INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 120
THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
20 Pages – Free
IFD Extinguishes Blaze in C.U. Parking Lot Students, Faculty Fire’s cause remains unknown
PROVIDED BY ITHACA FIRE DEPARTMENT
Fire hazard | Lt. Tom Basher from the Ithaca Fire Deptartment puts out a car fire near the Vet School Wednesday morning.
Firefighters from the Ithaca Fire Department responded to a report of a car on fire in the Oxley Parking Lot near the Vet School on Wednesday morning after Cornell emergency workers were unable to successfully get the blaze under control, according to IFD Lieutenant Tom Basher. IFD arrived on the scene around 10 a.m. to find a car with its engine compartment on fire. The car was in close proximity to several other vehicles, according to an IFD press release. Cornell Environmental Health and Safety personnel secured the area and led firefighters to the scene. “Cornell EHS was on the scene first. Those guys did a great job, but they only carry fire extinguishers,” Basher said. “A lot of times they try to handle it, but with some bigger fires they need our help. They tried, they did a really good job.” IFD firefighters extinguished the fire in under 10 minutes and no other cars were damaged, according to an IFD press release. The cause of the fire was under investigation as of Wednesday night, according to Basher. “We’re not sure what caused it. It was a problem in the engine compartment,” he said. “It’s still under investigation.” — Compiled by Rebecca Harris
Doubt Efficacy of Plagiarism Prog. By MARGARET YODER Sun Staff Writer
One year after the Faculty Senate passed a resolution adopting Turnitin.com as a strategy to reduce plagiarism on campus, the Judicial Codes Counselor Office — which represents students accused of Code of Conduct violations — has yet to see a case in which the software detected plagiarism. However, several students and administrators said they doubted whether this indicated a decline in the number of students actually plagiarizing their work. In a 2010 poll conducted by a Cornell organization, 30 percent of 227 Cornell undergraduates surveyed admitted to some form of cheating. Carol Grumbach, associate dean of students, said the real percentages are likely even higher, because not all students will admit to cheating. Last spring, the Faculty Senate voted to pass a resolution adopting Tunitin.com as part of a broader approach to reducing plagiarism at Cornell, according to Grumbach. Turnitin is an optional tool professors can use to detect plagiarism See TURNITIN page 5
Pub Event Planning Proves Difficult for Student Organizers
Strip for solidarity
News Greener Pasures
Gilbert Hanse M.L.A. ’89 will design the golf course for the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. | Page 3
Opinion Cougar Town
By RACHEL RABINOWITZ
Hazel Gunapala ’12 encourages senior women to hook up with a freshman before graduation.
Sun Staff Writer
Although the first two pilot events in the new on-campus pub in Willard Straight Hall attracted a large number of undergraduate and graduate students, some organizers for the most recent event, a concert on Thursday night, said that there may still be some issues to work out before the Bear’s Den officially opens in the fall. Between 350 and 400 people attended Thursday night’s concert — a performance by Israeli pop star Ivri Lider — including undergraduates, graduate students and faculty and staff, according to Robert Callahan ’14, pub director of the Student Union Board. The space was filled to capacity for most of the night, Callahan said. However, Yotam Arens ’12, one of the organizers of the event, said planning the concert “was a very difficult process” — which he attributed to the pub still being in the “preliminary stages” of its development. “In terms of planning and working with the pub committee, because there were so many groups involved, there were issues of communication and it wasn’t always clear what the role of the staff from Cornell dining or the S.A. office or the pub committee was,” Arens said. “There is still a lot to be ironed out, in my opinion.” Callahan said that the concert was the first event held in the pub with an outside organization — the Super Bowl party launch event See PUB page 4
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Dining Crazy for Froyo ZAC PETERSON / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Cornell Students Against Sweatshops marched on the Arts Quad Wednesday partially clothed in protest of the University’s affiliation with the Fair Labor Association.
Student Org.Reinstated After Forced Hiatus By KAITLYN KWAN Sun Staff Writer
After a mandatory twomonth recess, Cornell’s Formula Society of Automotive Engineers team — which builds race cars for an annual International Speedway Competition in Michigan — was reinstated mid-semester. The hiatus came after several FSAE freshmen told administrators that the organization was causing a great deal of stress and a decline in their academic performance.
According to team leader Matt Byrne ’12, the team was approached in early December by College of Engineering administrators including Prof Mark Campbell, director of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Dean of Engineering Lance Collins, who ordered that the group take a break to improve team morale and reduce stress among its members. “It felt like they were getting a little off-course,” Campbell said. “If your goal is to win the competition
every year, it’s really easy to let that drive everything. We needed the team to be a bit introspective of what their makeup was, what their outcomes were, such that all of the good things that they’ve done will continue to the future.” Campbell and members of FSAE declined to elaborate on specific complaints reported to the administration by freshmen members. According to Byrne and Campbell, the hiatus did not See SAE page 6
The Sun reviews Collegetown’s newest eatery, Yogurt Crazy, and explores its popularity among students. | Page 10
Arts Still Vogue
The Sun reviews MDNA, Madonna’s first new album in four years. | Page 11
Sports Home Court Advantage
Men’s tennis will host and face off against Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. | Page 20
Weather Partly Cloudy HIGH: 48 LOW: 28