INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 129
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012
n
ITHACA, NEW YORK
20 Pages – Free
Theater Dept.Revamp Gets Mixed Reviews
Premature celebration
After overhaul, students react to changes By SHANE DUNAU Sun Staff Writer
KELLY YANG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A student, sporting a shirt that says “I Survived the Mayan Calendar,” assembles pastries on a model of a Mayan pyramid at the Mayan End of the World dinner in Alice Cook House Tuesday night.
Record Alumni Vote Elects Trustees By SYLVIA RUSNAK Sun Staff Writer
A record-high number of Cornell alumni –– 27,685 –– voted for the newest representatives on the University’s Board of Trustees, electing Meredith Rosenberg ’92 and William McAleer ’73 MBA ’75, the University announced Tuesday. Voters for the two alumni trustees — who serve a four-year term on the Board — have numbered more than 27,000 in each of the last two elections. In contrast, the average number of
News Double Duty
Cornell’s Society of Pre-Medical Engineers offers career advice to students simultaneously pursuing both paths of study. | Page 3
Opinion Chalk It Up
Jacob Kose ’13 explains the merits of chalking as a form of advertising. | Page 9
Science Dynamic Duo
Two organic chemistry professors recently awon prestigious prizes for their work. | Page 10
Sports March Madness
The Ivy League may be creating a tournament to determine the team that goes to the NCAA tournament. | Page 20
Weather Mostly Sunny HIGH: 66 LOW: 36
voters in previous elections fell between 12,000 and 15,000, according to Chris Marshall, associate vice president for alumni affairs. “We doubled the voter base the last two years by building awareness and making the process a lot easier,” Marshall said. Rosenberg was a history major, Soviet studies minor and the advertising manager of The Sun during her time at Cornell. She is currently the senior vice president at Fullbridge, Inc. –– a business boot-camp that provides accelerated trainSee TRUSTEES page 5
After the University announced in the fall that the individual majors of theater, film and dance will be consolidated into a single performing arts major next year, some students have expressed dissatisfaction with the imminent elimination of the distinct degrees. The Department of Theatre, Film and Dance announced its new Performing and Media Arts major in November, heralding the program as a symbol of the “collaborative spirit of our department’s three areas and [reflective of ] the changing nature of our fields and professions.” The change in the curriculum comes after last year’s $1 million cut in funding to the Dance, Theatre and Film budget. Prof. Amy Villarejo, theatre, film, and dance, and the chair of the department, told The Sun in November that the loss in funding pushed the department to restructure to compensate for lost resources. She said a smaller staff was one of the reasons for consolidating the three majors into one. “We [lost] a lot in our department because our budget was cut so
drastically,” said Prof. Byron Suber, dance. Some students in the department said they worry that the new change will detract from the Schwartz Center’s appeal to incoming students next year. “I fear that prospective students will be discouraged from engaging in a curriculum that does not give
“I fear that prospective students will be discouraged ... in a curriculum that does not give full credence ... to a specific study.” Claire Babilonia ’12 full credence, or even a title, to a specific study,” Claire Babilonia ’12, a dance major, said in an email. Jenna Bryant ’12, a film major who came to Cornell undecided about what course of study to pursue, echoed Babilonia’s concerns. “If I had gotten here and the film major hadn’t existed, I don’t think I See TFD page 5
Alumnus Appeals Copyright Verdict To Supreme Court By CAROLINE FLAX Sun Staff Writer
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear the appeal of Supap Kirtsaeng ’02, an alumnus who lost a $600,000 suit for copyright infringement in August. Oral arguments are set to begin in the fall. The case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, will address “Those seeking to profit the legality of from the creative works i m p o r t i n g textbooks of others cannot evade manufacour intellectual property tured and sold abroad laws.” and reselling them in the Susan Spilka U n i t e d States, The Associated Press reported. While attending graduate school at the University of Southern California, friends and family of Kirtsaeng, a Thailand native, sent him textbooks they had purchased abroad. He then resold the books at a higher price to U.S. buyers See COURT page 4
BETH SPERGEL / SUN FILE PHOTO
Brewing disappointment | Vendors serve beer made at local breweries at Ithaca’s Brew Fest on Labor Day Weekend in 2010. The popular event will not be held this year.
Ithaca Brew Fest Scrapped for 2012 By KEVIN MILIAN Sun Staff Writer
Ithaca Brew Fest — the Labor Day Weekend event in Stewart Park that features more than 100 beers from 45 different brewers — will not take place this year, according to Dan Mitchell, owner of Ithaca
Beer Company, which organizes the event. The festival, at which local venders serve their beer and food, has been held annually since 2007. But this year, the Ithaca Beer Company will focus on building its new brewery and beer pub, Mitchell said.
“Going into this year, we discussed feasibility of doing both, and [Mitchell] decided it best to focus all efforts on managing the growing demand for Ithaca Beer and getting the new brewer y opened this sumSee BREW page 4