INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 25
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2013
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Mann Makeover
All That Jazz
Another One ...
Cloudy HIGH: 71 LOW: 54
Mann Library is moving its stacks to make space for the communications department. | Page 3
The Dafnis Prieto Proverb Trio opens up the Cornell Concert Series Thursday at Lincoln Hall. | Page 8
Int’l Students Worry About Finding Visas
The sprint football team is trying to bounce back after dropping six of its last seven games. | Page 16
The science guy
By MANU RATHORE Sun Senior Editor
As employers all over the U.S. begin interviewing job applicants at Cornell, international students face an additional concern beyond producing a perfect cover letter: getting a work visa. “I’d like to see the U.S. The U.S. caps the number of Hbe a place where more 1B visas — permits that allow individuals are accepted employers to temporarily employ workers — it can issue at and the process is easier foreign 65,000 a year. In Fiscal Year 2014, to navigate through.” so many recent graduates and foreign workers applied for work visas Gizem Sakalli ’15 that the U.S. hit the cap in just five days, according to the Brookings Institution, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. Of the applicants, 39,000 were denied, according to the Brookings Institution. See VISAS page 4
ALEX HERNANDEZ / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bill Nye ’77, or “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” lectures on fluid dynamics Friday — shooting smoke rings at the students attending his class on campus.
IPD Adopts Off-Duty Protocol Policy: Officers to only intervene in ‘critical’ situations By AKANE OTANI Sun Managing Editor
DIANA MAK / SUN FILE PHOTO
Taking a stance | Students gather in front of Willard Straight Hall in February to demand that Cornell divest from fossil fuel companies.
Students, Profs Continue Fight to Make C.U. Divest By RACHEL WEBER Sun Staff Writer
Kyoto NOW!, a campus climate justice organization, has no intentions of backing down from convincing Cornell to divest its endowment from fossil fuels — even though the University said in April that it would not divest in the “immediate foreseeable future.” This time, the student group also has faculty members on board, according to Kyoto NOW! presidents Aubree Keurajian ’15 and Dennis Fox ’15. Kyoto NOW!’s objectives for climate justice have not changed, Fox said, adding that the organization’s past advocacy has helped it gain momentum.
“The goal of the organization has always remained the same, and even through this specific divestment campaign … the end of the goal was not to see the legislation get passed necessarily. It was to see the University commit to divestment,” Fox said. Members of Kyoto NOW! spearheaded efforts last year to promote divestment, assisting the Student Assembly in passing a resolution in February asking the University to divest by the end of 2020. Kyoto Now! also collaborated with more than 20 student organizations asking the University to pursue divestment, The Sun previously reported. See DIVESTMENT page 4
Off-duty Ithaca police officers who witness people breaking the law should only intervene in a situation if their actions will save a life, prevent serious injury or stop significant property loss from happening, City of Ithaca officials said. The policy, which the Ithaca Police Department shared with the public Thursday, is designed to maximize officers’ safety while minimizing the risk of off-duty officers acting for reasons related to personal conflicts of interest, IPD said. “Off-duty officers are often faced with situations involving criminal conduct that they are neither equipped nor prepared to handle in the same manner as if they were on duty,” IPD Chief John Barber said in a general order. “This may lead to unnecessary injuries to offduty officers, bystanders or suspects and confusion for those on duty officers arriving at the scene trying to correctly assess the facts.” Most civilians do not understand that police officers possess the authority to enforce
the law even when they are off duty, Barber said in an IPD press release. In some cases, they even have a duty to act, he added. “This policy will clearly define expectations for our officers and make it easier for them to make decisions as it relates to their conduct when confronted with off-duty situations,” Barber said. “The officers have a tough job, and I think this policy will protect both our officers and the public from the wrong sorts of off-duty interactions.” Off-duty conduct includes any contact with another person that would lead to an investigation, arrest or detainment “under color of authority,” including issuing verbal commands to someone while displaying a police badge, Barber said in the order.Because off-duty police officers face the risk of being injured when responding to a situation, Barber said he encourages officers to contact on-duty personnel if they witness “minor violations” like harassment or disorderly conduct. Off-duty officers should also refrain from See IPD page 5
Cornellian Set to Visit North Korea By ASHLEY CHU Sun Staff Writer
While fellow Cornellians prepared for prelims and attended the Ke$ha concert, Owen Lee-Park ’15 did something quite unusual: prepared to leave for North Korea.
Lee-Park left Sunday for a five-day trip to the country, where he will be the only undergraduate student in a team of physicians and medical students who will teach surgery skills to North Korean doctors and students. He is traveling to North Korea with the Korean
American Medical Association, a U.S. nonprofit organization that offered him the opportunity to accompany it on the trip after he got involved with the group. North Korea — which has been isolationist since the See NORTH KOREA page 5