INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 113
TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Skorton Vows to Enforce Univ.’s Labor Standards By SYLVIA RUSNAK Sun Staff Writer TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pay to party? | Students mill about the slope as Nelly performs during last year’s Slope Day. Last year, graduate students did not have to purchase a ticket to attend the concert.
Slope Day: Grad Students May Need Tix
Funding fight at impasse as compromise rejected By ELIZABETH KUSSMAN
Sun Staff Writer
Graduate students are increasingly likely to have to pay $25 to attend Slope Day after a proposed compromise to a funding dispute was shot down Monday by the Graduate Student and Professional Assembly. Currently, graduate students can attend Slope Day at no additional cost to the amount charged to their student activity fee, which is a part of their overall tuition. But because members of the Slope Day Programming Board say graduate stu-
dents do not pay their fair share in comparison to undergraduates, they may soon be forced to buy their tickets at the same rates as alumni. In November, the GPSA decided to allocate $3.50 of the student activity fee per graduate student to Slope Day, despite Slope Day’s appeal to receive $7.50 per student. Members of the Slope Day organization said that this level of funding could lead them to reject GPSA funding altogether, a decision that would allow them to charge normal rates.
Recent Cornell Graduate Killed in Train Accident
President David Skorton could cut Cornell’s ties with the Fair Labor Association if it does not agree to change its code of conduct to more closely align with the Unversity’s labor standards, according to a letter he sent to the organization Wednesday. Cornell is partnered with the FLA to ensure that the products sold in the Cornell Store are manufactured in factories in which the workers are treated fairly, according to Mike Powers, senior director for University Communications, which oversees Cornell’s licensing program. But concerns about its conduct have arisen. The letter cites three issues with the FLA’s code of conduct. These disparities are “truly serious” and “potentially warrant leaving” the organization if changes are not made, Powers said. The administration requested that the FLA change its code of conduct to require companies to offer severance funding for workers employed at factories that suddenly shut down. It also requested that the voting structure of the FLA executive board be amended to avoid a system of voting that allows representatives affiliated with large companies to band together to vote down an action they do not agree with. The letter also requests that FLA monitors sent to conduct factory inspections meet with workers at offsite locations. Skorton demands a response from the FLA by April 30, Powers said. “What that reply will be is anybody’s guess. What we do next depends on their reply to us,” Powers said. If the administration decides to disaffiliate from the FLA, the University will no longer lend its name to the FLA and will stop paying dues, according to Casey Sweeney ’13, Cornell’s regional organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops. “We think if the University were to not disaffiliate on April 30 [if the FLA does not agree to change] we would be surprised and that would not See FLA page 4
See GRAD page 5
Sphere of influence
News Sweet Tooth
Cornell’s Chocolate and Confections Technology Club shares chocolatemaking knowledge with its members.
By DENNIS LIU
a crazy sense of humor. That’s what made him one of my best friends.” Brad Lapoff ’10, who lived with Matthew P. Omans ’10 died on Omans in High Rise 5 his freshMarch 9 at the age of 24 after he man year, and who also knew him was struck by a Long Island Rail through Lambda Chi Alpha, said Road train in Bayport, New York. Omans was “always energized, Omans was not authorized to always upbeat.” be on the tracks when “He wasn’t just a he was hit by an eastfriendly kid. He was the bound train at the single most happy and Bayport Avenue crossoutgoing person I think ing around 9:15 a.m., I ever met,” Lapoff said. LIRR spokesperson “He never said a bad Sam Zambuto told the thing about anyone. Sayville-Bayport Patch. Everyone who met him Omans was a recent liked him.” graduate of the Dyson Omans served as OMANS ’10 School of Applied house manager, steward Economics and Management, and ritualist for Lambda Chi where he concentrated in entrepre- Alpha, according to an obituary neurship. During his time at from the Raynor & D’Andrea Cornell, he was a representative for Funeral Home. His hobbies Apple in the Cornell Store and a included snowboarding and playmember of the Lambda Chi Alpha ing video games. fraternity. After graduating, Omans Nelson Conde ’10, who was in moved to Providence, R.I., where Omans’ fraternity pledge class and he worked as an account manager who was his roommate for two for AT&T Business Services. years, described Omans as an outgoing and devoted student. “He was one of the friendliest Dennis Liu can be reached at guys I knew,” Conde said. “He had dliu@cornellsun.com.
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Sun Staff Writer
Opinion A Matter of Trust
Tom Moore ’14 discusses cuddling, walking barefoot and the role of fear in everyday life. | Page 7
Arts Carpe Diem
Brian Gordon ’14 critiques the implications of the popular phrase “you only live once.” | Page 9
Sports Double Victory
The men’s lacrosse team gained its first two Ivy League wins this weekend. | Page 16
GINA HONG / SUN CONTRIBUTOR
Prof. Rosemary Foot, international relations, Oxford University, gives a talk on the influence of China on Monday afternoon in Goldwin Smith Hall.
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