INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 111
FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
12 Pages – Free
Mayor Cory Booker to Speak at Convocation Students‘ecstatic’ that Newark mayor will speak,convocation committee chair says
By AKANE OTANI Sun Managing Editor
Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the social media maven who is preparing to make a run for the U.S. Senate, will address graduating seniors at convocation this year, the Class of 2013 Convocation Committee announced Thursday. Booker, a graduate of Stanford, Oxford and Yale University, defeated a fourterm incumbent to make his way onto t h e
Newark City Council in 1998. Eight years later, he ran for mayor and swept the race against former Deputy Mayor Ronald Rice (D) with 72 percent of the vote, according to The New York Times. Now in his second term, the Senate aspirant has grabbed headlines for his penchant for heroism: pulling a neighbor out of a burning house, opening his house to Hurricane Sandy victims and digging residents out from a blizzard, according to Time. Roneal Desai ’13, chair of this year's convocation ceremony and committee, said he “could not be happier” with the selection of Booker as convocation speaker. “Everyone I’ve spoken to is ecstatic that he’ll be the speaker. When you look at the places he has spoken at in the
last couple of years, he’s undoubtedly one of the most in-demand graduation speakers in the country this year,” Desai said, noting that Booker addressed graduates at Stanford in 2012 and will be speaking at Yale’s Class Day in May. Although Booker will be the 10th politician since 2000 to speak at Cornell’s convocation, Desai said he is confident Booker will be able to appeal to Cornellians across a wide range of political views. “I see Cory Booker representing much more of an advocacy figure — one that resonates with a lot of students — as opposed to a political role,” Desai said. “I don’t think he is a polarizing political figure who has made a political career simply advocating for one party or another. He represents the type of politics that people do care about: making a difference in the world.” See CONVOCATION page 4 MICHAEL APPLETON / THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Super-politician | Booker, who will speak in this year’s convocation, is famous for having pulled a neighbor out of a burning house.
News Office Space
An ILR study suggests that hiring individuals with disabilities is an advantage to the office environment. | Page 3
Opinion Gettin’ Freaky
Rudy Green ’15 argues that Cornell has become increasingly “tradition-less” and advocates eccentric on-campus behavior from students. | Page 6
Arts We’re Not In Kansas Anymore
Marissa Tranquilla ’15 contends that Oz: The Great and Powerful suffers from the clash between classic film and modernity. In spite of a stellar cast, stunted dialogue and forced scenes derail the prequel. | Page 8
Weather Cloudy HIGH: 39 LOW: 27
Sororities See Surge in Medical Transports Man Shot in FaceWith Pellet Gun; By SARAH SASSOON
Kristen Powers ’14, president of the Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity, said the six-week “dry period” also prevents new members from learnAfter an uptick in the number of alcohol- ing to develop responsibility for themselves while related medical transports last weekend, some drinking. “High risk drinking is a major concern withstudents in the Panhellenic community raised concerns that rules prohibiting sorority members in Greek life. However, rather than teaching new from being in the presence of alcohol may inad- members how to make responsible decisions and develop into responsible adults, we spent six vertently encourage binge drinking. The school year is split into quarters, with each weeks giving our women rigid guidelines and quarter having a different goal to enable freshman sheltering them from Cornell’s social scene,” women to have a safe transition into the Greek Powers said. Van Holmes said that while “the quarter syscommunity, according to Carlin Van Holmes ’14, president of the Panhellenic Council. The rules of tem is designed to increase safety, it also does create a bit of a the third quarter — d i c h o t o m y, which ended March “Rather than teaching new members because the pres3 — explicitly state sure [of the rules of that new members, how to make responsible decisions the third quarter] even those of legal and develop into responsible adults, is taken off” durdrinking age, are not ing the fourth allowed to be in the we spent six weeks giving our women quarter. presence of alcohol rigid guidelines...” Van Holmes, during the six-week Kristen Powers ’14 however, said that period. she was unsure if Van Holmes said the medical transin an email sent out to sororities March 8 that “reports from last ports were “in relation to the Panhellenic com[Thursday] night reflect a high number of alco- munity at all.” She added that her intention in hol-related transports, notably more so than the sending her email to all sororities was to “make a Panhellenic community saw during the third preemptive note about safety.” Safety, she said, remains important in the fourth quarter.” She said in an interview with The Sun that the purpose of the email was not to be puni- quarter of the year, when new members are officially initiated into their chapters and are no longer tive, but to be precautionary. Some students, reflecting on the medical trans- restricted from being in the presence of alcohol. Van Holmes said that the quarter system –– ports, said they think the six-week dry period spurs binge drinking, leading to a higher number which was first introduced three years ago –– is a policy that was developed by the National of alcohol-related transports when it ends. “I think the dry period is arguably effective, College Health Improvement Project’s Learning but I think it leads to binge drinking immediate- Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking, an initialy after it ends,” said Olivia Wherry ’16, a newlyinitiated member in the Greek community. See DRINKING page 5 Sun Staff Writer
17-Year-Old Male Charged in Court
By AKANE OTANI Sun Managing Editor
A 17-year-old male has been accused of shooting an Ithaca High School student in the face with a pellet gun. The male was arraigned in the Ithaca City Court Wednesday on three misdemeanors: reckless endangerment in the second degree, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, according to the Ithaca Police Department. On Feb. 12, a group of students
were standing in the parking lot of the Ithaca High School when the male, who was part of the group, shot an airsoft pellet gun at the victim, according to IPD. The victim was struck in the cheek and back, but his injuries were not considered serious, according to IPD. Police said in a press release that they are unable to release the names of the victim and defendant because of their age. Akane Otani can be reached at aotani@cornellsun.com.
A moment to appreciate
DIANA MAK / SUN CONTRIBUTOR
Curator Andrea Inselmann describes the influences and unique techniques used in Storm Tharp’s ’92 exhibition in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Thursday.