INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 106
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Tribal Court
Never Let Go
Athlete Ambassador
Snow Showers HIGH: 16° LOW: 1º
A panel discussed the implications of the Violence of Against Women Act Wednesday. | Page 3
Paul Blank ’14 questions whether or not Leonardo DiCaprio deserves to win an Oscar. | Page 10
Former NFL player Brendan Ayanabejo will speak on behalf of Athelete Ally next Wednesday. | Page 16
Skorton: Next President Should Focus on Excellence,Community
Crop rotation
Reflects on ‘access and affordability’ during his tenure
By TYLER ALICEA Sun Managing Editor
CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Edward Mabaya, assistant director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, gives a lecture about the future of genetically modified crops Wednesday.
Although he will not have a hand in choosing his successor, Cornell President David Skorton said he believes the next president should focus on Visit cornellsun.com excellence and the commufor additional content nity. about President “I think the person Skorton’s appointment hopefully will have a spirit at the Smithsonian of the community, which is Institution. very important particularly in a situation like this where we are such a big part of the community,” he said. Skorton said the question of who will replace him will ultimately need to be answered by the Board of Trustees. “The trustees have done a fantastic job several times before, and I have a lot of confidence that they will do so again and that they will involve the campus broadly in the descript discussion of attributes and so on and so forth,” Skorton said.
“We have a fantastic governing board. I know they’ll do a great job.” The Board of Trustees will form a search committee to determine the University’s next President in the coming weeks. Robert Harrison ’76, chair of Cornell’s Board of Trustees, said he hopes the search committee will be appointed by the end of March. The University announced Monday that Skor-
“[Cornell is] a place that is on the rise with wonderful people.” President David Skorton ton will leave Cornell to serve as the next Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He will continue to serve as Cornell’s President through June 2015 See SKORTON page 4
Cornell Tradition Opens to International Students By SOFIA HU Sun Staff Writer
For the first time in the program’s history, the Cornell Tradition will be open to international student applicants, according to Kristine DeLuca, director of the Cornell Commitment Office, which oversees the scholarship program. Starting this semester, freshmen, sophomore and junior international students can apply to become Cornell Tradition Fellows — who complete a total of 250 hours of
work or service every academic year and receive financial benefits as part of the program, according to DeLuca. Enrico Bonatti ’14, international liaison at-large for the Student Assembly, said he has worked with administrators for the last two years to push for the inclusion of international students in the program. He said he credits the change as being caused by an increase of campus awareness on international student issues. “[It is] thanks to increased awareness of international issues by the administration and thanks to more pressure from passionate international students, myself included,”
Inclement Conditions Raise Flooding,Travel Concerns,City Officials Say By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Staff Writer
Despite the inclement weather that faced Ithaca Wednesday and the City of Ithaca’s warning against potential flooding, Cornell remained open Wednesday. The University’s emergency preparedness team was “continuing to monitor a developing winter storm” on Wednesday afternoon, according to the University. As of 11 p.m. Wednesday night, there were no
changes in the University’s operating status. Wednesday night, the Ithaca Police and Fire Departments monitored areas, including Six Mile, Cascadilla and Fall Creek for ice jams, which could cause potential ice jams, according to a City press release. Lee Shurtleff, director of the Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response, said the storm See WEATHER page 5
Bonatti said. “To be honest, I am not sure why no one thought to bring up this issue before me in the past few years, especially since the Cornell Tradition is such a big program.” When it was established in 1982, Cornell Tradition was strongly tied to the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment, according to DeLuca. Until recently, students applying to become Fellows also had to apply for financial aid, and international students — who do not See TRADITON page 4
DIANA MAK / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Ithaca on ice | Cornell was covered with snow Wednesday after Ithaca was hit with a storm of rain, sleet and snow.