INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 62
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2013
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Show You the World
End of the Line
So Long, Farewell
Rain HIGH: 55 LOW: 39
Cornell is ranked 24th in a ranking of universities that send the most students abroad. | Page 3
Calvin Patten ’15 says Ender’s Game fails to capture the poignancy of the book. | Page 9
The Red heads to the University of Pennsylvania for the last game of the season. | Page 16
ALANA Funding Slashed by $23K
S.A.overwhelmingly approves cut
By NOAH RANKIN Sun Senior Writer
ALEX HERNANDEZ / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Talking points | ALANA representatives speak in front of the Student Assembly Thursday in an effort to stop
Despite the protests of students representing Cornell’s multicultural communities, the Student Assembly took up the appropriations committee’s recommendation to slash the ALANA Intercultural Programming Board’s 2014-16 funding by $23,000. The decision was made in a 23-to-2 vote at the S.A.’s meeting Thursday, where more than 100 students gathered to voice their opinions. Although ALANA representatives called the budget cuts “unthinkable” and unfair, an overwhelming majority of S.A. representatives backed the decision. The appropriations committee previously issued a recommendation to give ALANA — which supplies funds to more than 100 member organizations — about $94,500 a year for 2014-16. In contrast, ALANA requested $155,250, a raise from its previous budget of $118,125.
funding cuts proposed by the S.A. appropriations committee.
See ALANA page 5
Controversy Erupts Over College Price Comparison Site By ALEXA DAVIS Sun Senior Writer
Joining dozens of other schools, Cornell has blocked CollegeAbacus.com — a website that lets students compare the costs of attending thousands of colleges — from accessing its financial aid information. The website’s CEO, Abigail Seldin, says College Abacus allows students to factor in their financial aid information to accurately compare the net price of attending different schools — something that she says low-income or first-genera-
tion college students often struggle to do Abacus from accessing these calculators. with ease. Colleges have pushed back In a letter sent to its clients on Oct. 28, Student Aid Services against the price-comwarned that College parison tool, however, Student Aid Services has Abacus may be prosaying it runs the risk viding inaccurate of misleading the stubeen blocking Cornell’s information and dents it is supposed to financial aid information charging students for aid. from appearing on information that colOnly days after the leges provide for free. website’s launch in College Abacus. Currently, Cornell October, Student Aid is the only Ivy out of Services, an organization that controls the net price calcula- thirty-three schools whose financial aid tors for about 700 colleges — including data is both managed by Student Aid Cornell — began to prevent College Services and is still not available on the
Students Work to Help Undocumented Workers By KERRY CLOSE Sun Senior Editor
When Lauren Lapointe ’14 decided to participate in the Cornell Farmworker Program’s internship, she thought it would be a good way to brush up on her Spanish and help farmworkers in upstate New York. She did not anticipate that the program would be able to take her outside the “insulating bubble of college” — letting her learn about a group of people that, she said, often seem “invisible.” “I learned in detail the stories of these people’s lives and heard their hardships, such as
the three to 11-day walk in the desert to cross the border of Mexico into America, the 12 to 20-hour work days filled with manual labor, the fear and isolation they live in and more,” she said. The Farmworker Program emerged from student and faculty interest in addressing the challenges faced by farmworkers and their families, according to Mary Jo Dudley, its director. Today, the program involves both faculty and students who conduct research and extension efforts related to these issues, which often stem See FARMWORKERS page 4
website. According to Seldin, Student Aid Services has been blocking Cornell’s financial aid information from appearing on College Abacus and will continue to do so until it receives further instruction from the University. A growing number of schools — including three of Student Aid Services’ clients, Yale, Washington University of St. Louis and Middlebury — have requested to have this block lifted. According to University Spokesperson See ABACUS page 4
Veggie tales
NIKITA DUBNOW / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The fifth annual Local Fair, which showcases the nearby area’s natural foods and products, is held Thursday in the lobby of Mann Library.