INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 61
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
ILR Strives to Increase No. Of Low-Income Students
Louder than words
Need-blind admissions may pose challenge, ILR dean says By CAROLINE FLAX
and improving yield rates for admitted students from low-income backgrounds. “[Recruiting students] has more to do with trying to get kids to apply to the program who have diverse backgrounds,” Katz said. He added that the ILR school also “tries to convince stu-
Sun Senior Writer
KELLY YANG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Members of the Cornell University Deaf Awareness Project rehearse the song “Fireflies” by Owl City in American Sign Language on Wednesday.
News A New Way
City officials held a ceremony for the groundbreaking of 140 Seneca Way, a new commercial and residential development in downtown Ithaca. | Page 3
News (Don’t) Silence Your Phones
Prof. Deborah Streeter, applied economics and management, uses text messaging to increase student engagement in class. Students, not surprisingly, like the idea. | Page 3
Opinion Declaration of YOLO
Life, liberty and the pursuit of YOLO — opinion columnist Katerina Athanasiou ’13 explains the importance of puzzling out your life motto. | Page 7
Arts Land Down Under
James Rainis ’14 is blindfolded and taken underground by an anonymous art collective. What he found surprised him. | Page 9
Sports Color Clash
Men’s Soccer hosts Syracuse Orange tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament. | Page 16
Weather Partly Cloudy HIGH: 41 LOW: 25
As part of the University’s “Toward New Directions” diversity plan, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations is focusing on increasing the number of students in the college who come from low- “We believe in diversity, income backgrounds, according to and part of ILR’s role a recent report. According to ILR Dean Harry is to advance the Katz, ILR has achieved “fabulous world of work.” success” in increasing ethnic diversity: About 40 percent of the Class ILR Dean Harry Katz of 2016 in the college are underrepresented minorities. Now, one of the college’s five new diversity goals is to dents that [Cornell] is a good place to come, for further diversify the socioeconomic makeup lots of reasons, including the fact that there are of the student body, according to a report of students like them already here on campus.” annual initiatives published by the Office of In addition to increasing the number of Diversity and Initiatives. applicants from lower-income families, ILR Katz noted that this particular diversity is also aiming to increase the number of goal may be one of the most difficult for the transfer students, tenure-track faculty and college to achieve. study abroad participants from underrepreSince Cornell has a need-blind admissions sented economic and racial backgrounds. process, administrators do not consider an Specific to the ILR curriculum, the colapplicant’s income level when his or her appli- lege’s administrators also hope to re-evaluate cation is submitted. To attract prospective low- the freshman colloquium — a mandatory income students, then, the University will need See ILR page 5 to focus on increasing low-income applicants ALLY SPIER / SUN FILE PHOTO
C.U. Surveys Mental Health Of Transfer, Int’l Students this response rate is “in the ballpark of the figures” from other schools that administer a similar An email survey to identify survey. The Cornell Stress Profile, and reach stressed, anxious or depressed transfer and interna- part of a screening program run tional students was recently sent by the American Foundation for by Gannett. Despite its potential Suicide Prevention, was piloted at effectiveness, a small percentage Cornell in March 2011. The iniof students responded to the sur- tiative aims to identify problems that can intervey, and others said the ques- “We respond and give fere with a student’s academtions made them feel feedback to all [survey] ic, social and personal welluncomfortrespondents.” being, accordable. ing to an According Wai-Kwong Wong email sent by to Dr. Gregory Eels to stuEells, director of counseling and psychological dents invited to take the survey. Survey results showed that 16 services for Gannett, incoming international and transfer stu- percent of respondents were in dents have been the initial target the highest risk category and 49 populations for the survey percent fell into the moderate risk because they “have the most dif- category –– the top two of the ficult time adjusting to a new four categories in the survey, according to Wong. The other campus environment.” Gannett reported a 6-percent two categories were reserved for response rate from a group of students determined to be at low more than 700 students who were or negligible risk. “We respond and give feedinvited to complete the profile this semester, according to Dr. back to all respondents, but urge Wai-Kwong Wong, assistant all students in the two highest risk director for community-based services at Gannett. Wong said See DEPRESSION page 4 By MANU RATHORE
Sun Senior Writer
Space for Entrepreneurs To Open Above CTB By NOAH TULSKY Sun Staff Writer
The entrepreneurial Cornellian can get excited about another new space for start-up collaboration that will soon open in Collegetown. Stemming from a collaboration between Entrepreneurship@Cornell and Student Agencies, a 5,300 square foot space for entrepreneurial networking called eHub is expected to open above Collegetown Bagels next fall, according to Entrepreneurship@Cornell
Executive Director John P. Jaquette. eHub, which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, will serve as a space for all students working on or interested in business and innovation to use, Jaquette said. Visitors will have access to resources including faculty advising, visiting alumni and collaboration with like-minded students from across the University, he said. Dan Cohen, a lecturer at Cornell and the director of See eHUB page 4