven’t even decided that yet — if we leave this up to a small number of people we won’t be innovative as a college as a whole. ... That would be creativity from the grassroots. I’m hoping that by talking about student-centeredness and the importance of being innovative that people will feel free to act on their best professional instincts and do things differently in service to students.

LH: How is this different from efficiency and effectiveness and some of the shortcom-ings that you admitted with Phase II? How will this program be different?

TR: Efficiency and effectiveness will come out of this burst of creativity and innovation. I didn’t think that efficiency and effectiveness was what was wrong with Phase II as a goal. The process

was the issue. … There was less of the positive language around inno-vation. Innovation can reduce our cost. Inno-vation can be a source of revenue. I want to be very clear that this is not innovation like “I’ve got an idea, here’s a new

way we could spend money that would be good for students.” This innovation needs to be about efficiency and effectiveness.

LH: You also announced the creation of an innovation advisory board. What is the time line for creating it, and how will it be different from the strategic visioning group?

TR: There are many things about this group I don’t know yet, and I’d like to get people’s advice. … It should be faculty, staff and stu-dents, but I don’t have much of an idea as to how they should be selected. The group needs to be charged with creativity, but you can’t sim-ply lock people in a room and say “be creative.” It needs to be given some parameters or some problems to think about, and yet you don’t

want to limit its thinking too much. ... I would like to launch the group this spring, continue it for a few years and assess at that point whether it’s working or not as a way to go about this. We’re experimenting, and no one else is doing this in higher education. It’s different from the listening sessions last year because those ses-sions were one-time opportunities for people to come and offer their thoughts about Ithaca College. And there were a lot of wonderful thoughts that were captured ... that I think need to be revisited in this creativity and in-novation context. … This would be an ongoing group that would probably over a short period of time come to understand what creativity means in higher education, even more deeply than I do or anyone else does right now.

LH: Do you hear fears from people who say: “It’s another board; it’s another group”?

TR: The only messages I’ve gotten from the meeting have been intrigued and encouraging, but I don’t imagine for a moment that is the full cross section of thinking. ... And I’m not sure that it will work. But I think that certainly this will be a good use of some people’s time and potentially it could be transformative for the college.

LH: You talked about the extent that faculty and staff are committed to stu-dents, but went on to say the college is not as “student-centered” as faculty and staff believe. You then specifically challenged faculty, asking, quote: “Do we think about our everyday work experience and ask what can be improved? Do we work not just for our own comfort and benefit but thinking consciously about educational excellence as the outcome of our work?” What gave rise to your concern that this isn’t happening?

TR: I meant most of those words for facul-ty and staff. I wish to be clear. … The concern comes from the fact that any professional, and that includes me, can get used to doing things in a certain way. ... You don’t necessarily ask fundamental questions and ask them on a day-to-day basis — fundamental questions like “Is what I’m doing right now literally in the best interest of the educational experience of students?” That’s a radical question to ask yourself if you are sitting in the middle of a meeting trying to solve some problem that may not be a primary mission-driven educa-tional problem. … I’m asking faculty and staff to ask very basic questions about what they do and how they do it, and make sure that we’re maximizing the use of our human talent.

Rochon incites creativity on campus

President Tom Rochon speaks with Editor in Chief Lindsey Hollenbaugh about the next phase in the college’s direction for financial stability and growth last Friday in the office of the president.

aLLison usavagE/THE iTHaCan

Rochon from page 1

New board to facilitate creative ideas

At this year’s meeting, Rochon pre-sented the creation of an innovation advisory board made up of faculty, staff and students.

Rochon challenged faculty and staff to be more creative and innova-tive in teaching students. He said fac-ulty and staff are committed, but he then went on to say the college might not be as “student-centered” as many believe. He challenged faculty and staff members to ask themselves if they are doing everything they can to improve and add to the college’s com-plete educational experience.

“Do we think about our everyday work experience and ask what can be improved?” he said. “Do we work not just for our own comfort and benefit, but thinking consciously about educational excellence as the outcome of our work?”

He said helping students prepare for lifelong learning should include field-work, internships, community service and faculty guided research.

“If we cannot say that we are work-ing for a better educational environ-ment every day, then have we really earned the trust [students] place in us?” he asked. “Are we really as stu-dent-centered as we say we are? That’s our mission.”

Rochon said the advisory board will be able to examine ways to make the college better.

“We need to take some time to think about Ithaca College as a whole and think in innovative ways that we may be able to implement,” he said. “I have ab-solutely every confidence that we can do it and be extremely successful. We need to be creative, innovative, and we need to be fearless.”

At last year’s January meeting, Ro-chon announced a “Phase II” organi-zational review for efficiency and ef-fectiveness to be undertaken after the completion of budget cuts. Its purpose was to create financial room for devel-oping new programs and to find ways to deliver educational and administrative services more effectively.

“It was not the most effective way to go about this, and that is what is being changed,” Rochon said.

Asma Barlas, professor and program director for the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity, said Ro-chon’s strategy was promising.

“The challenges are not over,” she said. “But it seems like there is a new ap-proach in dealing with them.”

Eric Maguire, vice president of en-rollment management; Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance and adminis-tration; and Kathleen Rountree, provost and vice president of academic affairs, spoke about future enrollment, finances and academic excellence.

Maguire and Sgrecci presented an “aggressive but achievable” strategy in dealing with declining demographics of college-bound high school gradu-ates in the Northeast and finances for the next decade.

Maguire said to outperform pre-dicted demographics the college plans to increase its applications by 7 percent over the next five or six years.

Sgrecci said if the college can keep the acceptance and tuition rates low, of-fer an appealing financial aid discount and still obtain a freshman class of about 1,500, it would put the college on a balanced operating budget.

“It should allow the college to consis-tently operate with revenues exceeding expenses,” Sgrecci said.

Meeting from page 1

“Given the current economic climate we should not see drastic cuts — jobs or any other operating accounts.”

President tom rochon

Next week, Rochon further discusses his challenge to the faculty and staff: “Many faculty feel that our environment could and should be more academically rigorous.”

Thursday, January 28, 2010 News The Ithacan 5

Did youhear about the fire in Hudson Heights?

Covering news in a flash, on or off the Ithaca campus. Read the latest daily headlines onThe Ithacanonline at theithacan.org.

Organizations raise money for Haiti relief

Deborah Mohlenhoff, assistant director for Community Service and Leadership De-velopment, said this will be a chance for ev-eryone to collaborate.

“We just want to be available to provide resources for students or organizations,” she said. “We want people to come in with ideas, suggestions and a willingness to help, and we’re going to hopefully connect people.”

Senior Will Mathewson, vice president of communications for the SGA, said he is in the process of planning a program called IC Students for Haiti Initiative to raise funds for those hurt in the quake. He said he is drafting a letter to student organizations on campus, asking them to pledge donations of 15 percent the money they make at their events this semester to a charitable relief ef-fort. Six organizations have already planned on donating.

“This is something the E-board feels strong-ly about,” Mathewson said. “We are basically making a call to action, and it would be really up to the student organizations to respond.”

He said he is unsure which charity SGA will decide to give to.

Cornell University is also organizing stu-dent groups to help with Haitian relief. Se-nior Albert Lee, co-president of the Haitian Students Association, said his organization is focused on serving as a liaison to student groups that expressed interests in raising money for Haiti. In addition, HSA is spon-soring a candlelight vigil at 5:30 p.m. tonight at Sage Chapel.

“This will be a chance for members of the

Cornell community to remember the vic-tims of the earthquake and come together as a community,” Lee said.

Though Lee did not lose anyone close to him from the earthquake, he did learn that two close friends were badly injured.

“They were injured when a building they were in collapsed,” he said. “They managed to survive by jumping off the roof of the building onto another building as the build-ing was collapsing.”

In addition to these efforts, businesses in Ithaca have also been raising money for charities since the quake struck the nation. Wegmans has teamed up with the Red Cross by accepting customer donations at check-out to help the victims. Its program has al-ready raised $840,329 and will last until Feb. 6., according to a Wegmans press release.

Daria Cho, the owner of the Collegetown boutique Daria on Dryden, is also hosting a fundraising event through Saturday in which

15 percent of all her proceeds will be given to the Red Cross in support of its Haitian re-lief efforts.

“I just think it’s very important to be part of the community, and the community doesn’t necessarily have to be local,” she said.

Cho said she has been successful with her efforts but encourages others in Ithaca to do their part, whether it is by finding their own charity or by texting Haiti to 90999 to do-nate $10 to the Red Cross.

“The more money we can raise for Haiti the better,” she said. “Every little bit helps.”

Bougher said he hopes all this inter-national aid will serve an opportunity for Haiti to correct the numerous infra-structure problems it had even before the quake struck.

“I really hope people will think more of Haiti and maybe make more of a long-term investment and understand the problems of the third world,” he said.

Mackenzie Hellenbrand, an employee at Daria on Dryden, counts the day’s income, part of which will be donated to Haiti relief agencies. She said she wants to offer any help she can to disaster victims.

AnDrew BurAczenSki/THe iTHAcAn

Haiti from page 1

By Allison MusAnte Managing Editor

The Office of Civil Rights is continu-ing its investigation of Ithaca College after a complaint was filed April 8 alleging dis-crimination against its students, staff and faculty with mobility impairments.

The complaint has four components: 43 different facilities are inaccessible; re-quests for accessible housing are denied; campus parking lots do not have the re-quired number of accessible parking spots; and there are no curb ramps en route to Williams Hall.

Jim Bradshaw, press officer at the U.S. Department of Education, could not release details about the investi-gation because of the Federal Privacy Act. The investigation has been ongo-ing since April; an investigation typi-cally takes six months, Bradshaw said he could not comment on why the in-vestigation has been delayed.

Some of the OCR’s typical investiga-tion techniques include site visits and interviews with the complainant, site personnel and other witnesses. Bradshaw would not confirm if or when an OCR rep-resentative visited campus for an evalua-tion of the complaint.

Dave Maley, associate director of media relations, said he believes the college is in compliance with the regulations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federally financed insti-tutions, including colleges, to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. He said the college cannot comment on any further devel-opments in the investigation.

Discrimination case ongoing

6 The Ithacan Thursday, January 28, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010 News The Ithacan 7

David Turkon, associate profes-sor of anthropology at Ithaca Col-lege, was appointed the chair of the AIDS and Anthropology Research Group in De-cember, after serving as the organization’s chair-elect for one year. The AARG is a sub-section of the American An-thropological Association that works to further anthropological research of HIV and AIDS. Chief Proofreader Michelle Bizon spoke to Turkon about his new role and the contributions an-thropologists can make in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Michelle Bizon: What responsi-bilities accompany being chair of the AARG?

David Turkon: I have to organize the annual meetings for the organi-zation. I have to organize elections for the steering committee and the board and organize the publica-tion of our newsletter. Basically, the chair has to keep the organization running — keep it viable.

MB: What do you think is unique about anthropology, specifically, that can help in the research and prevention of HIV and AIDS?

DT: We understand culture. We understand that HIV/AIDS is not a pandemic that unfolds exactly the

same way everywhere — it spreads for different reasons — and how people deal with it. Anthropology can make a difference in under-standing why people might reject treatment, so that to me is where anthropology can make the stron-gest contribution. That’s not what a lot of these large nongovernmental organizations want to hear because they want the silver bullet. They don’t want to have to admit that it’s not going to be that easy, and that in each place, they have to do some research — they have to come to a deeper understanding of what’s going on.

MB: What would you like students to know about your work and your goals for the AARG?

DT: Sometimes it really seems like the world’s a hopeless place, but when you get out there, you see that there are small successes. If you just look at the broad picture, you look at all the money that’s been squan-dered, and you can say “what’s the use?” But you have to get in there; you have to buck the system; you have to figure out what’s wrong with the system. To me, this is what’s one of the biggest potentials of my position in the AARG, in that it gives me a platform to hopefully bring these issues to the floor, to bring them forward, to get people talking about them. We need to get this information into the policy circle — that’s where change is go-ing to happen.

To read the entire interview, visit www.theithacan.org.

Chair of anthropology coalition advocates for HIV/AIDS research

By AlexAndrA evAns Staff Writer

Ithaca College students who ride the TCAT can expect to see cheaper bus passes, more frequent stops at the college, extended hours and the replacement of transfer routes with direct routes as part of the company’s Transportation Development Plan that went into effect Jan. 17.

TCAT Service Development Man-ager Nancy Oltz said the decision was not made in response to any flaws in the system but rather to look at the concentration of people in the different areas of Ithaca within the past 10 years in order to better serve the community.

“We’ve operated the same foot-print of service for 10 years, so one of the best things to do in order to look at your service and see if there are im-provements you can make is to do a study like this,” Oltz said.

The company updated all but seven of its 34 routes, including six interlined routes — “one-seat rides” that take di-rect routes — in addition to a seven-day-a-week service to the airport and later service to the West Hill area and Cayuga Medical Center.

Route 11 now operates between the college and downtown Monday through Saturday from 7 to 2 a.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Students no longer have to trans-fer buses in order to get to the Ithaca Mall, Collegetown, Cornell University and Southside shopping. Oltz said six routes have been combined to elimi-nate transferring buses, including

routes 11 and 30. Sophomore Alex Petecca said he

didn’t have many problems with the TCAT previously, but he didn’t like waiting for a transfer bus.

“I thought the TCAT worked fairly well,” he said. “It was time consuming, though and kind of a nuisance to take a bus to The Commons when I was go-ing to the mall and then have to wait for the second bus to come. ”

Paper TCAT passes have been replaced by plastic passes called the Tcard, which look like debit cards that can be swiped on the bus and re-loaded online. Students will be able to swipe their student ID cards, which can be loaded with passes purchased through TCAT or soon the campus bookstore. Nicole Tedesco, TCAT’s service and operations analyst, said bus passes are now cheaper for students at the college.

“We know that a lot of students are hard pressed for disposable income, and Ithaca College has stepped up to the plate to help reduce the cost of stu-dent passes,” Tedesco said.

This semester TCAT passes are now $110, instead of $120. The cost of a monthly pass is $30 instead of $45. Additionally, the cost of a 15-ride card is $15.

“Essentially, Ithaca College is subsi-dizing all of [the passes] 33 percent off,” Tedesco said.

A new bus station has also been added on Green Street next to the Tompkins County Public Library. Patty Poist, manager of marketing communications for TCAT, said the station is a shelter for passengers waiting for the bus.

“We’re subleasing a portion of that space to Gimme! Coffee,” she said. “We’ve teamed up with them to create this cafélike experience. ”

Oltz said public opinion was strongly taken into consideration when developing the plan.

“We received over 600 comments from the public that helped us de-velop these routes,” she said. “We’re very pleased actually with the feedback we’re getting from our riders.”

TCAT adds direct routes to schedule

Regina McNamara checks the new bus schedule on Seneca Street. She recently moved from Manhattan and said her biggest problem is using the bus system.

MICHELLE BARRIE/THE ITHACAN

TUrKOn said anthropology can help those with HiV/aiDS.

8 The Ithacan Thursday, January 28, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010 News The Ithacan 9

Public Safety Incident Log selected entries from december 19 to January 11

Key

cmc – cayuga medical centerccV – college code ViolationDWI – Driving while intoxicatedIFD – Ithaca Fire DepartmentIPD – Ithaca Police DepartmentmVA – motor vehicle accidentRA – Resident assistantSASP – Student Auxiliary Safety PatrolV&T – Vehicle and Transportation

DeCeMBeR 19

CCV/UNDERAGE POSS. OF ALCOHOLLOcATION: TerracesSUmmARY: One person judicially referred for underage possession of alcohol and one person judicially referred for responsibility of guest. master Patrol Officer Donald Lyke.

UNLAWFUL POSS. OF MARIJUANALOcATION: Emerson HallSUmmARY: caller reported finding marijuana. Unknown owner. Investigation pending. Patrol Officer mark Denicola.

DeCeMBeR 20

CCV/DRUG VIOLATIONSLOcATION: circle ApartmentsSUmmARY: caller reported, during a health and safety inspection, that drug paraphernalia was observed. Investigation pending. master Patrol Officer Donald Lyke.

DeCeMBeR 21

CCV/COLLEGE REGULATIONSLOcATION: Landon HallSUmmARY: Officer reported flammable liquid was found during a health and safety inspection. Two people were

judicially referred for possession of a dangerous substance. Fire Protection Specialist Enoch Perkins.

SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCELOcATION: Whalen center for musicSUmmARY: caller reported unknown persons moving pianos. Officer found that the pianos were being moved by facilities to clean. Suspicious circumstance was unfounded. Patrol Officer chris Teribury.

DeCeMBeR 22

TRESPASSLOcATION: Dillingham centerSUmmARY: caller reported seeing a suspicious person. One person was judicially referred for trespassing. master Patrol Officer Donald Lyke.

SAFETY HAZARDLOcATION: Boothroyd HallSUmmARY: Officer reported flammable liquids were found during a health and safety inspection. Investigation pending. Fire Protection Specialist Enoch Perkins.

HARASSMENTLOcATION: circle ApartmentsSUmmARY: complainant reported a

physical altercation between two people that occurred Dec. 18. Investigation pending. Patrol Officer chris Teribury.

DeCeMBeR 30

ACCIDENTAL PROPERTY DAMAGELOcATION: Athletic and Events centerSUmmARY: caller reported accidental property damage involving two vehicles. Report taken. Sergeant Bill Kerry.

JanuaRy 1

CCV/IRRESPONSIBLE ALCOHOL USELOcATION: Flora Brown DriveSUmmARY: One person judicially referred for alcohol use. Patrol Officer David Amaro.

FOUND PROPERTYLOcATION: Phillips HallSUmmARY: Shirt found and turned over to Public Safety. Unknown owner.

JanuaRy 5

MEDICAL ASSIST/INJURY RELATEDLOcATION: center for Health SciencesSUmmARY: caller reported a person fell and sustained injuries. Person declined medical assistance from ambulance staff. Report taken. Patrol Officer David Amaro.

ASSIST/TOMPKINS COUNTY SHERIFFLOcATION: All OtherSUmmARY: Officer reported a person with an active arrest warrant. Tompkins county Sheriff’s Office investigation pending. Assistant Director of Administrative Services Laura Durling.

JanuaRy 6

MEDICAL ASSIST/INJURY RELATEDLOcATION: circle Lot 8SUmmARY: A caller reported falling while walking on the stairs and sustaining a back injury at 9:30 a.m. The caller declined medical assistance. Patrol Officer Daniel Bechtold.

FOUND PROPERTYLOcATION: Hammond Health centerSUmmARY: Bracelet found and turned over to Public Safety. Unknown owner.

FOUND PROPERTYLOcATION: Friends HallSUmmARY: Key chain was found and turned over to Public Safety. Unknown owner.

MEDICAL ASSIST/INJURY RELATEDLOcATION: West TowerSUmmARY: Officer reported he slipped and

fell on flight of stairs at 4:45 p.m. Officer declined medical assistance. master Patrol Officer Erik merlin.

JanuaRy 11

V&T VIOLATION/LEAVING SCENELOcATION: O-LotSUmmARY: caller reported an unknown vehicle damaged signs. Investigation pending. Patrol Officer chris Teribury.

FIRE ALARMLOcATION: Dillingham centerSUmmARY: Fire alarm activation determined to be accidental. Panel reset.

For the complete saFety log, go to www.theithacan.org/news

editorials

10 The Ithacan OpInIOn Thursday, January 28, 2010

Single CopieS of the ithacan are available free of Charge from authorized diStribution pointS on the ithaCa College CampuS and in the ithaCa Community. multiple CopieS and mail SubSCriptionS are available from the offiCe of the ithacan. pleaSe Call for rateS.

Lindsey hoLLenbaugh editor in ChiefaLLison musante managing editorarchana menon opinion editorashLey may newS editorLeah tedesco newS editoraaron edwards aSSiStant newS editormicheLLe skowronek aCCent editor

whitney faber aSSiStant aCCent editorcasey musarra SportS editorandrew weiser aSSiStant SportS editoraLLison usavage photo editorandrew buraczenski aSSiStant photo editorgraham hebeL aSSiStant photo editorchris barriere online media editor

margaret moran Chief Copy editormicheLLe bizon Chief proofreadermicheLLe barrie deSign editorcoLLeen Lowery aSSiStant deSign editorderek rogers SaleS managerevan kirkpatrick online editormichaeL serino ithaCan adviSer

The Ithacan 269 Roy H. park Hall, Ithaca CollegeIthaca, n.Y. 14850-7258(607) 274-3208 | Fax (607) 274-1376

ithacan@ithaca.eduwww.theithacan.org

defining a new vision

Rochon presents faculty and staff with new challenge of achieving

creativity and innovation every day

At the all-college meeting last week, President Tom Rochon addressed faculty and staff with a positive message and outlook for the

future. He said Ithaca College is currently on finan-cially stable ground, with no foreseeable cuts — a welcome statement for the college community that has withstood a year of financial uncertainty.

Rochon presented a new vision for the college, making a clear shift from Phase II’s “efficiency and effectiveness,” to a more bottom-up approach of “creativity and innovation.”

The president’s innovation advisory board, which could be ready by the spring, is assigned the difficult task of creating a grassroots bed of creativ-ity and innovation. The administration’s efforts to challenge faculty and staff members and encourage their participation in recreating the current educa-tional experience of the college is commendable.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to embrace this positive call for change by accepting Rochon’s chal-lenge. The new board will only succeed if the college community rallies behind its efforts and the efforts of the administration to instill a more academically student-centered education.

While Rochon has pointed the college com-munity in a new direction, the burden now lies on that community through the new advisory board to define and flesh out specific goals. The campus community is urged to meet Rochon’s challenge and help create new and innovative ways to make the college a truly worthwhile educational experi-ence for current and future students.

a diverse view Diversity discussions should continue after

Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations

Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations provide Ithaca College an opportunity to focus on the issue of diversity. Sessions

on race, racism and climate change focused on this year’s theme: “Where Do You Stand?” These sessions, in addition to the college’s five-year plan on diversity, are commendable efforts toward ad-dressing diversity but seem limited in their goals. The college needs to ensure that the campus does not stop discussing diversity once the celebrations are over or when the five years are up.

Often these talks on diversity fail to go beyond the stereotypical definitions of the issue — that of race and ethnicity. While race and ethnicity remain a core aspect of diversity, the college needs to facilitate dialogue on a definition of diversity that includes talks on a diversity of thought, gen-der or profession.

Short sessions, though helpful, hardly deal with the complexities of diversity. An hour long session might allow participants to share some perspec-tives on diversity but does not allow time for reflection on those points. The concept of diver-sity is deeply rooted in the lessons of history; lon-ger sessions will give facilitators the much needed time to educate participants.

By personally moderating some of these sessions, President Tom Rochon clearly demon-strates his commitment to creating a more diverse campus. Encouraging the college to actively dis-cuss diversity throughout the semester and in the coming years is a positive start. But as the college begins to implement its new vision, faculty, staff and students are urged to keep the conversations on diversity going and open for input.

snaP JUdgMenT

PresidentialReport Card How would

you rate Obama’s

first year as president?

“COnsidering everytHing gOing On, i tHink He’s dOing pretty well. He’s still trying tO get On His feet. tHis was a praCtiCe year ... next year will be gOOd.”Kelsey BuRston ‘11 DRama

i felt tHat He’s Had a gOOd first year. He didn’t live up tO tHe Hype and expeCtatiOn, but i dOn’t tHink any president realis-tiCally COuld’ve. tHere’s a lOt Of prOmise tHere. i’m HOping His term Only gets better.”alexis izoR ‘10 soCiology

“He’s dOne a deCent jOb — nOtHing speCial — but it’s sO Hard tO judge beCause last year was rOugH, sO eitHer mCCain Or Obama wOuld Have Had a tOugH year. it’ll just take mOre time tO get tHings dOne and fOr peOple tO be Happy witH Him.” alex hauBenstoCK ‘13 television-RaDio

“fOr tHe first year, [i’ll give Him] 3.5 tO 4 Out Of 10. He’s gOt tHe ball rOlling On sOme tHings. let’s see wHere it aCtu-ally gOes.” ChRis ashman ‘10 Biology

“i give Him a sOlid b. peOple Had really HigH expeCtatiOns fOr Him tHat He was gOing tO dO re-ally miraCulOus tHings … but tHere’s nO way He COuld Have aCHieved every-tHing peOple wanted frOm Him. He’s been stiCking His neCk in every pOssible issue He Can. maybe He just needs tO fOCus On One partiCular area.” tim sChmitz ‘11PhilosoPhy-Religion

Speak your mind.write a letter to the editor ithacan@ithaca.edu

250 words or less, e-mailed or dropped off by 5 p.m. monday in park 269

watch more Snap Judgments at

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All opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of The Ithacan. To write a guest commentary, contact Opinion Editor Archana Menon at 274-3208.

Thursday, January 28, 2010 OpiniOn The ithacan 11

Guest commentAry

Being an environmental studies major and politics minor, going to Copenhagen was probably the greatest opportunity I have

ever had. I went as part of the International En-vironmental Policy course with 19 other students from Ithaca College. The Bella Center is said to hold about 15,000 people, and before the first day of the conference, it was said that 30,000 had been admitted. The majority of these 30,000 people were there to make a difference and try to make things better. Natu-rally, we were all very high-spirited and optimistic after feeling the ecstasy of the conference. Being at COP15 and sitting in on plenary sessions, we were really able to see how the international negotiating process works.

Though a lot happens behind closed doors, a lot was also discussed during these plenary sessions. The sessions involved negotiations about amending the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the creation of a new agreement. It was extremely interesting to see the split between developing and developed nations, seeing who wanted a new legally binding agree-ment and who strayed. Ultimately, it came down to all countries looking out for themselves. Large developing countries such as India and China put the interest of their rising economies first, while smaller countries were fighting to get some sort of ruling so larger countries cannot continue to pollute. One thing that was very meaningful to me sitting in on these negotiations was seeing and listening to delegates from small island countries such as Tuvalu who knew that in 50 odd years their country would be under water.

The negotiating process started to become frustrating with nothing being decided. But this is what I really got from this conference — it is a process. With the current process structure, these decisions will not happen overnight no matter how much they need to. I know that it is not as simple as just saying that the delegates can easily come to a conclusion. But if everyone makes a little sacrifice, or at least looks at the bigger picture, it can be that simple. After witnessing these circles of negotia-tions, I personally lost faith in the system.

There were still side events put on by different governments, renewable energy companies and advocacy groups presenting different programs, technologies and general education that were truly inspiring. Being at the conference really made me see how much work is going on to address the problem of climate change. Meeting people from different places around the world, hearing their viewpoints on climate change and being able to at-tend all of the event presentations was priceless.

The amount of youth that were at the confer-ence was also something that was extremely inspiring, but they did not effect any concrete change. I realized that youth will not change the verdict of the conference. But if we put pressure on negotiations and make positive noise, we can still persuade things to happen. From what I have seen and experienced, the youth movement must happen for any negotiators to get anything

done because the delegates definitely will not do it themselves.

By not really coming out of the conference with anything meaningful, besides some good investments for certain parts of the world, nothing will really change for now. Even if a new legally binding agreement came out of the conference, it would not be put in effect immediately and would still mean the same fate for all those small island countries and coastal cities. The conference showed me that though it was a strong political negotiation, it was a process and will always be a process. Right now, we need action, not process. Otherwise, even more countries than those who are already going to be wiped out will be if we don’t keep trying to act.

mihir pArikh is a senior environmental studies major. E-mail him at mparikh1@ithaca.edu.

UN summit outcome proves disappointing

My husband and I moved to Haiti in October 2008 and stayed for

one year. We were the first long-term missionaries sent by Movin’ With the Spirit, a small Catholic nonprofit based out of Connecticut. The first phase of our work was to build an orphanage in Duverger, a village about 70 miles from Port-au-Prince.

Haiti is a tough country — tough before the earthquake and even tougher now. We bathed, washed our laundry and watered the animals in the same river. For a few months we hiked about seven miles a day just from our home to work and back. Most people walk at least that far — often farther to school and to work — each day. But out in our villages all of this was just part of our paradise; it was Port-au-Prince that was truly tough.

We spent many weeks gather-ing supplies in Port-au-Prince where we stayed in a crude cement house in a steep hillside neighborhood. Port-au-Prince was crowded, smelly and chaotic. Yet young people often left their peaceful homes in their villages hoping to find work there. After

being educated, kids often felt that they had too much education to be farmers like their parents and wanted jobs where they could have the dignity of wearing a suit. With a 70 percent unemployment rate, Port-au-Prince was full of poverty and disappointment. The streets and rivers were lined with trash, and people carried water for miles, as the places to get clean water were limited. Extended families crammed into tiny homes to ban together and survive.

We built our orphanage as a refuge for the orphaned and abandoned children of Port-au-

Prince to offer them a new life in a clean, peaceful place. We planned to teach the children trades and the dignity of farming to try to keep them from heading to the city when they grew up like other young people. But now there is no longer a city for them to flock to.

The earthquake that hit Haiti two weeks ago was a disaster that may be the worst in our hemi-sphere’s history. The depth, the magnitude and the placement of it were the worst possible scenarios. But I thank God for two things: first, that it was not the type of earthquake to cause a tsunami,

and second, that the earthquake happened when it did. Had it been earlier in the day, businesses and schools would have been full. Any later and everyone would have been in their beds asleep.

We have seen a global response that Haiti has been waiting on for decades. It hurts me to think that this is what it took to get all eyes on Haiti, but it also shows me how God can make good of all situa-tions. Worldwide people are pour-ing out their hearts to this country, flooding it with prayers and aid. International aid groups like Doc-tors Without Borders, who has had a presence in Haiti for a long time, to ones like Catholic World Mission — even though it has no one of its own on the ground — have teamed up with our mission so that they can directly support Haiti. Emer-gency agencies from more than 30 nations have sent teams to dig through rubble, set up hospitals and give out food and water.

It will take all of these groups to help this country recover as we each have our own place and our own mission, serving many differ-ent needs. I pray that Americans don’t forget Haiti and that everyone answers their unique calling to the mission of bringing faith, hope and love to Haiti.

kristin todziA is the Development Coordinator for Movin’ With The Spirit. E-mail her at kristin@mwts.org.

Haiti earthquake highlights already distressed stateGuest commentAry

Doing the right thing for Haiti

The destruction and devastation the Jan. 12 earthquake wreaked in

Haiti prompted a swift and admi-rable response from many in the U.S. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, donations for relief efforts have totaled more than $200 million. The Obama administration’s response, while by no means perfect, has been a responsible, smart-headed ap-proach to the crisis. The president promised $100 million in aid, moved quickly to send troops and relief workers and assured the Haitian people of U.S. support. At the same time, however, certain American sectors have responded just as rapidly, but with far more self-serving motives.

As Jeremy Scahill notes in “Rebel Reports,” private secu-rity firms have wasted no time offering their “services.” On Jan. 15, the All Pro Legal Investiga-tions registered the URL titled Haiti-Security.com, which offers services such as “high-threat ter-minations” and protection from “worker unrest.”

As dubious as some of this may sound, we have seen it be-fore. Haiti is the latest example of what journalist Naomi Klein calls the Shock Doctrine — private firms using disaster as a profit-making opportunity.

We are hearing the same language after the 2004 tsunami and Katrina — that of an “oppor-tunity” to “remake” a previously impoverished area. A Heritage Foundation blog post said it provided the U.S. a chance to “re-shape Haiti’s long-dysfunctional government and economy and to improve the public image of the United States in the region.” The post has been changed to tone down that rhetoric, but the insinuation remains: This disaster could be the chance to build the Haiti we want.

While there is no doubt that Haiti should be remade, the mo-tive for doing so should not be the bolstering of American interests, particularly those of multination-al corporations. Haiti should be remade because it is the humane thing to do, and it must be done in the right way: with no-strings-attached funding, the continua-tion of security and peacekeeping operations performed by public entities and a commitment to building a sound infrastructure that will benefit all Haitians.

Unfortunately, that is not what is happening. The IMF has saddled Haiti with a $100 million loan on top of the $165 million debt the country already faces. Private security groups have begun to infiltrate the region.

If things continue on this path, we will have missed an opportu-nity indeed: the opportunity to do the right thing in Haiti.

Mihir Parikh sits in the Bella Center during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copen-hagen Denmark last December. He was one of 20 Ithaca College students to attend the conference.

CoUrtesy of MIHIr ParIkH

kristin todziA

Children color on the front steps of the MWts orphanage, kay Mari Man-man tout timoun, in Duverger, Haiti. the orphanage opened in 2009. CoUrtesy of krIstIN toDzIa

zAch tomAnelli

zAch tomAnelli is a juniorjournalism major. E-mail him at ztomane1@ithaca.edu.

progress report

12 The Ithacan Thursday, January 28, 2010

Thursday, January 28. 2010 accenT The Ithacan 13

DEsign by LEna yuE

By melanie Breault staff writer

When one café door closes, a pub door opens. Whether it’s pre-serving and expanding vegetarian cuisine in Collegetown or starting a brew pub from scratch on The Commons, Ithaca restaurant own-ers don’t see the troubling economy as a problem, but rather as an op-portunity to explore their dreams.

Jean McPheeters, president of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, said though it seems like many local businesses are closing, many businesses — espe-cially restaurants — are opening.

“We’ve seen a tremendous num-ber of people who are considering starting businesses right now,” she said. “This is something that often happens in a down economy, so this is not uncommon.”

Nick Antczak and the four co-owners of the Bandwagon Brew Pub on North Cayuga Street are trying something new. After the Lost Dog Café closed in July, the four former employees and former co-owner, John Hughes, opened the new eatery.

Antczak said the team origi-nally wanted to start a brewery production company but decided a brew pub would be more finan-cially feasible in the economy.

“Especially in this town, there’s always going to be a demand for specialty restaurants,” he said. “We felt like we had something good to offer because there is no other brew pub in proper Ithaca.”

According to www.VisitIthaca.com, Ithaca has more restaurants per capita than New York City, ranging from Irish pubs to gour-met tapas bars. With such a large number of restaurants in the area, it can be hard for business owners to maintain sales.

McPheeters said this isn’t al-ways a challenge, but instead a chance to do something different.

“If you’ve been laid off from a job or it’s hard to find a job, a lot of people will choose to think about doing something they’ve always wanted to do, which is start a busi-ness,” she said.

Ithaca’s repertoire of distinct and exotic restaurants gives the city an eatery to satisfy every foodie’s crav-ing. ABC Café was a popular veg-etarian restaurant in Collegetown.

After the café closed in June, Rob Delphous, one of three co-owners of the new Giving Tree Café, said he and his partners wanted to salvage the café’s dis-tinct style and take over its loca-tion on Stewart Avenue. He said the former employees didn’t want to lose the authenticity of ABC’s vegetarian menu.

“[The ABC Café] was an in-stitution, and we were looking forward to moving on with that idea of being an institution for the community,” Delphous said.

Sean Lunny, one of the other co-owners, said the Giving Tree Café will expand because of its predecessor’s importance in the community.

“We had 1,300 people in our Facebook group before we even opened,” he said. “People were dy-ing to see this place open.”

Senior Jessica Weston said she has gone to the ABC Café since her freshman year. She said she hoped something would reopen to con-tinue ABC Café’s tradition of tasty vegetarian and vegan cuisine.

“Having a restaurant like the Giving Tree is very important for this community,” she said.

While the Giving Tree Café is

preserving its cuisine, Antczak said Bandwagon is trying some-thing new.

“We don’t want people to think [Bandwagon] is the Lost Dog Café Jr.,” he said. “We’re trying to keep it fresh so people will keep coming back.”

The Bandwagon team isn’t the only experienced set of restau-rant owners opting to try again. The Kadar family, who previously owned Oliver’s in Collegetown and Budapest Café on The Com-mons, has now taken over Queen of Tarts on Maple Avenue and turned it into the Coal House Café — a Hungarian-inspired bistro.

Elizabeth Boze, a barista at the new café, said she was part of the package when the Kadar family bought Queen of Tarts. The family kept all of the former employees of Queen of Tarts.

“They felt that the spot was too good to pass up,” Boze said. “It’s unique, and it’s the only place like it up here [in Collegetown].”

Helen Kiluk found a spot she wanted to spice up in the com-munity, as well. She said she needed a change after closing her clothing store, HMK Clothing, in Owego last year. Kiluk reno-vated the Ithaca Diner on West State Street and turned it into her own Prize Diner by adding all new equip-ment and meals

to the menu.“I worked in food service for

about 25 years, and that’s really what I knew,” she said.

Kiluk said she knows the Ithaca Diner was a staple in the commu-nity with its breakfast specials and cozy environment. She wants to continue that legacy through her customer service and homemade soup and potatoes.

“I don’t want to make a million dollars from this,” she said. “I just want to continue to provide Itha-ca with some great cooking and something comfortable for stu-dents and the local clientele.”

Though the economy is still struggling, Antczak said he isn’t too worried. To him and the rest of the team, opening Bandwagon is about more than just making money.

“There’s always going to be people willing to throw their hats into the ring,” he said. “But if you don’t do it, then you have no idea if you’re going to succeed or you’re going to fail. You can’t live being afraid of failing.”

Secondhelpings

Local restaurants get made over by previous business owners

above: Jessica Vansickle fills up a cup of coffee for a customer Friday at the giving Tree Café. Vansickle also worked at abC Café.

graham hEbEL/ThE iThaCan

Top: Jordan Walley, the son of the new owners of the Prize Diner, flips the closed sign to “Open” Tuesday morning to welcome customers.

graham hEbEL/ThE iThaCan

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[accentuate]14 the Ithacan thursday, January 28, 2010

This week’s hits and missesHot or Not

HotFist PumpingThis is the kind of fist pumping you won’t see at a track meet. House music lovers know there is only one way to dance at a club, and that is to jab at the sky like Muhammad Ali. One of the best scenes on the Jersey Shore shows the boys of the house drumming it up on the dance floor and raising the roof with their insane fist pumping. Different styles of fist pumping make the move that much more appealing. You can go sideways or up and down without mov-ing your feet. Just don’t think this move is easy — Vinny will show you his pit stains when he gets too into it. And as DJ Pauly D said, “Who doesn’t like to beat up the beat?”

LukewarmThe Pouf

If Jersey girls are known for big hair, then New York chicks must be known for their poufs. Fun-sized Snickers (or “Snooki”) hailing from Marlboro, N.Y., proves that she doesn’t need a Bumpit. Poufs are an easy way to cov-er up greasy hair and add volume, but if its paired with too much charcoal-colored eye shadow, poufs can create a not-so-galmorous style sported by Snooki daily at the shore. Though her pouf is all natural, she makes herself look more like a cartoon character than a rock star.

NotTanning Beds

As Mike “The Situation” said, every morning is GTL— gym, tanning and laundry. But going to a tanning salon when you live next to the beach isn’t so hot. Aside from the obvious health risks (skin cancer, anyone?) over-tanning in the summer just makes the guidos look like the leather on their studded belts. Besides, these people are supposed to be 100 percent Italian-American. They shouldn’t need to fake-bake all the time.

Staff Writer Jane Lee recaps the best and worst trends created by the guidos and guidettes on the show “Jersey Shore.”

”Hello, hello, my name is Jay Leno ... and I’m taking over all the shows in late night.“quoteunquoteJimmy Kimmel to audience members on his own late-night show Jan. 12 dressed as Jay Leno.

Jump, jive and then ya wail Local swing dance band Marcia Rutledge and Friends entertains the crowd Friday at Jazzy Happy Hour at the Oasis dance club. The cool cats feeling the bebop beat show off their serious dancing chops as the band plays its smooth, cool tunes well into the night.

MaTT Rigby/THe iTHacan

QUQ InFormaTIon, aLL caPs

Blah blah blah blah blah Content here.

— Jamie Saine

wtfSince Lady Gaga burst onto the music scene, her wild antics have become like a viral infection that everyone wants to catch with fans creating parodies of her latest videos. It’s a strange beast — the bond between male friends, sometimes known as “bros.” Celebrating this bond is one of the latest Gaga parodies called “Rad Bromance.” The song details what bros do together as male bond-ing activities. The relationship between these guys is a little strange at times, like when they’re holding hands on the beach, but it seems to all be a part of the wonder that is a “bromance.”

— Whitney Faber

In all Lady Gaga’s wild dancing and crotching-grabbing glory, few would pic-

ture her best imitator as a slightly pudgy preteen boy, but this fan makes

this a reality. Using items around his house, such as a luggage carrier to create

the “Haus of Gaga,” and his family and friends as ex-tras, he does his best Gaga

impersonation and duplicates the video perfectly. The video

is an absurd creation as the boy interprets Gaga’s bizarre chore-ography with an added hilarious

spark made by the inherent awk-wardness of his age.

— Whitney Faber

the throwdown“Project Runway”Lifetime Network10 p.m. ThursdaysPlotIt’s a reality series where fashion designers compete for the chance to show their lines during Fashion Week, which runs Feb. 11 to 18 in New York City.

Who you should know From the start, Emilio Sosa flaunted his skill for intricate construction and modern style. With all his technical skill and original-ity, he will surely be stomp-ing into the fashion world.

Who needs to go Between his snake skin dress from the first week and his poorly made dress last week, Jesus Estrada just doesn’t have what it takes. It’s just a matter of time before he is, in the immortal words of host Heidi Klum, “out.”

What we love With his handy catch-phrase, “Make it work,” Tim Gunn is king of the runway. He is the workroom voice of reason and the brains behind the curtain.

What we can do withoutThe dramatic pauses and overly theatrical mood of the show is sometimes too ridiculous for a subject as lighthearted as fashion.

timetube

Thursday, January 28, 2010 AccenT The Ithacan 15

Ithaca’s own nonsense

By Conor Harrington Staff Writer

There’s a new kind of “Pre-cious” in town. It’s not a candi-date for an Academy Award but is instead a local theater encore production titled “Precious Non-sense” at the Kitchen Theatre.

Written by the Kitchen Theatre’s artistic director Rachel Lampert, “Pre c ious Nonsense,” was origi-nally per-formed in 2005 at the t h e a t e r . The musi-cal is influ-enced by the lyrics and music of William Gilbert and Arthur Sul-livan, two Victorian-era composers who wrote comic operas such as “The Pirates of Penzance” and “The Mikado.” The show provides power-ful vocals and sidesplitting laughter for the entire family.

Lampert said she believes in the idea that theater is an escape from everyday life.

“We brought it back because it was very popular five years ago, and we thought it would be a great way to get through the winter doldrums,” she said.

“Precious Nonsense” will be one of the last few productions at the Kitchen Theatre’s historic Clinton House location. Lampert said she hopes the Kitchen Theatre will be

relocated to the new space on West State Street by May.

The story of “Precious Non-sense” focuses on the touring company of the Carter Family Sa-voyards. The ensemble travels the country performing Gilbert and Sullivan classics, all while explor-ing their romantic relationships. It’s their mediocre performance of “Pirates of Penzance” in the sec-ond act that generates the most laughs. In the end, each character finds his or her true love, learn-ing that there is more to love than what’s on the outside.

The play is set in 1938 during the Great Depression. The life of a tour-ing company is unpredictable and members of the troupe do whatever they can to earn a paycheck. Lam-pert said this social climate is ap-propriate for 2010, as well.

“People are going a long way to make a buck and to make ends meet, so it’s timeliness, and it’s a period piece,” she said.

Ithaca College freshman Kurt Merrill, a musical theater major, plays Samuel Stapleton in “Pre-cious Nonsense.” Samuel is the son of the theater director who de-mands a performance of “Pirates of Penzance” from the family.

Merrill got the part after be-ing recommended by Susannah Berryman, an associate professor of theater arts at the college. He said he was grateful for the connec-tions he has made in the college’s theater department.

“My training [at Ithaca College]

really helped me, especially in the analysis of the script and picking up little things that help the develop-ment of my character,” he said.

Erica Steinhagen ’99 plays Josephine, a company member of the Carter Family Savoyards. She said the show is different because it’s a “backstage comedy” — really showing all of the things that can go wrong in a production, while hop-ing things don’t actually go wrong in real life.

Underneath the riotous mo-ments and mayhem, Merrill said he thinks “Precious Nonsense” will remind audiences to take life as it comes and learn to laugh at it. Stein-hagen seconds this idea with the

common theater phrase, “The show must go on.”

Lampert drew inspiration from Gilbert and Sullivan when it came to naming the show.

“It’s actually a quote from Gil-bert and Sullivan,” she said. “‘Non-sense, yes, perhaps — but, oh, what precious nonsense!’”

Lampert said love is one of the main themes in the play.

“It’s very much about how love has the potential to transform us and conquer all,” she said.

Lampert said she wants people to come because the show will also touch on a vital part of life — amusement.

“Laughter is absolutely critical to people,” she said. “We have to

sometimes laugh, like really laugh, almost in a cathartic way. Uncontrol-lable laughing is just as cleansing as uncontrollable crying.”

Lampert said the show will please any theatergoer.

“People who like good music should come too because the space is so small that when eight people are singing, it resonates with your sternum, and it’s pretty extraordi-nary,” Lampert said.

“Precious Nonsense” will warm the hearts of all audience mem-bers in the cold month of January here in Ithaca, Lampert said.

“This play has a remedy for what ails you, which is laughter,” she said.

The cast of “Precious Nonsense” twirl on the set of the Kitchen Theatre’s latest winter production. Artistic director Rachel Lampert wrote the musical to showcase strong vocals and great lyrics that are family-friendly.

CouRTesy of The KiTCheN TheATRe

Kitchen Theatre pays musical tribute to Gilbert and Sullivan in new show

If you go“Precious Nonsense” When: fridays 8 p.m., Saturdays 3 and 8 p.m. and Sundays 4 p.m. until feb. 7Where: Kitchen theatre How much?: $22Visit:www.Kitchentheatre.org

Making deadlineReportingDesigning pagesShooting videoBloggingWriting for the WebCopy editingSelling adsTaking picturesWriting reviews

Learn to do it all at The Ithacan

We’ll teach you.

16 The Ithacan Thursday, January 28, 2010

Taking The jugBombers win third straight Cortaca Jug, pages 14 and 15

opinion samaritan policy must not be abused, page 10

Accent independent bands sell music online, page 13

photo finish bombers head to nationals, page 28

find more. online. www.theithacan.org

Thursday

November 19, 2009

Ithaca, N.Y.

Volume 77, Issue 12

14 The Ithacan

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Ithacan 15

THREE-PEAT

Above: The football team runs out on the field before the Cortaca Jug game Saturday at Butterfield

Stadium. The Bombers defeated SUNY-Cortland to finish their season with a 7–3 record.

ANdrew BUrACzeNSki/The iThACAN

Below: From left, equipment Manager John wallace and sophomore linebacker ryan Clarke em-

brace after clinching the victory in the 51st annual Cortaca Jug on Saturday at Butterfield Stadium.

ANdrew BUrACzeNSki/The iThACAN

Above: From left, SUNY-Cortland junior defensive backs Chris hanlon and Joe Lopez and junior linebacker James Lenhart try to take down junior run-

ning back dan ruggiero during the Cortaca Jug game Saturday at Butterfield Stadium. The squad hasn’t lost the annual game at home since 2005.

ANdrew BUrACzeNSki/The iThACAN

Below: ithaca and Cortland fans pack into the stands Saturday during the 51st annual Cortaca Jug at Butterfield Stadium. The stadium holds a capac-

ity of about 5,000 fans, but more than 9,000 tickets were sold for Saturday’s game. Butterfield held a record of 12,620 fans at the 2001 Cortaca Jug.

SArAh SChUMAN/The iThACAN

right: ithaca fans go shirt-

less and cheer on the Blue

and Gold on Saturday at But-

terfield Stadium during the

Cortaca Jug.

GrAhAM heBeL/The iThACAN

Below: SUNY-Cortland sopho-

more defensive back d.J.

romano takes out freshman

wide receiever Joseph ingrao

in the Bombers’ win Saturday

at Butterfield Stadium.

dANieLLe d’AvANzo/The iThACAN

In a hard-fought battle for the 51st annual Cortaca Jug,

the football team captured its third-straight victory Saturday

over archrival SUNY-Cortland at Butterfield Stadium.

The Ithacan

Rochon holds

meetings with

college faculty

by Jacqueline Palochko

News editor

President Tom Rochon held all-

college faculty meetings Monday

and Tuesday to discuss the future

of Ithaca College.

Rochon said about 100 faculty

members showed up between the

two meetings, which are held every

semester. Though

he said he would

have liked to see

more faculty, the

low turnout was a

good thing.

“Realistical ly,

the low turnout

shows that faculty

aren’t deeply un-

happy,” he said.

Rochon, along

with Kathleen

Rountree, provost and vice presi-

dent of academic affairs; Carl

Sgrecci, vice president of finance

and administration; and Eric Ma-

guire, vice president of enrollment

management, fielded questions

concerning faculty governance,

the status of the integrated curric-

ulum IC2 and the 2010-11 budget

and enrollment process.

The three topics were chosen be-

cause Rochon said those were issues

faculty were interested in.

The media were barred from at-

tending the meeting, but Rochon and

other participants discussed the meet-

ing with The Ithacan afterwards.

Rochon said IC2 is funded and

on its way to being completed. Con-

cerning faculty governance, Rochon

said he would like to see more facul-

ty and administration collaboration.

Faculty who were not able to

make the 3 p.m. meeting Monday

had the opportunity to attend the

noon-hour meeting Tuesday. The

president spoke for about 25 min-

utes and then opened the rest of the

hour-long meeting up to discussion.

Rochon said most of the ques-

tions from faculty members were

about the college’s target enrollment

in the next few years.

Rochon emphasized that enroll-

ment demographics are changing

and the predicted smaller number of

high school graduates in the next 15

years may affect the college.

“We need to attract prospective

students so not to become a smaller

college,” he said.

Maguire said though the ad-

ministration is concerned with the

changing demographics, the college

will be prepared.

“We’re working on strategies to

increase applications in the upcom-

ing years,” he said.

Rochon said faculty members

discussed how the college should

be more receptive to transfer stu-

dents in an effort to keep first-year

enrollment steady.

Emilie Wiesner, assistant pro-

fessor of math, said she decided

See fAculty, page 4

by kaydi Poirier

staff writer

It’s a busy Monday afternoon in

September for Cornell University

sophomore Zach Biegun. As a fiber

science and apparel design major, he

is logging hours in a design studio in

Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. Soon

he will take a break to grab dinner

with a friend, and later he will call

it a night. But for Biegun, this prob-

ably means pitching a tent in Cayuga

Heights or sleeping in his car.

This was Biegun’s nightly rou-

tine for much of this fall because

he chose to forego a solid place to

call home in favor of finishing his

degree. He is now staying with a

Cornell professor rent-free, but only

until the end of the semester.

“I could afford to pay rent theo-

retically, but I would have no extra

money for anything, so it’s a trade-

off at a certain point,” he said.

John Ward, director of homeless

services for the Tompkins County

chapter of the American Red Cross,

said about four or five college students

rely on its shelter program each year

but no one is at the shelter right now.

Students without parental fi-

nancial support must meet spe-

cific requirements to receive

financial aid.

See housing, page 4

Without Students make difficult

choices when financial

aid is not enough

Candidates for business school dean present visions

by lauren barber

staff writer

The search for the new School of Business dean

is coming to a close now that all three final can-

didates have presented their visions to students,

faculty and staff.

The candidates are Mary Ellen Zuckerman, Su-

san McTiernan and Robert Pitts, who all visited the

college in the last few weeks to promote their indi-

vidual ideas for the business school.

The search for a new dean began after former

dean Susan Engelkemeyer resigned at the end of

the last academic year to accept an offer to be-

come dean of the Charlton College of Business

at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

Engelkemeyer had served as dean since 2005.

Each of the three final candidates visited cam-

pus for two days and gave a formal hour-long

presentation in front of students, faculty and staff

in the Hockett Family Recital Hall in the Whalen

Center for Music. Each had the opportunity

to promote their ideas to the audience, answer

questions and visit with audience members dur-

ing a brief reception following the presentation.

“The three finalists we have are all exception-

ally qualified business professionals and admin-

istrators,” Greg Woodward, dean of the music

school and search committee chair, said.

Woodward said a new business dean will be

in place by July.

The first candidate, Zuckerman, gave her pre-

sentation on Nov. 3. Zuckerman served as dean

and professor in the School of Business at SUNY-

Geneseo and currently holds the title of distin-

guished service professor. She oversaw the creation

of a Master of Accounting program and led the

School of Business throughout AACSB-Interna-

tional accreditation at the same institution. She

also served as visiting associate professor at McGill

University from 1990-91.

rochon said

he looks forward

to more faculty

meetings.

The candidates for the business school dean from left, Robert Pitts on Monday, Susan McTiernan on

Friday and Mary Ellen Zuckerman on Nov. 3.

DESigN by ChRiS CaRloN. FRoM lEFT, JakE liFSChulTZ, SabiNa Cao aND WilliaM RoChElEau/ThE iThaCaN

a home

Cornell university sophomore Zach biegun sits in his car Tuesday morning at Cornell. biegun lived in his car when he could not afford housing.

alliSoN uSavagE/ThE iThaCaN

See deAn, page 4

TwilighT Turns 50!College honors Serling as professor and writer, page 13opinion learn more about serling’s legacy, page 10

sports siblings take rivalry to soccer field, page 23

this i see locals paint the town apple red, page 28

find more. online. www.theithacan.org

The Ithacan

ThursdayOctober 1, 2009

Ithaca, N.Y.Volume 77, Issue 6

by Ashley MAy AssistAnt news editorMore students are choosing plastic over paper this year. This isn’t a checkout-bagging question or an anti-green trend — it’s about credit. Junior Alessandra Portolesi, like other

college students, is swiping cards over counting cash. During the school year, she said she

rarely keeps cash in her wallet and instead uses her credit card for expenses such as textbooks, Internet and cable.Portolesi, a business administration

major with a concentration in manage-ment and minor in economics, uses four credit cards. She said one benefit of having credit available is the convenience.“Sometimes I don’t have cash, but I

know that I will in a week or two weeks,” she said. “The fact that I am able to borrow money for such a temporary time and pay it back and not get penalized helps.” Portolesi is responsible for paying off

all cards except one, which is under her mother’s name. Two of Portolesi’s cards are retail credit cards from Nordstrom’s and Macy’s. One is under her name and the other is under her mother’s, with Por-tolesi listed as an authorized user. According to a Sallie Mae national

study published in 2009, 84 percent of polled undergraduates have at least one credit card, compared with 76 percent in 2004.

The report said students who used credit cards to pay for direct education expenses said they charged an estimat-ed $2,200 — more than double 2004’s average of $942. The most common di-rect education expenses are textbooks, school supplies and commuter costs.

Patricia Nash Christel, spokeswoman for Sallie Mae, said this is the highest num-ber of students using credit cards recorded by Sallie Mae.

House passes bill to expand collegeaid for studentsby MichAel FiscellA Contributing writerA bill passed by the House of Rep-

resentatives will increase the maxi-mum Pell Grant by hundreds of dol-lars but will change Federal Perkins Loans so that loans will begin accru-ing interest while student-lenders are still in school. The measure, passed Sept. 17 and known as the Stu-dent Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, will oust private lenders from the federal college loan business and require all schools to switch to the federal Direct Loan Program by July 1, 2010.Direct Loans are low-interest fed-

eral loans for students and parents that help pay for the cost of a student’s education. The lender is the U.S. De-partment of Education — rather than a bank or other financial institution.

The bill will now move to the Sen-ate where it is expected to pass.

Larry Chambers, director of stu-dent financial services, said he is not convinced the removal of private lend-ers will result in substantial benefits for students.“Having both direct lending and the

Stafford Loan programs has fostered competition, enhanced services and provided students with choice,” Cham-bers said. “With only one lender — the federal government — students will no longer have a choice of a lender.”

Chambers said new changes be-ing made to the Federal Perkins Loan will leave college students with more loans that begin accruing interest immediately. Freshman Adam Melnick said

loans that immediately start building interest, often known as unsubsidized loans, make life harder for students.

“We’re not making real money as undergraduates, so it’s hard to chip away at what we owe,” Melnick said. “Then when we graduate, the interest has already blown our debt through the roof.”

Proponents of the bill, however, point to the introduction of variable interest rates as proposed by the SAF-RA. After college, the lenders’ inter-est rates will vary depending on their financial standing. Individuals with a low-income will not be subjected to higher interest rates. The Obama administration said

the government will save more than $80 billion over 10 years and that this surplus will be invested in Pell Grants for low-income students, commu-nity colleges and early-childhood educational programs. Chambers said the bill would in-

crease the current maximum Pell Grant from $5,350 to $5,550 during the 2010-11 school year, and by 2019, the Pell Grant scholarship should grow to $6,900.

College lacks child care options compared with Cornellby TAylor long Contributing writerFor the fourth year in a row, Cornell Uni-

versity has been chosen as one of the 100 best

U.S. employers for working mothers by Work-

ing Mother magazine. With the addition of Cornell Child Care

Center under the management of Bright Ho-

rizons Family Solutions, the institution contin-

ues to strengthen its reputation as one of the

most accommodating employers in the area,

according to Working Mother magazine.The care center at Cornell is located on

campus, with room for 158 children, 48 in-

fants, 50 toddlers and 60 preschoolers. Joseph Schwartz, public information offi-

cer at Cornell, said there are many programs

at Cornell that led to the recognition of Work-

ing Mother magazine and others that have ac-

knowledged Cornell over the years. “Cornell tries to have a comfortable work-

ing environment for everyone,” Schwartz said. Lynette Chappell-Williams, associate vice

president for workforce diversity and inclusion

at Cornell, helped develop these programs and

continues to invent new ways of meeting the

needs of Cornell families. The most recent

project aims to offer flexible work arrange-

ments to employees. “This program allows employees to modify

their work hours or to work remotely, such as

from home, which provides for an opportunity

for balancing work opportunities and family,”

Chappell-Williams said. Here on South Hill, Ithaca College does not

offer the same options for its working parents. Mark Coldren, associate vice president of

the human resources department, said even

though the college helps new employees find

nearby day cares for their children and provides

leave time to new mothers in compliance with

the Family Medical Leave Act, he still receives

requests for there to be child care offered at

the college. Coldren said the college could learn from

Cornell about providing child care assistance

but Cornell’s size and resources probably allow

for such a comprehensive program. In the near

future, Coldren said he hopes to develop an as-

sessment to measure the level of faculty inter-

est and the feasibility of the program. “We need to see what people want now

and five years from now,” Coldren said. “It’s See Families, page 4See aiD, page 4

chAMbers said the Pell grant will be increased to $5,550 this year.

Carolina Hassett picks up her son, Hanssen, Tuesday afternoon from Cornell Child Care Center.

Cornell University was voted one of the best employers for working mothers. Andy MATiAs/THe iTHACAn

See CreDit, page 4

Study finds more college students use credit cards

No money, no problem

illUsTrATion by jon wHiTe

vroom vroomProfessors take life by the handlebars, page 13

opinion $3 million surplus goes untouched, page 10

sports students bring sports to the office, page 23

this i see rockin’ out at stewart park, page 28

find more. online. www.theithacan.org

The Ithacan

ThursdaySeptember 10, 2009

Ithaca, N.Y.

Volume 77, Issue 3

New York state to ban texting while driving

By JEssica Dillon Staff Writer

Starting Nov. 1, text mes-

saging addicts will have to

keep their fingers off the key-

pad when behind the wheel.

New York state will become

the 18th state to ban texting

while driving. The law will prohibit drivers

from text messaging because of the

dangers presented by cell phone use

while driving. Drivers will be fined a

maximum of $150 if they are pulled

over for violating the law. Previously,

only talking on a cell phone while

driving was illegal. For some Ithaca College stu-

dents, not being able to text

while driving may be an adjust-

ment. Junior Sarah Craig, a New

York resident, said she tries not

to text when driving because

she realizes it can be dangerous

but still finds herself doing it

at times. “It depends on the level of im-

portance of something, but if I’m

trying to talk to someone and I

feel that it’s important, I’ll stop

at a stop sign and text them real

quick,” Craig said. According to a study by the

Virginia Tech Transportation

Institute done in July, drivers

who texted while driving were

23 times more likely to crash

or come close to getting into

wrecks than drivers who are not

distracted. The study said in the

moments before a crash, drivers

spent nearly five seconds look-

ing at their cell phones — not

the road. Captain Derek Osborne of the

Tompkins County Sheriff ’s De-

partment said statistics on acci-

dents in the county involving text

messaging are hard to determine

because the people involved

will not usually admit to police

officers if they were using their

cell phones. “It’s very rare that we’re able

to find somebody or be able to

prove that one of the parties in

the accident was actually tex-

ting,” Osborne said.

Sophomore Amanda Sawnor

said she has felt uncomfortable in

situations involving her friends

texting and driving while she is

in the car. “Recently, I was on the way

to the mall with my friend, and

we had to go on the thruway.

We were going on the ramp

and she’s texting and I had to

Senior Mike Sokol texts while driving yesterday afternoon. Starting

Nov. 1, New York will become the 18th state to ban texting and driving.

LaureN Decicca/The iThacaN

See vehicles, page 4

By ashlEy May anD

allison MusantE

aSSiStant neWS editor

and managing editor

To adapt to the large freshman class

this year, the college is restructuring

introductory and freshman-level courses

by opening addition-

al sections of many

classes, with more

being taught by short-

term contract faculty

than in previous years

and in classrooms

that have reached or

exceeded capacity.Mark Coldren, as-

sociate vice president

of Human Resources,

said that every school

had a different tactic for

meeting the needs of its classes but gener-

ally more “temporary faculty” were hired

this year.“With the influx of freshmen this

year, some schools might not have

wanted to hire a full-time faculty be-

cause after this year, they wouldn’t be

needed again next year,” he said.

This fall, the School of Humanities and

Sciences offers three classes with more

than 200 students and nine classes that

have between 100 and 199 students.

Kit Muma, instructor of biology,

said her Fundamentals of Biology

class has 237 students in it; the cap is

239. Last year’s class had 190. She said

several students sit on the floor.

“Students have been very patient so

far,” she said. “Their main frustration is

trying to find a seat in the lecture hall.”

Kathleen Rountree, provost and vice

president of academic affairs, said the

student-faculty ratio will be 12- or 13-to-1,

where it has been for many years. She said

she expects the number won’t change dra-

matically, even with the extra enrollment,

because part-time professors are teaching

two or three additional sections. Generally,

a greater number of adjuncts were hired to

cover freshman-level courses.

“But there was no plan to increase

the load of our full-time faculty,” she

said. “Some have agreed to take on

extra classes because of their expertise or

they volunteered.”In the School of Business, two extra

sections of World of Business were added

to accommodate about 40 extra students

into the program. Faculty volunteered to

teach the additional sections and no extra

faculty were hired, according to Associate

Dean Hormoz Movassaghi.

Jack Powers, assistant professor of tele-

vision and radio, is teaching two Introduc-

tion to Mass Media classes, one of which

has 149 students, the other with 152; the

cap is 150. Last spring, the class’s only sec-

tion had 88 students; the cap was 90.

Associate dean of the Park School,

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson, said

despite the larger class sizes, all stu-

dents were accommodated during

class registration.“The enrollment is higher,” she

said. “But it is now closer to what the

cap always intended.”Powers said one major limitation of

Courses change to accommodate extra students

See classes, page 4

RountREE said the student- faculty ratio is

still 12-to-1.

By Gillian sMith Staff WriterAs of yesterday

evening, 18 students

at Ithaca College

have been deter-

mined by the Ham-

mond Health Center

to have the H1N1

virus, commonly

known as “swine

flu,” and eight stu-

dents have reported

flu-like symptoms

through the “H1N1”

portlet on the my-

Home Community

Web site, according

to Dave Maley, as-

sociate director of

media relations. Theresa

Lyc-

zko, director of

the Health Promo-

tion Program at the

Tompkins County

Health Department,

said health insti-

tutions across the

county are no longer

testing for the H1N1

virus because it is

the most prevalent

strain of flu right

now. The purpose of

testing currently is

to examine unusual

patterns in certain

cases but does not

make a difference

in treatment of pa-

tients, Lyczko said. On

Saturday,

sophomore Andrew

Rivard had a sore

throat and experi-

enced slight dizzi-

ness. By Saturday

evening, the soreness

had worsened and a

high fever developed.

Sunday morning,

incredibly dizzy, he

went to the Health

Center and was diag-

nosed with H1N1. “It was the worst

I’ve felt in two years,”

Rivard said. “It was

absolutely awful.”

Rivard was given a “Flu Kit,”

consisting of ac-etaminophen —

a medication to reduce fever —

a thermometer, alcohol-based

hand sanitizer and tissues. He

was advised to go back home

to Connecticut for a couple of

days. Unable to go back home, Rivard

has stayed at the col-lege wearing a surgi-

cal mask at all times.

Rivard was advised to

eat bananas, pasta and

bagels, following the

“B.R.A.T. Diet,” because

he was vomiting — one

of the symptoms of the

virus. B.R.A.T. stands

for bananas, rice, apple-

sauce and toast, and is

Flu Swine

Round 2Colleges throughout the nation

face new wave of H1n1 virus

See Flu, page 4

phoTo iLLuSTraTioN bY aLLiSoN uSavage

The Ithacan The Ithacan online

• To work on a nationally recognized newspaper

• To train in a real-life classroom

• To gain experience in writing, editing,

reporting, design and photography for print

and the Web

This is your chance

To become a journalisT

RECRUITMENT NIGHT

Join us at 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 28

Park Auditorium

The IthacanThursdayJanuary 28, 2010

Ithaca, N.Y.

Volume 77, Issue 15main teaserThe text here must be longer than the short title, page XX

Section text for a referring article, page xx

Section more text goes here for another,’ page xx

Section last one — no rule on the bottom, page xx

find more. online. www.theithacan.org

The Ithacan

Thursday, January 28, 2010 The Ithacan 17

18 The Ithacan AccenT Thursday, January 28, 2010

by whitney faber AssistAnt Accent editor

Interlinking bronze wires twist and turn in a spi-dery mesh statue, building the form of a regally up-standing deer with tall ears and a long head cocked back to see its onlookers. On a nearby wall, two starch-white canvases with elegant embossed flow-ers hang in glorious simplicity. Different media. Dif-ferent themes — all in one exhibition.

The 2010 Faculty Art Show at the Handwerker Gallery at Ithaca College is a collection of 10 professors’ chosen works done with a contemporary voice and medium. The exhibit is meant to display the modern techniques taught to students at the college. With a mix of sculpture, paint-ings, photographs, drawings and video, the gallery houses a variety of pieces to tempt onlookers but loses some of its continuity because of the intense differences among artists’ styles and points of view.

The pieces in the first section of the gallery hold particular weight, as they explore complex and political themes. For example, the works by Carla Stetson, assistant professor of art, immediately steal the attention of visitors with a mix of vibrant color and almost touchable texturing. Her mixed-media digital print called “Storytellers” seems chaotic and scattered upon first glance. The canvas holds a jumble of twigs and trees centered around a young black woman dressed in golden clothing covered in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Mixed among the trees and twigs is a Christian statue of Mary in the bottom left corner and a cutout of a Buddhist statue in the top right corner. After closer inspection of these elements, the true skill of the artist is revealed.

While the pieces throughout the gallery beauti-fully explore modern styles, some of the more inno-vative techniques become distracting. In particular, the video of street musicians made by Mara Alper, associate professor of television and radio, called “Street Beats New Orleans” has consistently shaky camerawork and fails to establish a continuous sub-ject throughout the film. As the video begins, it fo-cuses too long on a female group that lacks the mu-sical talent to hold the onlooker’s attention. There are quick moments when the artist captures an eye-

catching angle of the city, but the wobbling camera distracts the viewer from the beauty of the images.

The varying media allow visitors to see the pos-sibilities for modern techniques. In the center of the first room, a shining metal sculpture of a cascading cloud made by Bill Hastings, lecturer of art, called “Cloud,” stands on black pegs. The sculpture cleverly blends floating whimsy with severe industrialism as the artist uses brutal materials to create a normally light and fluffy subject. This brings to life the idea that modern sculpture can have a dreamlike quality to it, instead of the harsh element metal materials often suggest.

Though it may seem contradictory, the fact that the exhibit offers such a variety of pieces — its greatest asset — is also its greatest weakness. With two sculptures, abstract paintings and the mixed media pieces, there is no doubt the exhi-bition has a modern air to its pieces, but this in-

fluence isn’t enough to pull the entire exhibit to-gether. Throughout the gallery, pieces with stark differences are displayed side by side. A haunting black and white photograph of an empty shopping center hangs next to a painting in warm neutrals of an old farmer standing next to his horse. These works become difficult to interpret as they explore opposing themes through differing media.

Combining a video of street musicians with an up-close photograph of a deep brown piece of wood, the 2010 Faculty Art Show displays a wide variety of contemporary perspectives. Visitors sacrifice a piece of continuity with this show, but they gain a chance to see glimpses of a multitude of modern artistic techniques.

2010 Faculty Art Show will show at the Hand-werker Gallery until Feb. 21. The exhibition was cu-rated by Cheryl Kramer.

Faculty display talent in art exhibition

Freshman Mathea Millman studies a photo collograph by Minna Resnick, lecturer of art, called “There’s not a word of truth in it,” currently displayed in the 2010 Faculty Art Show at the Handwerker Gallery.

AlliSon uSAvAGe/THe iTHAcAn

Art review2010 ithaca College faculty art Show Handwerker Gallery our rating:HH1/2

by evelyne Santiago stAff writer

Following in the footsteps of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, Ke$ha brings an album full of danceable beats and lyrics that hardly make any sense, but, nonetheless, will have listeners shouting at the top of their lungs.

While there’s no doubt the beats will make anyone dance, the lyrics seem to come out of a night in a Los Angeles socialite’s life. Songs like “Blah Blah Blah,” “Boots & Boys” and “Party At a Rich Dude’s House,” continue to fol-low Ke$ha’s trend of focusing on clothes, boys and booze. While listeners may momentarily get annoyed with Ke$ha’s auto-

tuned voice, they will be belting out her semidiscrete sexual lyr-ics all in an attempt to feel the same wild and flashy lifestyle.

It isn’t an album that will move mountains, and it sure-ly doesn’t send out a positive message to the youth of Amer-ica, but Ke$ha continues to provide dance clubs with music that will keep audiences hyped up and dancing the night away.

‘Animal’ roars with hot beats

AlbumreviewKe$ha“animal”rcAour rating:HH1/2

couRTeSy oF RcA

quickies

couRTeSy oF coluMbiA RecoRdS couRTeSy oF Hip-o RecoRdS couRTeSy oF cApiTAl RecoRdS

“OF the Blue COlOur OF the Sky” oK go Capital recordsA cooler and more varied progression for the band, this album gets rid of the pop gimmicks and sets itself apart from other new-wave bands.

coMpiled by WHiTney FAbeR

“My DinOSAur liFe” Motion City Soundtrack Columbia recordsfinding a balance between mayhem and melody, the band strikes a radio-ready chord with audiences with this album. its first major la-bel debut, the album provides more sonic depth for the pop-funk band.

“y nOt” ringo Starr hip-o recordsHis most personal album yet, starr produces his own music for this album and creates a string of groovy and deeply felt songs that celebrate his classic pop roots while still showing of his voice.

thursdaythe Piano tuner of earth-quakes, a film about an opera singer who falls prey to an evil inventor, will play at 8:45 p.m. at willard straight Hall at cornell University.tickets are $4 to $6.50.

fridaythe hogwashers, an energetic, thigh-slapping, whiskey-drinking country band complete with fiddle, mandolin and banjo, will perform at 5:30 p.m. at felicia’s Atomic Lounge. Admission is free. the attic tones, a modern blues band influenced by eric clapton, B.B. King and t. Bone walker, will perform at 9:45 p.m. at the nines in collegetown. tickets are $5.

saturdayeilen Jewell, a rock ‘n’ roll band with a homespun sound that combines country, blues and rockabilly, will perform at 8 p.m. at castaways on inlet island. tickets are $15.50. the Pietasters, a soulful rock and reggae inspired band, will perform their latest album of high-energy songs at 9 p.m. at the Haunt off route 13. tickets are $12.

sundayMadd Daddy, an acoustic-band with three-part harmo-nies will perform at 7 p.m. at felicia’s Atomic Lounge. Admission is free.

hotdates

Vampire achieves depth in newest album release

by anDrew rivarD stAff writer

It’s been two years since Vam-pire Weekend hit the scene with its brand of feel-good, calypso-inspired indie rock. With its latest album release, “Con-tra,” Vampire Week-end has established itself to be without a doubt a solid band.

“Contra” bends the indie rock genre, under which Vam-pire Weekend falls as much as the Clash did back in the early ’80s. The multiplicity of genres in “Contra” makes it a bold follow-up from the 2008 debut. This time around, the band took the risk of making a less accessible, yet more diverse, album.

The album clocks in at 36 min-utes, making it a brief, yet compact and tight, collection. The first track “Horchata’s” lyrics — focused on an exotic mixed drink — is textbook Vampire Weekend circa 2008, but when the song hits an electronic interlude, it’s apparent this album is of a different breed.

The track “Holiday” is obvi-ously a two minute filler song, with simple, fluffy lyrics. Though these light tracks are enjoyable, the al-bum’s more ballad-esque songs carry the real weight. The final song on the LP “I Think Ur a Contra,” is the most genuine song in the band’s entire repertoire. It has a lot of raw emotion that makes it one of the few tracks with a refreshing complexity to it.

“Contra” is not a perfect album,

but it deviates and evolves enough from the band’s previous release to make it a more complex and pror-essive collection of music from the group. It proves that the band didn’t just get lucky in 2008 with its first hit album and that its members have got some great songwriting chops. With the evolution of their song-writing in this album, they have achieved enough musical staying power to stave off the inevitable, shallow hipster criticism.

Albumreviewvampire weekend “Contra” XLour rating:HHH

couRTeSy oF Xl

[ ]ticket stub

Thursday, January 28, 2010 AccenT The Ithacan 19

valid friday through thursday

Vibrant world changes the future face of filmBy Matthew Reis

STAFF WriTer

A film taking place several million light-years away has never felt more realistic. With its revolutionary use of computer animation, “Avatar” is the future of filmmaking.

“Avatar” transcends ordinary popcorn flicks and deserves mul-tifaceted acclaim for its engrossing visual and sound effects, strong supporting cast and epic moments only director James Cameron is capable of de-livering. The on-screen chemistry between Jake Sully (Sam Worthing-ton) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) sparks with burgeoning passion.

Messages about environmen-tal and feminist issues are present throughout the film. Some of them are obvious, while others are discrete-ly hidden. “Avatar” serves as a grim reminder of what could happen in the future if people continue to abuse the planet’s resources.

At nearly three hours long, the run time may turn away some view-ers, but those who are patient are in for a special treat. With a focus on visuals and sound, “Avatar” is meant to be viewed in 3-D, preferably IMAX 3-D. IMAX 3-D’s state-of-the-art HD projection system with superior sound breathes life to Pan-dora, a moon of a Jupiter-like planet, where the film takes place.

Like Cameron’s past screenplay “Titanic,” “Avatar” has equal parts of melodramatic and intense, edge-of-the-seat thrilling scenes. Cam-eron has again struck a balance be-

tween sappy soap opera romance and ridiculous over-the-top action. The characters are relatable, even though they are mostly computer generated. “Avatar” will satisfy both women and men thanks to its in-fusion of testosterone and tender, heartfelt moments.

Graphics junkies and audiophiles will surely enjoy what “Avatar” has in store. Watching the film is like a child opening his or her eyes for the first time. Bugs whiz past seemingly right behind the audiences’ heads. Stomachs churn when bombs ex-plode and the ground rumbles when a chase scene is underway. Unlike ordinary 3-D movies, which exploit the “jumping out” effect at all times,

“Avatar” restricts itself from childish delights and takes full advantage of a little known facet of 3-D technology: depth. Jumping into the film’s world at any time and interacting with it seems entirely possible. The perspective of everything is so lifelike. The reason depth is such a big factor in creating augmented reality is the layering of flora and fauna and soldiers and mon-sters in a way that replicates what the human eye sees in everyday life. Just looking down a simple hallway in the film is joyous eye candy.

Even at the elevated ticket price for 3-D, this film is well worth the money. Audiences have the chance to witness cinematic history. After 14 years in the making, new technology finally paved

the way for “Avatar” to be realized in all its glory.

With an environment so engross-ing to the point that audience mem-bers pick up their feet in anticipation of wild animals snipping at their laces, there is little argument that Cam-eron’s “Avatar” is a film for the ages. Just like “Star Wars” changed the ’70s and “Titanic” ruled the ’90s, the cinematic landscape has again been modified in a revolutionary way by an outstanding film. “Avatar” is the best film of the year and could very well be Hollywood’s very own economic stimulus plan.

“Avatar” was written and directed by James Cameron.

Science fiction film’s luscious visuals breathe life into distant alien planet

From left, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) finish final preparations as they enter into an epic battle against humans that will shift the future for their people and decide the fate of their planet.

courteSy oF tWeNtieth ceNtury Fox

cinemapolisThe Commons 277–6115

Me and orson welles 7:05 and 9:20 p.m. and Weekends 2:05 and 4:20 p.m.

a single Man 7:15 and 9:15 p.m. and Weekends 2:15 and 4:15 p.m.

red cliff 9:15 p.m. and Weekends 4:10 p.m.

invictus 9:00 p.m. and Weekends 4:00 p.m.

broken eMbraces 7:15 and 9:35 p.m. and Weekends 2:15 and 4:35 p.m.

precious HHHH7:20 p.m. and Weekends 2:20 p.m.

the young victoria 7:10 p.m. and Weekends 2:10 p.m.

regal stadium 14Pyramid Mall 266-7960

avatar HHHH12:20 p.m., 4:20 p.m., 8:10 p.m. avatar 3d12:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 10:30 p.m.

the blind side HHHH12:40 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

the book of eli 2 p.m., 4:50 p.m., 7:50 p.m., 10:40 p.m.

edge of darkness 12:30 p.m., 1:10 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 4:10 p.m., 6:40 p.m., 7:20 p.m., 9:40 p.m., 10:10 p.m.

extraordinary Measures 3:40 p.m., 9:50 p.m.

the iMaginariuM of doctor parnassus 3 p.m., 9:10 p.m.

it’s coMplicated 12:15 p.m., 6:10 p.m.

legion 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m., 10:25 p.m.

the lovely bones 12:05 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 6:20 p.m., 9:30 p.m. sherlock holMes HHH1/2 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7:10 p.m., 10:20 p.m.

when in roMe 12:20 p.m., 2:40 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 7:40 p.m., 10 p.m.

cornell cinema104 Willard Straight Hall 255-3522

For more information, visit http://cinema.slife.cornell.edu.

Downey plays high-octane role

By anne Gould noRthGRaves STAFF WriTer

A moment of full disclosure: This is not your father’s Sherlock Holmes. If you prefer the leg-endary detective in his traditional deerstalker cap and cloak spouting off soft-spoken observa-tions from the sidelines, then this Guy Ritchie-directed version is not for you. But for anyone who appreciates a fresh, yet reverential, take on a classic story, then the new film starring Robert Downey Jr. as the astute sleuth is a film worthy of investigation.

From the opening min-utes, “Sherlock Holmes” is noticeably more physical than any previous portrayal of the famous investigator. The adrenaline-fueled and action-packed, yet convoluted and clever, movie is as much of a change of pace for the character as it is for Ritchie — who is usually famous for films about the violent gangster underworld of modern London such as “Snatch” and “Rockn-Rolla.” The overall balance of action and intellect and humor and sweetness brings welcome depth to the film.

In his first time directing a nonmodern-day story, Ritchie benefits from the more formal na-ture of the era to reign in his tendency toward madcap mayhem. The script, by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg, further guides the fine line “Sherlock Holmes” plays between the old and the new.

The cast is led by the naturally charismatic Downey, who once again restarts his career, as he takes on a bit of his own personality in the film with speedy retorts to Watson’s grumbling

and his flirtation with former flame Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams).

For all those accustomed to sidekick Watson playing second fiddle to Holmes, Jude Law is intel-ligent, equally handy in a fight and witty. Watson is merely a more stable version of Downey’s character.

The only weak link is Mark Strong as the vil-lainous Lord Blackwood. What is meant to be unemotional menace comes off as monotone disinterest at times, and he never seems to throw Holmes off his game — the true test of a well-matched foe for the detective.

From the updated action-packed style to the quality and pure enjoyment of the acting, “Sher-lock Holmes” feels as fresh as it was meant to.

“Sherlock Holmes” was written by Michael Rob-ert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg and directed by Guy Ritchie.

Sherlock holmes (robert Downey Jr.) plots how to catch the evildoer wreaking havoc on the city.

courteSy oF WarNer BroS. PictureS

FilmReview“sherlock holmes” warner Bros. PicturesOur rating:HHH1/2

By Matthew Reis STAFF WriTer

Equal parts charming and quirky, “Youth in Revolt” is a clever teen romance flick that appeals to almost everyone with enough crass humor to satisfy the gents and tear-jerking mo-ments for the ladies.

Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is a witty 16-year-old, but no matter how cunning he is, he can’t quite seem to get a date. Nick creates Francois, his devious and bad boy alter ego, in order to land the girl of his dreams, Sheeni Saunders (Portia Doubleday).

The film has a clever sensibility to it, espe-cially concerning the two roles Cera juggles as Nick and Francois. For the first time, Cera breaks out of his typecast “nerd” shell and deliv-ers a multifaceted performance.

Doubleday is seductive and charming, giv-ing off that girl-next-door vibe that so many teenage boys fall for.

“Youth in Revolt” isn’t standard teenage comedic fare. There are neither fart jokes nor binge drinking sessions gone awry to make au-diences laugh. Rather, each character’s quirks and issues are what make the film so hysterical.

While the ending to the film is predictable from the beginning, the movie doesn’t feel like recycled material. With enough indie charm to make even the harshest of critics grin in glee, “Youth in Revolt” manages to rise above typical teen movie stereotypes.

“Youth in Revolt” was written by Gustin

Nash and directed by Miguel Arteta.

Shy teen creates devious alter ego

our ratingsexcellent HHHH

Good HHH

Fair HH

Poor H

FilmReview“youth in Revolt” Dimension FilmsOur rating:HHH

FilmReview“avatar” Twentieth Century FoxOur rating:HHHH

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22 The Ithacan DIversIons Thursday, January 28, 2010

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ACROSS1 Luminous auras6 Dumbfounded11 Coral reefs13 Inflated a tire14 Gridiron pos.15 Forest grazer16 Wine category17 Cairo loc.18 Smallest cont.20 Chewy roll22 Night before23 Unforeseen difficulty25 Worthless coin26 Malachite and azurite27 D’Artagnan prop29 Truisms31 San Francisco hill33 Fort near Monterey

34 City map line37 Hull bottom40 Pate de foie -41 Refrain syllable43 Catch red-handed45 Autumn mo.46 Collector’s item48 “- -Pan”49 College deg.50 Amigo of Fidel51 Rival53 Air rifle pellet54 Moor56 The “M” of LEM58 Red-ink entry59 Suite provider

DOWN1 Jack rabbits2 Bring into accord3 - -cal4 Ancient5 Neatnik opposite6 “The Mammoth Hunters”

writer7 Truck mfr.8 News agcy.9 Vexes10 Sidles past12 Jellyfish habitats13 Fake19 Talk to a beat21 - - step further22 Prior to24 Chromosome parts26 Nash of humorous poems

28 Untold centuries30 An Indiana Jones quest32 Dairy product34 Esoteric35 Cauldron36 Hurler’s stat38 Wolf down39 Responsible40 Spoil (2 wds.)42 Kind of radio44 Malicious gossip46 Exhausted47 Hogwash!50 Energy flow52 Shoguns’ capital55 Good buddy’s radio57 Western st.

dilbert® By Scott Adams

Medium Very Hard

7 3 8 8 4 9 2 5 8 7 2 8 49 1 8 7 6 38 9 3 1 2 1 6 2 33 2 7 8

3 7 6 8 1 5 7 6 4 6 1 8 7 4 3 9 8 5 3 5 1 6 7 23 9 4 8

sudoku

Medium Very Hard

7 3 8 8 4 9 2 5 8 7 2 8 49 1 8 7 6 38 9 3 1 2 1 6 2 33 2 7 8

3 7 6 8 1 5 7 6 4 6 1 8 7 4 3 9 8 5 3 5 1 6 7 23 9 4 8

crossword By United Media

Medium Hard

8 1 3 2 6 5 4 7 94 9 2 8 3 7 5 1 66 5 7 1 9 4 8 2 33 2 6 4 5 9 7 8 19 4 8 3 7 1 6 5 25 7 1 6 8 2 3 9 42 6 5 7 1 3 9 4 81 8 9 5 4 6 2 3 77 3 4 9 2 8 1 6 5

2 9 3 7 5 1 6 8 45 4 8 9 6 3 1 2 76 7 1 4 8 2 9 3 51 5 2 3 7 6 4 9 84 3 7 1 9 8 5 6 28 6 9 2 4 5 3 7 17 2 6 5 3 4 8 1 93 1 4 8 2 9 7 5 69 8 5 6 1 7 2 4 3

C A D A D D L I L YY E T I P E R E M I RE L L E R A E E B B SL L A M A C A P R IL O S G N O M E B A Y

M A I N B E L AA B S O R B M I L D E WF O A M H I N TT A D A W A R D T E E

D O Z E N Y I E L DM E E K A S H S N A GM E S A V E E M E T EC O T Y E L M S T E

answers to last issue’s crossword

answers to last issue’s sudoku

Thursday, January 28, 2010 sporTs The Ithacan 23

Stride Teammates use familiarityin and out of competition

Left: From left, juniors Max Orenstein and Jeff Wetmore play a video game on Xbox 360 last Friday in their apartment.

andreW buraczenski/the ithacan

right: From left, juniors Jeff Wetmore and Max Orenstein exchange the baton in the final leg of the men’s 1,600-meter relay last saturday at cornell university’s upstate challenge at barton hall.

aLLisOn usavage/the ithacan

“I have to work on catching him, which works for me because I like to chase.”

Jeff Wetmore

From left, juniors Jeff Wetmore and Max Orenstein help the ithaca men’s “a” 1,600-meter relay team to a third-place finish with a time of 3:26.67 saturday at cornell university’s upstate challenge at barton hall.

aLLisOn usavage/the ithacan

By AndreW Weiser AssistAnt sports Editor

Junior Jeff Wetmore’s expression remains calm and composed as he hears the heavy footsteps of teammate junior Max Orenstein close in. Wetmore’s eyes stay focused straight ahead, until he hears a slight pause in Oren-stein’s steps. Wetmore turns his head to watch as Orenstein moves closer in on his left side.

Jogging up beside Wetmore, Orenstein grins as the duo warms up during practice,

joking around as they make the turn and run down the straightaway.

While Orenstein, a psychology major, and Wetmore, an applied economics major, keep it light away from competition — sharing more than a similar interest in things, from the ABC television show “FlashForward” to a notable con-sumption of junk food — their chemistry and familiarity have translated to success on the field.

“A lot of our workouts are all about pac-ing,” Wetmore said. “It’s nice knowing you have

someone out there who’s going at the same rate as you.”

Competing against each other in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events for the last two seasons, and qualifying last year for nation-als — in the same race —the two have become more familiar as roommates this season. While competing with each other has raised the level of competition, it has also devel oped a certain level of bragging rights between them.

“I just want to beat [Wetmore], and he really wants to beat me,” Orenstein said. “There has been races where he’s beaten me and it’s close at the finish line, and I’ll say something to him even before the race is over.”

Unders t anding what the other is capable of on the track makes for a close race every time.

“That’s one of the big pluses of Jeff and Max,” Head Coach Jim Nichols said. “They’re both extremely competitive, to the point where there’s one hundredth of a second one way or

another on who’s going to win and who’s going to lose. That’s the

fun part in it.”A fierce competitive nature is

something that both Orenstein and Wetmore agree helps them to prepare

right up until the second before they take the line.

“We warm up together before races, and we do the same things,” Orenstein said. “We have a ritual handshake that we sometimes do, depend-ing on the race, and we do it in front of the start-ing line so that everyone can see it.”

Running side by side, Orenstein’s arms are held more relaxed at 45-degree angles from his body compared to Wetmore’s similar but more upright posture. Both runners have their strengths that tend to play out during every race.

“[Orenstein] gets out in front, and I have to work on catching him, which works for me because I like to chase,” Wetmore said. “I have to have someone ahead of me to go for, other-wise, I tend to kind of coast, and he has to feel like he’s being chased.”

While both individuals hold school records in the 200- and 400-meter dash, handing off to someone they’re accustomed to racing against adds another dynamic to their chemistry.

“I hand off to him every time — he’s the anchor,” Orenstein said. “He’s the anchor, and I’m usually the third leg, so we finish off the

race as best we can, and I’d say we have that down pretty good.”

Both Orenstein and Wetmore said a high level of competitiveness is something that both athletes always strive to maintain.

“[Track] has always been almost the most important thing to [Orenstein],” said freshman Julian Orenstein, Max’s brother and team-mate. “[He’s] probably the most competitive person I know, and he doesn’t like to lose

anything. We’ll be playing video games, and he’ll get in my face if he wins.”

For Wetmore, his determination and personal account-ability allow him to easily shrug off his faults and refocus for

the next race.“He’s competitive to the point where he

works so hard to win,” said Robert Rappole, Wet-more’s high school track coach. “If he loses, it’s because he lost. It’s not somebody else’s fault, it’s that he accepts that it’s him.”

While running the 200- or 400-meter dash at the upcoming meet can dictate if they’ll run a longer or shorter distance at practice, it’s their ability to push each other in prepa-ration that has contributed to their success in competition.

“They both compete in the same events, but they don’t train the same,” Nichols said. “They’re not going head-to-head every day in practice in a competitive type of setting, but they challenge each other as much as they challenge everybody else on the team.”

As decorated upperclassmen on a relatively young team, Orenstein and Wetmore are more than willing to offer advice to the underclassmen.

“Basically, if I see something that I know should be different, I’ll say something,” Wetmore said. “But I don’t make it my job to go out and make sure everyone’s perfect because I have flaws.”

As Orenstein and Wetmore work to-ward replicating and building on the success from last year. Their bond both on and off the track remains an apparent influence on their approaches to competition.

“Individuals can rise within the program, which Jeff and Max have done, but talent isn’t the only thing that’s important — character is,” Nichols said. “Peer pressure is a very powerful thing, and it can be used in a positive or a negative way, and they’re helping use it in a very positive way.”

by Stride

Check out the runners off the track at theithacan.org/10track.

24 The Ithacan SporTS Thursday, January 28, 2010

Cory FranCer

The inside PiTch

Cory FranCer is a senior sport studies major. Contact him at cfrance1@ithaca.edu.

By Bryan Shay Staff Writer

In the wind and cold of January in Ithaca, it was the men’s basketball team that brought the heat to South Hill during the college’s winter break.

Riding four consecutive victories to close out the fall semester, Ithaca continued to win following the holiday, extending a season-best eight-game win streak.

Junior guard Chris Cruz-Rivas said the team has be-come more confident since its mediocre 2–2 start.

“A lot of the younger guys have become more confi-dent,” Cruz-Rivas said. “They are playing a lot more aggressive and smart. We have four freshmen playing significant time, and they are all playing well.”

Freshman guard Sean Rossi is one of the new-comers who has made notable contributions as a first-year player. Rossi is second in the nation in assists per game and said he feels more comfort-able on the court now than he did at the start of the season.

While most college students find themselves at home for winter break, winter athletes do not enjoy the same luxury. But, Cruz-Rivas said, it is a crucial time for the team to build chemistry.

“This year it was huge because of the amount of freshmen,” Cruz-Rivas said. “We really got to know each other, and that carries out onto the court. I look forward to winter break every year because it’s a good time to build on things and focus on basket-ball by not having to worry about other distractions.”

The Bombers had a successful winter break stretch, going 7–3, including two wins in the Bill Sudeck Holiday Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. The tournament victory came right before the team opened up a 15-straight game stretch against conference opponents.

The Bombers did suffer two losses to confer-ence-leading St. John Fisher College, though. They fell to the Cardinals by 31 points Jan. 9 and again Jan. 22 by 10 points.

It will be another month before Ithaca will have an opportunity to potentially see the Car-dinals for the third time this season. Head Coach Jim Mullins said he hopes his team is ready, but said he believes Fisher is a cut above the rest of the teams in the conference.

“They are a veteran team that’s probably playing with somewhat of a chip on their shoulder because last year was the first in quite some time that they didn’t make the NCAA tournament,” Mullins said. “They are out to prove something.”

But the Bomber players feel confident that they have the ability to rise to the challenge.

“[St. John Fisher is] well disciplined, and we just didn’t play together for a whole 40 minutes,” Rossi said. “We need to change that come playoff time.”

Cruz-Rivas said playing a focused, complete game comes down to the team’s pregame warm-ups, especially on the road.

“I’m a big believer in warm-ups,” Cruz-Rivas

said. “Coming off that bus ride, our warm-up has to be very up-tempo because it dictates how the game is going to be.”

While Ithaca has been impressive at home, the team is just 3–3 in road games this season. The Bombers will have to adapt to their schedule if they want to make a run at the conference, as they play five of their final seven games on the road.

“The thing we try to follow is that you’ve got to be 10 points better on the road than you are at home,” Mullins said. “The formula most coaches adhere to is win your home games and split on the road. If we can do that, we’ll be right in the thick of things.”

From left, St. John Fisher sophomore Jordan Gettings defends freshman Sean Rossi as he drives the lane in the Bombers’ 76–66 loss Saturday to St. John Fisher College in Ben Light Gymnasium.

andRew BuRaCzenSki/The iThaCan

Bombers heat up over winter break

By ThomaS eSChen Staff Writer

As the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, people all over the world made resolutions for 2010. The women’s basketball team made a resolution of its own: win every game.

Unbeaten in their last nine con-tests, the Bomb-ers now sit on top of the Em-pire 8 Confer-ence with a 14–4 overall record and a 9–0 record in conference play, while de-feating the likes of Stevens Institute of Technology, Utica College and St. John Fisher College over the break. Junior forward Elissa Klie said beating those teams will only make Ithaca better.

“They are pretty good teams with pretty good players,” she said. “Beating all of them, and St. John Fisher for a second time, has been huge for us as individuals and the program itself.”

Winter recess always presents its challenges, though, and each season the team deals with those difficul-ties in a different way. In addition to going to the movies and eating team dinners, the athletes attended a Syracuse University women’s bas-ketball game to see a top Division I team in action.

But what made the women hap-piest was having one hard practice a day instead of double sessions.

“Double sessions can be so strenu-ous mentally and physically,” senior Lindsay Brown said. “It’s easy to get burnt out, especially when we are here for a month all by ourselves.”

The one-practice technique has obviously helped, as the Bomb-

ers have put at least 60 points on the board during this streak. That kind of output has been key to the team’s success.

“We seem to be pretty consistent right now,” junior Jordan Confessore said. “If we stay consistent, we will do really well.”

As always, though, playing at home aids in that steady play. This season

the Blue and Gold faced the challenge of having a home-court advantage without the support of the entire stu-dent body. With five home games over the break, Klie said a change of scen-ery would have helped.

“It would’ve been nice to travel and break up the time at home,” she said. “We all got to see our families a lot more, though, which was good.”

With school back in session and classes starting up, another transition awaits, as the mental strain of hitting both the hardwood and the books is here to stay. Klie said the change helps the players.

“It’s always good that we will have other stuff besides basketball,” she said “It will be somewhat of a mental break.”

That break will be vital, as the team is going on the road for three more conference games in the final stretch of the season. Though home-court advantage is a plus, the Bombers have found success on the road this season.

“A few games we’ve been on the road, we’ve been winning by a lot, so no matter where we play, we’ve been playing consistently,” Confessore said.

With only two losses on the road this entire season, the team is proving that it can play in any atmosphere.

“Obviously, it’s more comfortable to play at home with our rims,” Brown said. “But it’s the same game wherever we play.”

Squad set to sweep competition for rest of season

Junior elissa klie (center) goes up for a shot as St. John Fisher College junior amanda Lax (right) defends her Jan. 19 in Ben Light Gymnasium.

andRew BuRaCzenSki/The iThaCan

Freshman guard Eli Maravich says he doesn’t mind if you call out “Pistol Pete” from

the stands of Ben Light Gymna-sium. He says he loves when fans interact with the players and get into the game. But he does want one thing cleared up: He is not the nephew of the legendary Hall of Famer “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Now, that’s not to say the two are not related. They are distant cousins and certainly share the same bloodline. However, the ru-mor going around that the nephew of the leading NCAA Division I all-time scoring leader is suiting up for the Bombers is purely fiction. Though they are not as closely related as rumored, Eli has spent as much time learning about “The Pistol” as he can. Pete died in 1988 — before Eli was born — of a sudden heart attack while playing in a pickup game at the age of 40. Though they were never able to meet, Eli said he’s honored to be carrying on the name of one of the all-time greats. “My whole life I’ve had posters of him in my room, and I’ve always read the books about him,” Eli said. “There are also YouTube highlights of him that are cool.” Pistol Pete was known for his offense and was one of the first to develop trick shots and include them in games. In college, he scored 3,667 points and averaged a flat-out ridiculous 44.2 points per game at Louisiana State University — both are NCAA records. “He didn’t even have a three-point line when he played,” Eli said. “He also only played three seasons because at the time of his freshman year, they didn’t allow freshmen to play varsity.” So what did the LSU fans do when the best player on campus was stuck playing junior varsity? They crammed the gym for the under-billed JV game and left before the older squad hit the floor. While Pete was a wizard on offense, Eli has been a defensive spark plug for Ithaca, causing turn-overs and diving after loose balls. “I’m from Pittsburgh, and it’s a blue-collar city,” Eli said. “My coaches always preached defense. You can always help the team out by hustling.” Aside from the nearly unbeliev-able stats that Pistol Pete recorded, what Eli says he admires most about his relative is how dedicated he was to giving back to his fans, especially the young ones. One of Eli’s favorite stories about The Pistol was how he would go to local fairs and play the basketball games to win prizes. Of course he would win every time and hand his earnings to all the kids who gathered around to watch him until a frustrated carnival worker kicked him off the game. “I would love to tell him I ap-preciate the way he gave back to the fans and everyone he adored,” Eli said.

Shooting like ‘The Pistol’

NexT uPThe Bombers face rochester Institute of Technology at noon Sunday in rochester, n.y.

STaT CheCkthe South hill squad is shooting .481 from the field and .347 from beyond the arc.

Thursday, January 28, 2010 sporTs The Ithacan 25

By Dave Uram Staff Writer

About three years ago, junior Blaine Woszczak had a tough decision to make. It was clear as a state cham-pionship qualifier in wrestling he was going to compete at the collegiate lev-el. The only question was where.

He finally narrowed his decision between The College of New Jersey and Ithaca College because both were prominent wrestling programs at the Division III level.

Woszczak decided to flip a coin. Ithaca was heads and TCNJ was tails. Fortunately for Bomber Nation and the wrestling team, the coin landed heads up. Head Coach Marty Nichols said he is definitely happy about that.

“He’s one of those guys that makes coaching fun,” Nichols said.

At first, TCNJ seemed like the easy choice because it is near his home in Manasquan, N.J., and he knew many of the wrestlers and coaches on the team since he helped out at its sum-mer camp during high school.

“I always wanted to get out of Jersey — just live somewhere else for a while and meet some new peo-ple,” he said.

At this point in his career, the busi-ness and finance major said he has no regrets about the choice he made. On top of loving the wrestling program and his teammates, Woszczak said he likes Ithaca’s ambiance.

“[Ithaca’s] a very different atmo-sphere than where I come from back home,” he said. “It was a very good change, and I feel like taking the two

areas and combining them into one person made me pretty unique with how I am today.”

While growing as a person, Wo-szczak has had a sensational wrestling career as well. Woszczak has compet-ed in nationals the past two seasons and finished fourth at 149 pounds last year to be named an All-American. This year, he’s currently ranked No. 1 in his weight class and has a career re-cord of 92–29.

A fierce competitor, Woszczak likes to stay on his feet and go for the takedown. He sustains his success with an aggressive offensive approach.

“He’s a relentless kind of wres-tler,” 125-pound senior tri-captain Jon Gregory said. “He just really pressures guys until he takes them down. He’s definitely a high-paced wrestler and a lot of his opponents really have trouble keeping up with him because he always has an an-swer for what you have.”

Though Woszczak has experi-enced success in his time with the South Hill squad, that doesn’t mean he stops working on his technique. Wo-szczak said he’s been working on his defense, which is something he feels has been his downfall.

“You’ve got to improve because someone out there is always doing something better than you,” Woszczak said. “There’s always someone run-ning when you’re not. There’s always someone wrestling when you’re not.”

Assistant coaches Marc Israel, Dave Auble and Chris Davis provided tricks to Woszczak on his counters.

Nichols said his staff is responsible for Woszczak’s improvement and he just oversees everything.

This year’s wrestling team, cur-rently ranked No. 4 in the nation, is poised for winning a national title. Woszczak said he does not have his sights set on individual goals. All he wants to do is help the Bombers win their first national title since 1994.

“I’m all about the team this year,” he said. “As much as I want to win a national title for myself, I want to see more for the team. I want to see everything for the team.”

The right decision

By BraD KoloDner Staff Writer

When senior diver Andrew Longcore signed up to dive for the men’s swimming and diving team his freshman year, he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I was the only male diver,” Longcore said. “It was kind of weird not having a coach that I knew was going to be there and not really having any other teammates during practice.”

Since then, the Bombers have grown into a dominating team with Head Diving Coach Nate Brisley at the helm.

Brisley was named Ithaca College’s head diving coach in 2008. Before joining the Bombers, Brisley received numerous acco-lades as an athlete and coach including the NCAA Division II Men’s Diving Coach of the Year award while leading St. Cloud State Uni-versity in 2008. When he heard that there was an opening at the college, he said the decision to apply was a “no-brainer.”

“Ithaca was at the very top of the list, and it was really due to how long [Head Men’s Swimming Coach Kevin Markwardt] had been there,” Brisley said. “The fact that Kevin had a large amount of success in his time here, it made the decision to apply very easy.”

The Bombers went through a transitional phase that lasted for a few years during the mid-2000s. In 2005, only one diver was on the team. In 2006, the number of divers doubled. By 2008, five divers were on the squad.

When Brisley arrived on campus in the fall of 2008, he said the team was primed for success.

“My estimate of the diving team was that they had a lot of talent, a great work ethic, but they didn’t necessarily have the direction that a col-lege team needs,” he said.

Brisley immediately set goals for the team and every individual athlete. However, Brisley said the impetus to succeed ultimately falls on the divers’ shoulders.

“The coaching only really provides so much, and then it’s up to the athletes to really take own-ership of what they’re doing,” he said. “That’s something that they’ve done increasingly well.”

Longcore said Brisley, who is 29 years old, is easy to relate to because of his recent diving experience in college.

“He’s worked with a lot of college students, and he’s not too far removed,” Longcore said. “We really just see both sides of him — the kid at heart that he is and then his really professional coaching side. That really does play a big factor in his success as a coach.”

Brisley’s arrival provided some long overdue stability to the men’s diving program. During Longcore’s four-year tenure on the diving team, he has seen three different diving coaches come through the program. Longcore said each previ-ous diving coach brought something different to the table but neither found a happy medium.

“It’s nice having Nate there because he has the combination of all of the knowledge,” he said. “He’s the perfect blend of having him push you, but also having him encourage you. We have a legitimate team that will keep getting stronger and stronger. Having Nate there year after year will bolster our stability.”

Markwardt said Brisley has forced the divers to learn new dives, allowing the squad to tap into its full potential.

“He’s laid all that groundwork, and we’re starting to see it slowly coming along,” he said. “The fact that he has established the program in terms of what’s expected is very clear. He chal-lenges the athletes, and it’s coming around.”

With a full season under his belt, Brisley is hoping for bigger and better things for the diving team in the near future.

“The other teams are going to have to watch out because Ithaca divers are definitely starting to come together as a group,” Longcore said. “I don’t see anything stopping us. It’s just going to keep building and getting stronger.”

Junior Blaine Woszczak takes on SUNY-Buffalo sophomore Desmond Green during the New York State Collegiate Championships on Sunday at Cornell University. Woszczak went 3–1, and his only loss of the match was to Green.

Matt riGBY/the ithaCaN

Diving coach jump-starts team

head Diving Coach Nate Brisley cheers on his divers during the team’s practice Friday in the hill Center Pool. Brisley joined the Bombers in 2008 and coaches the men’s and women’s teams.

Jake LiFSChULtz/the ithaCaN

SoUrCe: SPortS iNForMatioN

ithaca College vs. University of rochester – Jan. 23ithaca 177, rochester 123

Junior wrestler fuels Bombers with relentlessness on the mat

1-Meter Diving event Finals Points1 Derek rand (ithaca) 239.65 92 Norman Nguyen (ithaca) 237.50 43 Martin Brown (ithaca) 213.60 34 elliott Lasher (rochester) 192.45 25 kenny Johnson (rochester) 181.75 16 ethan Siegler (rochester) 117.65 –

3-Meter Diving event Finals Points1 Derek rand (ithaca) 253.50 92 elliott Lasher (rochester) 215.20 43 Norman Nguyen (ithaca) 215.15 34 Martin Brown (ithaca) 205.45 25 andrew Longcore (ithaca) 205.20 –6 kenny Johnson (rochester) 186.60 0

New York State Collegiate Championships – Jan. 24ithaca College finished fifth out of 18

SoUrCe: SPortS iNForMatioN

1 Cornell University 1942 army 1583 SUny-Buffalo 149.54 SUny-Binghamton 143.55 Ithaca College 1066 SUny-Cortland 78.57 SUny-oneonta 578 SUny-Brockport 529 SUny-nassau 41.5

10 SUny-oswego 36.511 Columbia University 3512 niagra Community College 34.512 new york University 34.514 Jamestown Community College 24.515 Hunter College 22.516 alfred University 19.517 SUny-morrisville 12.518 rIT 4

Place school score Place school score

26 The Ithacan sporTs Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Ithacan online | theithacan.org/sports

Look online for game stories from these sports: TOMORROW• 3 p.m. Women’s indoor track at Penn State

National Open• 3 p.m. Men’s indoor track at Penn State

National Open

SATURDAY• 9 a.m. Women’s indoor track at Penn State

National Open• 9 a.m. Men’s indoor track at Penn State

National Open• 1 p.m. Men’s swimming and diving

vs. Alfred University• 2 p.m. Women’s swimming and diving

vs. Alfred University• Noon. Gymnastics vs. Springfield

College

SUNDAY• 11 a.m. Women’s indoor track at Empire 8

Championships• 11 a.m. Men’s indoor track at Empire 8

Championships• 1 p.m. Wrestling vs. SUNY-Binghamton

and Boston University• Noon. Women’s basketball at Rochester

Institute of Technology

WeDNeSDAY• 7 p.m. Wrestling at SUNY-Oneonta

Bold = Home game

andrew Buraczenski/the ithacan

By megan goldschmidt contributing Writer

Off to a 1–1 start, the gymnastics team is still trying to figure out the right blend of rou-tines to complete the lineup and enhance the team’s scores.

Sophomores Jessica Bolduc and Kay Gordon have been key contributors to the lineup. As the main all-around competitors, they show the greatest consistency for the team. These routines were instrumental to the Bombers’ 181.650–163.850 victory over Rhode Island College on Saturday, giving the team its first victory of the year after the team dropped its opening meet to SUNY-Brock-port on Jan. 16.

Head Coach Rick Suddaby said usually his strategy is to set up the lineup according to start value and difficulty of routines. The scores should build throughout the lineup and the last gymnast should get the highest scores.

The Bombers are still finding this balance and getting used to performing their new routines. Suddaby said he hopes the team can improve as the season continues and develop a consistent rotation.

“That’s how we typically set up the lineup, but that doesn’t always work out because we’re not great yet, but we’re getting better,” Suddaby said.

Because only the top-six gymnasts for each team count in the scoring, the last two gym-nasts in each event Saturday performed their routines in exhibition for judges. The scores did not count to the overall team score, but Sudda-by said this allows the gymnast’s routine to be judged in a meet environment and gives her a chance to get used to competing. The other six gymnasts on the team all compete toward the team score, but the scorers drop the lowest of the six. Though the pressure of getting that contributing score is intense, the Bombers are confident in their abilities.

“We always try to keep the energy high in a competition setting, and of course,

we’re very encouraging,” Gordon said. The Bombers keep the mood light by

dancing and laughing between events and motivating one another by cheering. The Blue and Gold use this light-hearted attitude to develop consistent routines and recover after falls. Six out of eight gymnasts stuck their balance beam routines, and the two that

did fall still achieved scores above 8.2.“We fall in practice, and we have to finish,”

Suddaby said. “It’s just the standard we set, and a lot of meets are going to be won and lost on whether we can finish or not. We’re not perfect. We’re trying to get better, and to do that, you just teach it and finish it.”

Sophomore Tiffany Grube has added a

punch to the lineup with her finishes. Her powerful Tsukahara — a half onto the vault table and a backflip off — vault and toe-tapping floor exercise routines earned her great scores. Freshman Chelsea Robie got her first start in a college level meet this weekend and showed her potential.

Suddaby said he is excited about his fresh-men, including Katie Sampson, who is recov-ering from illness and foot injuries. Suddaby said once Sampson gets out there she will help the team’s lineup improve.

The Bombers host Springfield College at noon Saturday in their next meet, and though the team is still working out the kinks, Bolduc said she looks forward to a promising season.

“We just need to trust our abilities in order to be successful at what we do,” she said. “I know we can do it. We are an amazing team, and we all have the potential.”

Blue and Gold look for rhythm in new lineup

sophomore kay Gordon performs her routine on the uneven bars during the gymnastic team’s win over rhode island college on saturday in Ben Light Gymnasium. the Bombers are 1–1 overall.

Matt riGBy/the ithacan

Ithaca top performers Judge #1 Judge #2 scoreVault Jessica Bolduc 9.40 9.50 9.450Barsrachel taylor 9.35 9.30 9.325Beamkim callahan 9.30 9.00 9.150FloorJessica Bolduc 9.40 9.50 9.450

Vault Bars Beam Floor totalall-aroundJessica Bolduc 9.450 9.275 9.050 9.450 37.225kay Gordon 9.275 8.875 8.725 9.375 36.250

top-fIve performers combIned Vault Bars Beam Floor ithaca 45.675 45.050 44.900 46.025 rhode island 43.375 37.300 39.800 43.375

rhode island college vs. ithaca college - Jan. 23ithaca 181.650, rhode island 163.850

source: sports inforMation

[the buzzer]thursday, January 28, 2010 the Ithacan 27

Head and shoulders above the competitionJunior Becca Blazak swims the breaststroke at practice Friday in the Hill Center Pool. Blazak, who swims breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley events, has helped the women’s swimming and diving team to a 10–1 start.

Jake liFsCHultz/tHe itHaCan

Postseason MVP. Wow. What’s next, the good guy award?

New York Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez on receiving the 2009 Major League Baseball Playoffs MVP award from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Rodriguez batted .365 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 15 games in the 2009 postseason.

theysaidit

where we stand

1. St. John Fisher 16 3 .8422. Nazareth 12 6 .6673. Ithaca 13 5 .7224. Stevens 13 4 .7655. Hartwick 7 10 .412

3Men’s basketball* W l Win%

1woMen’s basketball*

1. Augsburg College (Minn.) 10–02. Wartburg College (Iowa) 15–13. Coe College (Iowa) 14–34. Ithaca 16–05. Delaware Valley College (Pa.) 8–2

4 wrestling**

reCord

**National Wrestling Coaches Association DIII Ranking*Empire 8 Standings/Overall Records

1. Ithaca 14 4 .7782. Utica 13 3 .8123. Stevens 10 7 .5884. St. John Fisher 10 8 .5565. Nazareth 9 9 .500

W l Win%

by the numbers 9The number of conference wins the women’s basket-ball team has this season. See story on page 24.3

The number of different diving coaches the men’s swimming and diving team has had in the past four years. See sto-ry on page 25.

the foul lineWeird news from the wide world of sportsThe sport of motocross can present dangerous and life-threatening situations, but for 8-year-old Opee, riding each race and never touching the brakes is like a walk in the park. Opee, a blue merle Australian Shepherd, rides every race on the gas tank of his owner and professional racer, Mike Schelin. Opee’s fearlessness has made him a fan favorite. Described as an “ambassador to off-roading,” Opee has had no problems finding sponsors, and as a result has been outfitted in custom gear from head to tail. Most recently, Opee accompanied Schelin on the Baja 500 — a grueling 444-kilometer race through the desert — an event that the duo completed in 17:49.36. Opee has his American Motorcycle Association card in addition to his SCORE International card, enabling him to take part in every race alongside, or in front, of Schelin.

– Andrew Weiser

Klie has been a key component in the Bombers’ offense all season, averaging 10.7 points per game. In the team’s recent four-game home stand, Klie stepped up her play, pouring in 12.8 points a contest during the stretch. As the team’s leading rebounder, at 6.8 per game, Klie has 122 boards on the season, which includes 33 on the offensive end. Defensively, Klie has come up huge, totalling 15 steals in the last four games, including a career-high nine steals — the program’s sixth-highest single-game total — against visiting Rochester Institute of Technology on Jan. 19.

play of the weekElissa Klie Junior forward Women’s BasketballKlie led the Bombers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, recording her third career double-double, in a 62–42 win over visiting St. John Fisher College on Saturday in Ben Light Gymnasium. The Blue and Gold are a perfect 9–0 in conference play this season.

Junior JuggErnaut

photo finish28 the ithacan Capturing the BomBers at their Best thursday, January 28, 2010

On the track to success Freshman Chris Reilly runs the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay Saturday during the Cornell Five Way at Cornell University. The Ithaca “C” team, made up of senior Jon Lin, junior Kevin Hurley and freshmen Matt Kastler and Reilly finished 10th overall with a time of 3:45.74. Six Bombers qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships at the meet.

ALLISon USAvAgE/THE ITHACAn