INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 72
MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2013
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
After Econ Depts.Merge, C.U.Seeks Surge in Profs By KAITLYN KWAN
have the potential to attract top senior scholars to Cornell. In November, a $4-million gift was In an effort to increase its visibility given to the department to establish a and improve its ranking, the economics new endowed professorship, according department is making a push to recruit to a University press release. professors from around the country. “None of this comes for free,” According to Prof. Robert Frank, Hallock said. “We are very lucky to management, economics, recruiting have incredibly engaged and loyal new professors is crucial to the depart- alumni who are helping us with some ment’s quality. of these new initiatives.” The economics department has According to Frank, the number of already increased its size by merging faculty accepting positions at Cornell is several departments across colleges, a good sign that the department is including ones in the Johnson improving. Graduate School of Management, the “It’s kind of a leading indicator of Dyson School of Applied Economics where a department’s going with the and Management and the kinds of people who accept College of Human Ecology. job offers from the departSince the merge, three ment,” Frank said. “Now, more faculty members have their names will appear on been hired, bringing the the list that reviewers see, and total number of faculty to that will be a benefit to the 51, according to Prof. Kevin department in terms of the Hallock, chair of the ecokinds of evaluations it’s able nomics department. to generate from reviewers.” Despite the department’s However, it will take PROF. FRANK success in recruiting new some time for the rankings professors, the competition to hire fac- to reflect the new department’s growth, ulty members is still stiff, according to according to Molinari. Prof. Francesca Molinari, economics. Aside from hiring more professors, Other economics departments world- the department also hopes to offer wide are also attempting to expand, more courses with smaller class sizes Molinari said. in the future, Molinari added. Still, Molinari said that, “I think Currently, the department’s classes we’re being quite successful.” are “very large,” with upwards of 50 Hallock said that recent philanthropic gifts to the department also See ECON page 4
Sun Staff Writer
NATHANIEL BROOKS / THE NEW YORK TIMES
The ballad of Sean and Yoko | Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon speak out against fracking in a protest near Albany on Jan. 11. Local representatives have expressed their opposition to fracking.
Fracking Fight Intensifies By AKANE OTANI Sun News Editor
Bringing the region’s concerns over hydraulic fracturing to fever pitch, the Tompkins County Legislature slammed the state last week for purportedly failing to be transparent as it moves to regulate ‘fracking’ in New York. In 2008, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation was charged with reviewing the environmental and health impacts of fracking: the practice of injecting chemicals and water into the
ground to extract natural gas. Although it has yet to complete the environmental review, the DEC is no longer accepting public comments on proposals to regulate fracking in the state — a move that the Tompkins County Legislature characterized as “seriously flawed,” in a press release published Jan. 14. The Legislature, sending its letter to the DEC “under protest,” said that the department failed to let it publicly consider and vote on the proposal to regulate fracking
Students Launch Satiric,Cornell-Centered Website By ERICA AUGENSTEIN Sun Staff Writer
Though Max Martinez ’13 will graduate this spring, he hopes his brainchild — a humor website
named Cornellious — will continue making an impression on Cornellians long after he leaves campus. Cornellious, which launches Monday, is based on humorous
and satiric content about Cornell’s culture, according to Jared Hoffman ’15, who designed the website. The website will poke fun at life at Cornell — something that Hoffman said is reflect-
Hitting the books
ANDY JOHNSON / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Adam Schoene grad checks off titles from his booklist at the Cornell Store in preparation for the new semester.
ed by the website’s name. “The name Cornellious is a combination of ‘Cornell’ and ‘hilarious,’” Hoffman said. Hoffman said the site will feature different types of content, such as satiric writing; memes, or images with humorous text overlayed onto them; videos; and photos. Hoffman also said that he plans to sell merchandise through the website. Each month, the proceeds will be donated to a different charity, he said. “We are a non-profit, so all the money we make from selling tshirts and hats goes to charity,” Martinez said. As the website gains publicity, Hoffman said that he hopes to recruit students from across campus to create content, adding that, “Ultimately, we hope [the site] will run itself.” The website will also pull content from across the Internet and different social media outlets, Martinez said. “The beauty of Cornellious is that we are in a social media world, so people can submit their ideas through Twitter and See HUMOR page 4
See FRACKING page 5
News Genetic Jackpot
The College of Veterinary Medicine has recieved a $6 million gift to create two endowed professorships. | Page 3
Opinion Rush Hour
Aditi Bhowmick ’16 shares her experience rushing to join a sorority as an international student. | Page 7
Arts The End as We Know It
As 30 Rock comes to a close, Julia Moser ’15 reflects on how the show has affected her. | Page 10
Sports Bullseye
Dave Archer ‘05 was named Cornell’s 27th head football coach. | Page 16
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