INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 35
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News Lights, Camera, Action
Two Cornell alumni started Flicstart, a company that brings films of the viewers’ choice to movie theaters. | Page 3
Science Extraterrestrial Life?
The Mars Curiosity Rover has found evidence that water once existed on the red planet, a Cornell astronomy professor says. | Page 7
Opinion The Road to Employment
Dan Rosen ’13 weighs the benefits and downsides of taking a job that one is not passionate about after graduation. | Page 9
Arts Brief Wondrous Life of Love
The Sun reviews Junot Díaz’s M.F.A. ’95 latest series of short stories. | Page 11
FIONA MODRAK / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Police line-up | Police officers and firefighters protest Mayor Svante Myrick’s ’09 proposed budget, which would cut the number of employees in the Ithaca police and fire departments, at a City Hall meeting Tuesday. Photographs of former Ithaca mayors look on in the background.
Firefighters,Police: Kill This Budget
Officers say mayor’s plan would hurt emergency response
By JEFF STEIN
Sports
Sun Managing Editor
End of a Winning Streak
Sun News Editor
The Cornell football team fell to undefeated Harvard over the weekend. | Page 16
Weather Showers HIGH: 63 LOW: 37
and AKANE OTANI
The health and safety of Ithaca’s firefighters, police officers and citizens will be imperiled if Common Council approves Mayor Svante Myrick’s ’09 proposed budget for 2013, dozens of officers said at a public meeting Tuesday. Myrick’s proposed budget — which will
reduce the number of firefighters by four and the number of police officers by about nine — was met by an intense backlash at the meeting. With the number of emergency calls soaring, Ithaca Fire Department Lieutenant Tom Deis said the cuts could decimate the department. “Firefighters will be put in a position to choose between [protecting] our safety and [protecting] the safety of the people we serve — please do not put us in a position to have to choose,” Deis said, noting that firefighters will continue to put the safety of civilians first.
“Cutting us lower than our current levels will have serious ramifications.” Deis added that the department recognizes the precariousness of the city’s budget crisis. Should Common Council approve Myrick’s budget in November, the safety of an already strained police force is also at stake, several officers said. Kevin Slattery, an IPD officer and who has lived in Ithaca for more than 30 years, begged See BUDGET page 4
After Wild ChaseThrough C-Town, Teen Arrested on Cocaine Charges By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor
CHRIS PHARE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Political debate | Misha Checkovich ’13 and Stephen Smith, candidates for the Fourth Ward Common Council seat, field questions at a public forum Tuesday.
Candidates for Fourth Ward Tackle Collegetown Issues By KEVIN MILIAN Sun Staff Writer
The two candidates for the Collegetown seat on Ithaca’s Common Council –– Democrat Stephen Smith and Republican Misha Checkovich ’13 –– sparred on their visions for Collegetown and the city’s current budget deficit at a debate Tuesday. The forum –– co-sponsored by the Collegetown Neighborhood Coucil and The Cornell Daily Sun –– will be the
only event of its kind held in the race for the Fourth Ward seat before the Nov. 6 election. However, of the 19 questions asked at the forum, Checkovich declined to answer four, saying she would provide responses to the questions in a press release at a later date. One question Checkovich did not answer was about the Collegetown Crossing project, Josh Lower’s ’05 proposed housSee FORUM page 6
Fleeing from police, an 18year-old allegedly struck two cars, almost hit a police officer and then attempted to escape into a Collegetown house early Friday morning before he was caught and arrested on drug and reckless driving charges, the Ithaca Police Department said. Police said Timothy Spann was reportedly found with an eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine after a wild ride through Collegetown that began shortly after midnight. Bail for his release from Tompkins County Jail has been posted at $50,000. Initially, police attempted to stop Spann for a routine traffic violation before he reportedly sped off “at an excessive rate” — setting off a chain of events that would later culminate in his arrest, police said. “The vehicle was followed throughout the East Hill area of the city [before it] struck an Ithaca Police vehicle that was stopped on a side street handling an unrelated matter,” police said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Before Spann reportedly hit the police car, an officer was forced to jump out of the way to avoid being struck, the statement said. Despite this, Spann
kept driving, apparently still hopeful he could escape, according to the police report. See CHASE page 6
Catch the bouquet
JEEVAN GYAWALI / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
After her wedding on campus Sunday, a bride at the top of McGraw Clocktower throws her bouquet of roses.