INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 131
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014
!
ITHACA, NEW YORK
20 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Departing Dean
‘Flop’ Psychology
Tennis on Top
P.M. Showers HIGH: 61° LOW: 40º
Cornell Law School honors its outgoing dean after 10 years service Wednesday. | Page 3
Junior Sam Fleck wins the deciding match to lift the tennis team over Penn Sunday. | Page 20
James Rainis ’14 reviews Neon Trees’ new album Pop Psychology — and finds it underwhelming. | Page 8
Diversity Engagement at C.U.Lacking,Survey Shows By NOAH RANKIN Sun City Editor
After the release of a new campus climate study concluding that the University lacks authentic engagement regarding diversity and bias incidents, a Cornell administrator says the University is working to determine the next steps for diversity-related campus initiatives. The study — which includes both a thematic analysis of campus diversity issues and direct student quotations — begain in fall 2013 and was conducted by a team led by Prof. Sylvia Hurtado, education and information studies, University of California at Los Angeles. In October, the team received face-to-face and online responses from 397 students for use in the study. According to Associate Dean of Students Renee Alexander
’74, the report will serve as a “blueprint” for the future of Towards New Destinations — a University diversity planning initiaive — and other diversity initiatives at Cornell. Alexander said that while the report shows that Cornell
“The good news is that many students come here wanting to engage.” Renee Alexander ’74 successfully recruits students from a diverse set of backgrounds, the resources allotted on campus do not match the current level of diversity — which will be at a statistical high for the incoming class of 2018. “What we have to work on now are issues of engagement and inclusion,” Alexander said. “If we recruit diverse
classes and drop them on this campus without the tools to navigate difference then we’ve only done half the job.” A quote in the report from a student identifying as a “LGBT white undergraduate” echoes this notion, using racial differences as an example. “Just because you were sitting next to a person of color, that doesn’t mean that the world is a perfect place,” the student said. “You need to change how you’re interacting with that person. To do that, you need to educate yourself about what you don't know and what assumptions you’ve been making your whole life.” Some minority students quoted in the report attribute the lack of meaningful interactions to a general “unawareness” of students in majority groups regarding exclusivity or discrimination. See SURVEY page 4
Bernstein Speaks on Breakdown of Politics “The question [Kennedy] asked that day after he had been sworn in as President has a shamCarl Bernstein — one of the ing reflection on today’s Washington Post investigative Washington,” Bernstein said. “He journalists who helped uncover was talking about the national the Watergate scandal — spoke interest; not just self-interest. I about the importance of the cur- say that this sounds almost quaint rent generation’s engagement and disingenuous in the context with politics at Cornell of today’s political debate.” Rather, Bernstein said he Wednesday. Bernstein — who has believes today’s politics are based on “ideological warauthored five bestselling books — “We learned ...to fare” that considers the common good said one of pursue the best last. He also said America’s greatest obstacles today is obtainable version that a “fact-based” approach in politics, the partisan and of the truth.” civil discourse and ideological nature media has been lost. of Washington and Carl Bernstein “We learned an the media. approach to our “Instead of talking about the economy and fami- reporting that was simple — and lies, we’ve been subjected to that was to pursue the best obtainscorch politics [and accept] myth able version of the truth,” over fact,” he said. “Now this Bernstein said. “Today I would say extends to how we process and that the opposite is too often true.” Bernstein said a problem that receive journalism as citizens.” He referred to President John remains in today’s politics is the F. Kennedy’s famous inaugura- tendency to refuse the usage of a tion speech, in which Kennedy fact-based approach to political said, “Ask not what your country See BERNSTEIN can do for you, ask what you can page 4 do for your country,” as an example of a commitment to national interest and the common good. By ANIKA SETHY
Sun Staff Writer
ELIJAH REICHLIN-MELNICK / SUN FILE PHOTO
One way traffic | One lane of Tower Road will close next month due to a safety improvement construction project that will be conducted through August.
Tower Rd.to Face Partial Closure Eastbound lane will close next month through August By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Staff Writer
One lane of Tower Road will close next month to accommodate a safety improvement project, which will permanently remove gravel parking on the south side of the road, according to an email from Cornell Transportation Services. The project will close the eastbound lane of Tower Road for construction, according to a Transportation Services press release. Two-way traffic is expected to return on Aug. 21; however, aesthetic changes — such as lighting and landscaping — will not be completed until late October. Multiple changes to the road — including the removal of gravel street parking — are “needed” to preserve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, according to University Spokesperson John Carberry.
“These improvements are needed because the road surface condition is beyond its service life,” Carberry said. Several of the changes to the street — a new sidewalk, improved bike lanes and “green infrastructure” — will be “beneficial” to Cornell’s sustainability initiative, Carberry said. “The project will also provide opportunities for academic education and research to study urban plant health and stormwater quality treatment,” said Robert Chiang, designer for the project. “The project will reduce the impact on the natural drainage systems by detaining and filtering stormwater runoff from the street.” Carberry added that the weight of the parking area has “negatively affected” the root structures of mature oak trees in the area, some of which were planted in the early 20th century. In addition, the project will create a “safe, See TOWER ROAD page 4
Shame on Washington | Journalist Carl Bernstein talks about his career and reporting on the Watergate scandal in Goldwin Smith Hall Wednesday. CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR