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INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 80

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013

!

ITHACA, NEW YORK

16 Pages – Free

C.U.Defends Medical Amnesty

Univ.official:TEP’s call for help did not cause it to lose recognition By ELIZA LAJOIE

But one TEP brother –– who spoke to The Sun on the condition of anonymity –– stressed the disbanded chapter’s commitment to seeking medical After Cornell revoked its recognition of the Tau help in emergencies no matter the potential discipliEpsilon Phi fraternity this month in the wake of alco- nary consequences. hol-related hazing allegations, a University official “From my perspective, there shouldn’t be any disstressed the importance of taking advantage of Cornell’s incentive for calling 911, within or outside the medical amnesty policy in emergency situations. Greek system,” he said. “I can say definitively that In October, two of the fraternity’s pledges were there's never been a doubt in any TEP brother's hospitalized after members of the fraternity called for mind that you should always call 911.” emergency services in relation to an alcohol-related Still, the brother said he feels student safety could hazing incident. Though the medical amnesty policy be improved if the University’s policy were to cover protects organizaall medical emertions and individu“The reason we have to close [the gencies, including als from judicial those related to hazfraternity] is that they hazed their ing. consequences if they call 911 in an emer“There’s no way new members. They put their new gency medical situaof ignoring the fact members’ lives at risk.” tion involving alcothat there is still hol or drugs, it does pledging and hazing Travis Apgar not apply to … Even when there instances of hazing, is this culture according to Travis Apgar, associate dean of students change, there should still be this idea that the human for fraternity and sorority affairs. life is of the utmost importance and there just shouldApgar said that, while TEP called for emergency n’t be any reason not to call,” he said. medical help after the October incident, its loss of But Apgar said the incident alone did not result recognition was not related to alcohol consumption, in TEP’s loss of recognition. The decision to remove but rather to reports of hazing at the incident that the fraternity from campus was reached after the surfaced several days later, as well as a history of sim- University received first- and second-hand reports, ilar violations. complaints filed online and police reports indicating “The reason we have to close [the fraternity] is that hazing had occurred. that they hazed their new members. They put their “[The allegations of hazing] would have come to new members’ lives at risk,” Apgar said. us one way or another,” Apgar said. “Furthermore, this is an organization in particular Despite the lack of applicability of amnesty, that has a history of hazing, a history of alcohol- Apgar applauded TEP’s decision to call for assisrelated violations … Even if we were to have applied tance, stressing that its call for help was not the reaamnesty in this case, we would have ended up with See AMNESTY page 4 this same result.”

Sun Blogs Editor

DAN SALISBURY / SUN FILE PHOTO

‘Downtown renaissance’ | The City of Ithaca recieved a $1.8-million grant to improve the Commons (pictured above).

Commons Project Receives $1.8M By TYLER ALICEA Sun Staff Writer

The City of Ithaca received a $1.8-million state grant last month that will be used alongside federal funds to revitalize downtown Ithaca in what Gary Ferguson, executive director of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, called a “very sub-

stantial downtown renaissance.” The grant was awarded by the state of New York to enhance economic development downtown, according to Mayor Svante Myrick ’09. The redesign of the Commons will improve aesthetics See COMMONS page 4

Power Outage Stymies Some Students’ Studying Cornell experienced a brief “campus-wide power outage” Wednesday, according to a University-wide email sent at 10:45 p.m. that evening. The email said outage resulted from “loss of steam” in a central heating plant. Power was restored by 11:05 p.m., according to another email sent by the University Wednesday night. Some students said their studying was interrupted when they found themselves without power. Kendra Hayes ’15 said the power outage generated “a lot of noise” from confused students who took to the hallways in her dormitory in Sheldon Court. “Some of my friends were reading, so [the lack of light] created some issues,” Hayes added. Still, others were undeterred by the loss of light, according to Katy Reines ’14, who was studying in Duffield Hall when the building lost power for about 20 minutes. “Everyone was very chill and just kept working like nothing happened,” Reines said. Reines said that although fire alarms blared in Duffield for several minutes, the noise “didn’t seem to deter anyone.” “I guess everyone’s just as behind with work as me,” she said. –– Compiled by Kerry Close and Jinjoo Lee

Vigil Honors Rape Victim By ALEXA DAVIS Sun Staff Writer

While throngs of protesters gathered around India’s parliament in protest of the fatal gang rape of a 23year-old female student, a group of 70 students, faculty and local residents met in Willard Straight Hall on Wednesday to commemorate the death and raise awareness of sexual violence against women.

On Dec. 16, 2012, a female student was violently raped by a group of six men on a moving public bus in New Delhi, according to The New York Times. The victim later died from internal injuries caused by the attack. The men, if found guilty, could face the death penalty, The Times reported. The attack has sparked a debate about the treatment of

women and the legal penalties of sexual assault in India, where, according to The Times, rape is common and conviction rates for the crime are low. The vigil began with the singing of “We Shall Overcome” and a Hindi prayer song called “Aye Maalik Tere Bande Hum,” which was sung by mourners holding glow sticks in See VIGIL page 4

News Community Love

Black and Latino male students gathered for the first town hall meeting of its kind to discuss what it means to be a community. | Page 3

Opinion Defending Divestment

Katerina Athanasiou ’13 explains her belief that the University should divest from fossil fuels. | Page 9

Dining Vegan Discoveries

Austin Buben ’14 shares his rather pleasant experience testing different vegan dishes in Ithaca area restaurants. | Page 10

Sports Splash

Cornell’s swimming and diving teams will travel to Brown to finish off the regular season. | Page 20

LAUREN RITTER / SUN SPORTS EDITOR

Weather Sharing stories | Students, faculty and local residents gathered in Willard Straight Hall on Wednesday in a vigil for a rape victim in India.

Showers HIGH: 39 LOW: 19


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