INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 133
TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012
!
ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Before Roosevelt, C.U.Debated Other Tech Campus Sites Admins first toured different locations By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor
On March 4, 2011, a team of high-ranking Cornell administrators gathered in lower Manhattan, walked two blocks south and boarded a ferry. With less than two weeks until their
Although Cornell is now wed to Roosevelt Island through a 30-year contract, the matrimony was far from inevitable. initial proposal was due in the high-profile tech campus competition, University representatives were meeting with New York City officials to visit prime real estate. Surprising, perhaps, is that their destination was not Roosevelt Island — the small
strip of land between Manhattan and Queens on which Cornell will construct its $2 billion applied sciences campus — but Governor’s Island, a smaller island just south of Manhattan. Although Cornell is now wed to Roosevelt Island through a 30year contract, the matrimony was far from inevitable, according to emails and documents about the tech campus recently obtained by The Sun through a Freedom of Information Law request. In fact, when first considering where to propose its new school, months before submitting the final tech campus proposal, the University may not have even considered Roosevelt Island a potential suitor. On Feb. 8, 2011, the documents show, New York City officials hosted an event from 6 to 8 See TECH CAMPUS page 7
COURTESY OF SKIDMORE, OWINGS AND MERRILL
State of the art | Though it considered other locations in New York City, the University plans to build an applied sciences and technology campus on Roosevelt Island.
NYU to build applied science campus in Brooklyn By DENNIS LIU Sun Staff Writer
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a partnership Monday with New York University and the Polytechnic Institute of New York to construct a 460,000 square foot applied science research institute in downtown Brooklyn. Known as the Center for Urban Science and Progress, the campus will be the latest addition to Bloomberg’s Applied Sciences NYC Initiative, which seeks to infuse New York’s economy with collaborative research between
universities and businesses to spur technological growth, according to a press release. The campus will be built on 370 Jay Street over the next five years, transforming the address into “a cutting-edge center for research and science that will give another huge boost to our city’s economy,” Bloomberg said at a Monday press conference. “Just like the Cornell-Technion campus, [CUSP] will spin out new startups, create new jobs and drive innovation for years to come,” Bloomberg said. See NYU page 7
Graduate Assembly Votes Down Slope Day Proposal
News Nighthawk Returns
Darrick Trent “Nighthawk” Evensen grad is re-elected graduate student trustee Monday. | Page 3
Opinion Playing Hookie
Tom Moore ’14 emphasizes the benefits of learning outside the classroom, even if it requires occasionally skipping class. | Page 9
By ELIZABETH KUSSMAN Sun Staff Writer
A resolution to recruit a Graduate and Professional Student Assembly liaison to the Slope Day Programming Board, and to create a joint GPSA and SDPB working group, was rejected Monday by the GPSA, which questioned the necessity of continuing conversations about Slope Day funding. Resolution 18 –– proposed by incoming Student Assembly President Adam Gitlin ’13 and S.A. minority representative Roneal Desai
’13 –– aimed to identify ways the event could be made more valuable to the graduate student community. The GPSA turned down Resolution 18 by a vote of 10 no to 1 yes. GPSA Executive Vice President Nicole Baran grad said that she did not want to spend additional time discussing a topic that had “distracted [the GPSA] from discussing other issues like graduate professional development resources.” The resolution also recommended that the GPSA Appropriations Committee raise its
Arts
SDPB allocation for the fall of 2013. Discussion between the GPSA and SDPB began in November, when the GPSA chose to raise its allocation of funds from the student activity to SDPB to $3.50 despite the SDPB’s request for $6, causing the SDPB to consider forcing graduate students to buy tickets for Slope Day. Slope Day proposed a compromise in which it would accept GPSA funding and charge graduate students a reduced ticket price of $7,
Record-Setting Late April Snowfall Hits Cornell Campus
Swept Away
Brian Gordon ’14 chronicles Justin Bieber’s journey through Cornell Days, from meeting Denice Cassaro to seeing Cayuga’s Waiters in concert. | Page 11
By LIANNE BORNFELD
Sports
Sun Contributor
Clean Sweep
Sun Contributor
Weather
Cornell students and faculty were surprised early Monday morning by a record-breaking six inches of April snowfall that weather services failed to predict. “Everyone was caught off guard,” said Joseph M. Lalley ’94, the
and WESLEY ROGERS
The men’s heavyweight and lightweight rowing teams are undefeated home and away this weekend. | Page 16
Chance of Flurries HIGH: 50 LOW: 32
See SLOPE DAY page 4
MICHAEL LINHORST / SUN SENIOR WRITER
Inclement weather | A. D. White enjoys the snowfall at about 5 a.m. Monday morning.
University’s Senior Director of Facilities Operations. Even at 4 a.m., the storm was still not in the forecasts of Accuweather.com and The Weather Channel, he said. By that time, one Cornell plow had already been out in the streets for three hours, Lalley said. According to Jessica See SNOW page 4