INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 112
MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Student Death Suit Will Proceed
Puff the magic dragon
Judge denies motion to dismiss father’s case against C.U. By KERRY CLOSE Sun News Editor
ESTHER HOFFMAN / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
First-year architecture students show off their work at the Dragon Day parade on March 16. See cornellsun.com for a photo slideshow.
A federal judge denied Cornell’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit that holds both the City of Ithaca and the University responsible for a student suicide in 2010 –– a decision that will allow the case to proceed. “[The] defendants’ duty was to maintain the Thurston Avenue Bridge in a reasonably safe condition as to prevent suicides,” Judge David Hurd ’59 wrote in his March 15 decision rejecting the University’s request. Tommy Bruce, vice president for University communications, criticized the ruling, saying that the University is not legally responsible for the death of the student, Bradley Ginsburg ’13, who jumped off the Thurston
Avenue Bridge in February 2010. campus. Furthermore, Ginsburg Ginsburg’s father, Howard faults the University for neglectGinsburg ’70, is seeking $180 ing to inform students and parents of three student suicides that million in damages. “The law in New York … occurred in the fall of 2009 –– an views the intentional act of killing one- “[Cornell’s] duty was to maintain the self to be extra- Thurston Avenue Bridge in a reasonably ordinary, and safe condition as to prevent suicides.” not does impose liabili- Judge David Hurd ’59 ty on others for failure to prevent suicides except in very action that he says could have limited circumstances,” Bruce allowed parents to conduct “a said. “These limited circum- mental health check” of their chilstances simply were not present in dren, according to the lawsuit. On Jan. 24, the University this case.” Ginsburg’s lawsuit, which was asked the court to throw out the filed in November, claims that the case on the grounds that neither city and Cornell were remiss in Ginsburg’s father nor his attorney failing to place effective suicide See GINSBURG page 5 barriers on the bridges on or near
C.U.Rowing Coaches Find Body in Cayuga Lake; No Foul Play Suspected By LIZ CAMUTI Sun News Editor
Several coaches from the Cornell rowing team helped recover the body of Brian Washington, Jr., a 25-year-old Ithaca resident they found in Cayuga Lake Thursday morning, according to Todd Kennett ’91, head coach of the men’s heavyweight rowing team.
News Mush!
Cornell Outdoor Education instructors learned survival skills on a dog sledding expedition in Minnesota. | Page 3
Opinion Seeing the Future
Sebastian Deri ’13 shares his thoughts on the future of humanity, theology and the economy. | Page 9
Arts A Web Exclusive
The Sun interviews David Greenman ’00 and Gabriel Long ’09 about their new web series, Checked Out. | Page 11
Sports Dake’s No Fake
Kyle Dake ’13 is the first NCAA wrestler ever to win three national titles in three weight divisions. | Page 15
Weather Mostly Sunny HIGH: 42 LOW: 34
An autopsy Friday found no evidence of “foul play” surrounding Washington’s death, according to an Ithaca Police Department press release. The cause of Washington’s death was ruled as drowning, according to the IPD. The IPD statement added that the results of toxicology testing are pending and will not be available for two weeks.
Washington was reported missing to the Ithaca Police Department on Jan. 30, according to an IPD press release. A missing person investigation was ongoing when his body was discovered. The coaches found Washington’s body during a practice on Thursday, according to Kennett. An IPD statement added that the crew team discovered Washington’s body “floating” in the water.
Kennett said that Washington’s body, which was discovered before 8:45 a.m. and brought to the entrance of the Cayuga Inlet, had “been there for a while.” “Only the coaches saw it … we sent all the crews away before they knew what was happening,” Kennett said. The Ithaca Fire Department removed Washington’s body near the entrance to the marina at Allan
H. Treman State Marine Park shortly before 9:30 a.m., according to The Ithaca Journal. With the assistance of the Ithaca fire Department and Bangs Ambulance the body was recovered and transported to Onondaga County for an autopsy, according to an IPD press release. Liz Camuti can be reached at lcamuti@cornellsun.com.
Students Deface Posters They Call Racist Against Asians By JINJOO LEE Sun Staff Writer
Scrawled in black marker across posters advertising the upcoming concert of an AsianAmerican comedian, hours after they had been printed on March 14, was overt disapproval: “WTF. This font is not OK.” Khamila Alebiosu ’13, chair of the Multicultural Concert Funding Advisory Board — one of the groups organizing the concert — said that she found more than half of the 100 posters and quarter cards promoting the event in the Office of Student Support and Diversity Education defaced and then shuffled in with the unmarked pile that day. Margaret Cho, a Korean-American standup comedian who critiques social and political problems in her perfor-
mances — especially those pertaining to race and sexuality — will perform at Cornell on April 6. The release of the posters advertising her concert, which were created by the African Latino Asian Native American Students Programming Board, sparked controversy among minority groups on campus, leading some students to successfully demand their removal. A few hours after Alebiosu found the vandalized posters, an anonymous group calling itself “Scorpions X” claimed responsibility for the act in an email to MCFAB and ALANA, another group organizing the concert. In the email, Scorpions X objected to the posters’ font, which they called racist towards Asians. “If you call this vandalism, we will call this racism!” Scorpions X
wrote in the email. The font used was Chop Suey, which, according to Scorpions X, has a history of Asian-American stereotyping. In their
email, Scorpions X demanded that ALANA “discontinue use of these posters [and] quarter cards immediately and also remove current postings.”
The group also requested that ALANA issue a public apology to the entire Cornell Community. See CHO page 4
PROVIDED BY KHAMILA ALEBIOSU ’13
Posters defaced | Scorpions X vandalized posters for Margaret Cho’s upcoming concert.