INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 39
TUESDAY OCTOBER 16, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Site of IPD Cop C.U.Entrepreneurs Take NYC by Storm Attack Plagued Entrepreneurship@Cornell event draws in more than 400 attendees By Drugs, Crimes By EMMA COURT
Sun Senior Writer
By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor
Ithaca’s West Village Apartments complex has become so overrun by drugs, violence and despair that even the shooting of a police officer there Thursday was hardly surprising, the area’s residents said. During the daytime, people mill about the streets, conversing freely with neighbors as their children play on a grassy field nearby. But at night, when the sun descends and property management goes home, the apartment complex is transformed almost instantaneously into a drug den rife with danger, accord“I saw a girl get stabbed ing to denizens of the West in the neck with a Village. fucking steak knife.” “I saw a girl get stabbed in West Village resident the neck with a fucking steak knife,” said Brian, who has lived in the West Village Apartments, a series of low-income housing units about five minutes west of Ithaca’s Commons, for several years. Brian and other residents were granted anonymity by The Sun in part because they said they feared violent retribution from their neighbors. Brian, who holds a steady job downtown and has an iMac, Nintendo Wii and about two dozen DVDs in his room, walked to the front steps outside his apartment.
What happens when a bunch of entrepreneurial Cornellians get together in a room? This question was posed and answered at the inaugural Cornell Entrepreneurship Summit in New York City on Friday. Over the course of the day-long event, which more than 400 people attended, speeches by more than a dozen Cornell alumni and entrepreneurs addressed their personal entrepreneurial experiences
and provided lessons they had learned along the way. At the event, organized by Entrepreneurship@Cornell — an organization that seeks to foster entrepreneurial spirit across the Cornell campus — Steven Gal ’88, chair of the organization’s advisory council, said the summit was unique because attendees had a shared history in having all attended Cornell. Major Indian industrialist, Ratan Tata ’59, chair of the multinational conglomerate Tata Sons, was given the Entrepreneur of the Year award at the summit. President David Skorton presented the award to Tata and spoke about Tata's career, highlighting the businessman’s successful career and what he called his commitment to improving the welfare of people in India. Cornell alumni who spoke at the summit had distinguished entrepreneurial records that varied by type and level of success. Jennifer Dulski ’93, See TECH page 5
COURTESEY OF CORNELLNYC TECH
Tech Terrain | CornellNYC Tech released renederings of the proposed Roosevelt Island campus on Monday. See Page 3 for more.
See WEST VILLAGE page 4
Fluke’03 Urges Women to Action Jungle Resident Found Political activist lauds her Cornell education By SARAH SASSOON Sun Staff Writer
Sandra Fluke ’03, a political activist whose vocal advocacy of women’s rights has recently thrust her into the national spotlight, took the stage at the Statler Auditorium Monday night to field questions about women’s roles in the upcoming election. In the talk — which was introduced by Prof. Rebecca Stoltzfus, international
nutrition, and was titled “Sandra Fluke on Civic Responsibility: From Cornell to the DNC and Beyond,” — Fluke briefly introduced herself, leaving the majority of the time open to questions from the audience. Fluke gained national fame during her address at the Democratic National Convention, in which she spoke on behalf of “silenced women.” See FLUKE page 5
CARLOS RUIZ-VARGAS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Criticizing the criticism | Prof. Rebecca Stolzfus, international nutrition, sits down with Sandra Fluke ’03 in Statler Hall auditorium on Monday night.
Dead Among Flies
By LIZ CAMUTI Sun City Editor
A resident of Ithaca’s Jungle was declared dead Monday morning after being found unresponsive in the encampment behind Wegmans occupied by many of Ithaca’s homeless. Jungle resident Richard Sherman discovered George Delaney’s body Monday morning upon his return from spending a week in Trumansburg. Delaney was found in Sherman’s tent. He arrived unannouced and uninvited, according to Sherman. “When I walked in [Monday] morning everything was open, so I kicked the side of the tarp, and then I noticed the flies,” Sherman said. “I thought to myself, ‘There must be something sweet in there,’
but no, just a dead body.” Autopsy reports have not yet been released. Delaney was last seen alive Friday night at approximately 10 p.m., according to the police report. Several Jungle residents described Delaney as a “drifter,” who has been linked to several incidences of violence in the community. In one incident, in July 2012, Delaney was arrested for stabbing and robbing Eric Maki, another Jungle resident, while he was sleeping, according to YNN.com. Police were able to locate Delaney when he allegedly attempted to use the victim’s credit card after the attack. Liz Camuti can be reached at lcamuti@cornellsun.com.
News Fight for Your Rights
The Sun sat down with Sandra Fluke ’03 on Monday to discuss her role in promoting women’s rights. | Page 3
Opinion Academia Overload
Tom Moore ’14 discusses the burden of academia, questioning what about a Cornell education has led to the exhaustion of his peers and, often, himself. | Page 7
Arts Keeping It Casual
J.K. Rowling’s new book adultfiction novel, Casual Vacancy, does not live up to the hype according to Katherine Carreno ’13. | Page 14
Sports Aceing It
Men’s tennis hosted an invitational tournament at home over the weekend. | Page 16
Weather Showers HIGH: 70 LOW: 57