INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 134
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
20 Pages – Free
Profs’ Salary Rise Outpaces Inflation By CAROLINE FLAX Sun Staff Writer
COURTESY OF THE CITY OF ITHACA
New townhouses | The Planning and Development Board approved plans to begin construction on two two-story townhouses at 107 Cook Street, the site where Brian Lo ’11 died in a fire last year.
New Bldgs.Will Rise at107Cook St. One year after blaze destroyed house, city approves new townhouses By AKANE OTANI Sun News Editor
and HARRISON OKIN
Sun Staff Writer
Nearly a year after Brian Lo ’11 died in a fire at 107 Cook Street, Planning and Development Board members unanimously approved plans to build two two-story townhouses at the site Tuesday. While the property’s owner, Dan Liguori, originally proposed to construct a single large three-
News Pursuit of Justice
Cornell Law School students and professors, through their investigative work, helped free Edward Elmore — a man convicted of murder — from the death row last month. | Page 3
Opinion
| Page 9
Arts Blue Rhythm
Cornell hosted a medley of beats, jams and keys at its 21st annual Jazz Festival this weekend. | Page 13
Sports Last Hurrah
The varsity tennis team finished its season over the weekend, with losses on the women’s side and victories on the men’s. | Page 20
Cornell’s average full-time faculty salary has increased yet again — rising 2.5 percent from last year and outpacing the rate of inflation, according to a report released earlier this month by the Association of American University Professors. Salary increases at Cornell beat the national average of 1.7 percent, a figure that was “In a sense, Cornell has more market below the inflation rate power over its full professors.” of three perProf. Ron Ehrenberg cent. While data from the AAUP shows that for the third consecutive of a higher salary, the University year, professors nationally have can afford to not increase their not received salaries that met the salaries as much as assistant or rise in the cost of living, Cornell associate professors’ salaries, professors’ salaries have mostly Ehrenberg said. kept up with inflation. “In a sense, Cornell has more Although salaries rose for market power over its full professome professors, the average sors,” Ehrenberg said. salary increase for full professors, Full professors’ salaries did not 2.8 percent, fell slightly below increase as much this year as in the rate of inflation. According to previous years because there was Prof. Ron Ehrenberg, industrial an unexpected jump in inflation and labor relations, the rates, according to Mary University sometimes allocates Opperman, vice president of less money to increasing full professors’ salaries because as these See SALARIES page 5
Blue Light Sees Romney Wins N.Y. Primary Record Number Of Calls for Help By DAVID MARTEN
Sun Senior Editor
By DANIELLE SOCHACVEZSKI
Hannah Deixler ’13 breaks down the Facebook cover photo, from the landscape picture to sorority crowd shot.
Weather
See TOWNHOUSE page 6
Sun Staff Writer
Say Cheese
Showers HIGH: 50 LOW: 36
story residential structure that would have housed 14 individuals, his proposal did not meet the city’s zoning law for this area, which prohibits the construction of more than two dwelling units in a single house. Because the large building did not meet city regulations, Liguori would have had to obtain a variance — an exemption from current city zoning law — for the project to progress, said John Schroeder ’74, a member of the board and The Sun’s production manager.
faculty members become older, it becomes less feasible for them to move to another university for a higher salary. “The mobility of faculty members goes down when they’re older,” Ehrenberg said, noting that the “cost of movement has gone up.” This, he said, has made it less attractive for older faculty to relocate to get a higher salary. Because older, full faculty are less willing to relocate in search
University officials said that the number of people requesting Blue Light escorts — trained community members who escort students to locations late at night — nearly doubled from last year. “I think you can safely say escorts are up at least 50 percent from the same months in 2011,” said Kathy Zoner, chief of the Cornell University Police Department. For instance, Zoner said that the number of escorts requested increased from 6 in March 2011 to 11 in March 2012. There are 123 Blue Light phones on campus, which allow students to contact CUPD for assistance. Blue Light escorts are hired and trained by CUPD to accompany students or visitors to any location on Cornell’s campus or close to campus. The escort service, operated by members of the Cornell University Police Auxiliary, runs from 8 p.m. through 2 a.m. every day of the week during the fall and spring semesters, according to the Cornell University Police website. “I think it’s great that students are taking advantage of this service,” Mikella Goldman ’15 said. “Even if it ends up being nothing, See BLUE page 4
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won New York State’s Republican presidential primary with ease on Tuesday, garnering a majority of the vote in an election that saw low voter turnout in Tompkins County. With 91.3 percent of precincts reporting,
Romney received 62.2 percent of the vote in the state. Texas Congressman Ron Paul came in second with 15.8 percent of the vote, followed by Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, and Rick Santorum, the former senator of Pennsylvania, who has quit the race. In Tompkins County, Romney won 55.1 percent of the vote with 41 of 43
precincts reporting. However, only 1,132 registered Republicans in the county voted. 12,683 people were registered in the county as Republicans as of Oct. 19, according to the Tompkins County Board of Elections. While New York was once considered pivotal to the Republican primary See PRIMARY page 5
LUKE SHARRETT / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mitt’s the man | Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declared victory in the Republican primaries in five states on Tuesday.