INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 136, No. 20
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019
n
16 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Flashback to Homecoming
I do, I Beliebe
Down to the ’Yard
Sunny
The Biebers' Notebookthemed wedding is pretty 'basic,' but that's okay.
A look back at Homecoming rituals through Cornell history. | Page 4
The football team goes to Harvard in search of fist Ivy win.
| Page 10
HIGH: 74º LOW: 54º
| Page 16
Rats Roam Campus in Union Protest Over Wages By ARI DUBOW and SHRUTI JUNEJA Sun Staff Writer and Sun Senior Editor
“Scabby the Rat,” a large inflatable balloon rodent used across the U.S. to protest unfair labor practices, crawled around Cornell earlier this week. Scabby’s owners are the Upstate New York Operating Engineers Local 158 Union, who let him loose in an attempt to engage the University about how LRS Excavating, the subcontractor conducting the excavation of the North Campus Residential Expansion, may be paying its workers substandard wages. “Cornell, and some of the contractors they award these contracts to, undermine the area wages and standards that we’re accustomed to,” Michael P. Lyons ’05, the manager of Local 158’s Albany-based District 106, told The Sun. “That
being the case, it doesn’t give contractors that do pay those wages all the time a fair shake at getting the work. We’re here to express our discontent.” Construction on the North Campus Residential Expansion project began three weeks ago and is expected to be completed by 2022. The development will enable the University to house all freshmen and sophomores on campus. “Just to be clear, we’re picketing LRS Excavating, we’re not picketing Cornell University,” Lyons said. “Ultimately, the University hires these construction managers, who then hire these subcontractors, that pay substandard wages and benefits.” Union Demands Higher Wages
The standard hourly package for operating See RATS page 5 SHRUTI JUNEJA / SUN SENIOR EDITOR
A game of cat and mouse | Students spotted what look like parade floats crawling around campus and parked outside RPCC on North Campus. These balloons are protest tools, not playthings.
JING JIANG / ASSISTANT SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Red, white and booze | Students in the wines class have the opportunity to taste and learn about wines from regions all over the world.
Ocean Destruction, Wine Consumption Top Popular Classes By CAROLINE JOHNSON and SOFIA LOAYZA Sun Staff Writer and Sun Contributor
With over 4,000 courses across 100 academic departments, Cornell seems to take the slogan “any person, any study” quite literally. With such a variety to choose from, one might think that course selection popularity was evenly split. But when it comes to annual popularity, some courses tower above the rest — including Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology 1540: Introduction to Oceanography and Hotel Administration 4300: Introduction to Wines. Both featured on the “161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do” list at #6 and #8, respectively, The Sun sat in on these classes to understand why students See POPULAR CLASS page 3
Sip, sip hooray | Students in the wines class sip white wine.
JING JIANG / ASSISTANT SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Cornellians React to Court Rule on Harvard Affirmative Action Case By HANNAH KIM and LOUIS CHANG
al benefits associated with student diversity in highSun Contributors er education — on our campus and in our classrooms” while re-emphasizOn Tuesday Oct. 1, ing Cornell’s commitment Judge Allison Burroughs to “recruiting, ruled in favor of admitting and Harvard’s position “[Blum] is quite cynically enrolling academin the Students for using Asian Americans to... ically talented and Fair Admissions v. diverse freshman Harvard College dismantle affirmative action.” and transfer classlawsuit, a ruling Prof. Derek Chang es each year.” which has allowed Although Cornell’s Admission this ruling holds Officers to breathe Provost for Enrollment, no immediate effect on easy for now. In a brief submitted in stated: “The judge’s final Cornell’s admissions policy, July 2018, 16 universities, decision in the SFFA v. To continue reading this including Cornell, endorsed Harvard case ... reaffirms story, please visit www.corHarvard’s argument that the compelling education- nellsun.com. removing race from the admissions process would compromise their “efforts to attain diverse student bodies.” Jonathan Burdick, Vice
KAYANA SZYMCAK / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Confirm to Affirm | Protesters object to ruling in favor of affirmative action in admissions decisions. Opponents say that such policies discriminate against certain groups.