INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 81
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
After First Year, Mayor Reflects On Difficult Decisions,Hopes By EMMA COURT Sun Senior Writer
Imagine facing a $3-million budget deficit three years after graduating from college. That was just one challenge that Svante Myrick ’09 confronted in his first year as mayor of the city of Ithaca. The process of closing the city’s budget deficit, he said, required him to make “impossible choices.” “With multimillion dollar deficits occurring each year, pain could only be deferred for so long,” he said. In order to narrow the budget deficit, Myrick said he drew upon his experiences growing up with a single mother who worked multiple jobs to raise him and his three siblings. “When you grow up in a household without enough money to make ends meet, you have to make difficult, and, within the family, unpopular decisions,” Myrick said. “My mom would … actual-
ly show us her paychecks every week and show us the bills every week, and we’d do the math together … I never expected that experience to be useful, outside of my personal life, outside of balancing my own checkbook, but it gave me a tolerance for making tough decisions.” The ability to make difficult decisions characterized Myrick’s approach to balancing the city budget. His controversial proposal included decreasing the number of the Ithaca’s police and fire staff. It was passed in November over the objections of the Ithaca Police and Fire Departments, which said the See MAYOR page 4 RYAN LANDVATER / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Myrick looks back | Myrick looks out the window in his office. “It ends up looking like a to-do list,” he said of the view of the city.
After 33 Years in C-Town, Police Identify Suspect in Shooting Owner Plans Dunbar’s Sale By NOAH RANKIN
IPD said McCargo remains at large and is “possibly armed and dangerous.” He was last Police have identified Tyrell seen in Cortland, N.Y., and T. McCargo, 22, as was also observed a suspect in a operating a navy reported shooting blue Acura, accordon Oak Avenue ing to IPD. Tuesday morning IPD describes — an incident that McCargo as a 6’3” caused a man to sufblack male, with a fer a gunshot thin face, brown wound to the buteyes and hair in a tocks. brush cut. McCARGO On Thursday, The shooting
Sun Staff Writer
By AKANE OTANI Sun News Editor
After 33 and a half years of owning Dunbar’s, Eddy Street’s watering hole, Dave Peppin is putting the bar up for sale. “I’ve been there a long time. I’ve seen enough,” Peppin said. Peppin said he will remain the owner of Dunbar’s for at least the remainder of the spring semester. He added that he hopes the bar will not shut down when he departs. The decision to sell the late-night dive bar — spurred in part by a desire to spend more time with his family — comes with a “lot of mixed feelings,” Peppin said. “We had the Stanley Cup in there twice. I don’t think any other bar could say that. Those nights — and drinking out of the cup — have got to be the highlight of my 33 years
there,” Peppin said. Such memories will not make selling the bar, a Collegetown fixture that has seen hundreds of Cornellians pass through its doors, easy, Peppin said. With several bars — including The Royal Palm Tavern, Dinos and Johnny O’s — having shut their doors in the last few years, Dunbar’s is “really the only hangout bar left” in Collegetown, Peppin said. The bar’s trademark graffitied walls, scribbled-on ceiling tiles and pictures of Cornell Athletics teams plastered on the walls — these markings, Peppin said, are what he “would like to see continue” with the bar’s next owner. “His thought is that it’s something of a Collegetown institution,” said Brian Rettger, manager of Dunbar’s, See DUNBARS page 4
JADE TABONY / SUN FILE PHOTO
Good old Dunbar’s | Dunbar’s has faithfully served beer to thirsty college students and alumni for 33 and a half years.
Campus Politicos Hope Economy Will Rebound In Obama’s Second Term By EMMA JESCH Sun Staff Writer
As President Barack Obama enters his second term, Cornell faculty and students said the economy and unemployment rates must stay at the forefront of policymakers’ minds. The nation’s unemployment rate remains a critical issue due to other difficulties it tends to create, according to Jesscia Reif ’14, chair of the Cornell Republicans. “There are a lot of economic issues that need to be addressed,” she said. “The unemployment rate is still the biggest issue, especially among young people. [Unemployment]
causes a whole set of problems: People are unable to pay student loans, and it decreases job opportunities.” The unemployment crisis was preceded by a series of economic shifts that hurt job growth, according to Prof. Sharon Poczter, applied economics and management. “In terms of jobs that we’ve had in the past 20 to 30 years, there is evidence that employment has undergone a paradigm shift,” she said. “Even before the onslaught of the Great Recession, the labor market was in serious trouble. Job growth between See POLITICOS page 4
was reported to IPD at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police received a 911 call notifying the department of “possible shots fired in the area of Oak Ave[nue] and of a dark-colored sedan leaving the area.” IPD, along with the Cornell University Police Department, spoke with multiple residents Tuesday “who all heard the sound of four or five gunshots,” according to the IPD. See SHOOTING page 4
News Precious Tubers
Cornell received a $25 million grant to fund the development of cassava, a staple crop in Africa. | Page 3
Opinion Chumming It
Rudy Gerson ’14 says that being involved in a fraternity has taught him about true brotherhood. | Page 7
Arts Sundance Tier
The Sun talks to Prof. Austin Bunn, performance and media arts, who co-wrote a movie that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. | Page 8
Sports Ready to Recover
After losing three games, the men’s ice hockey team is ready to spring back into action in its next two games at St. Lawrence and Clarkson. | Page 16
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