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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 67
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
Critical Languages Expand Through $1.2-Million Grant By AKANE OTANI Sun News Editor
The project will cost approximately $8.5 million, according to Ross. The city hopes to begin construction in March 2013 and estimates that the project will be completed in June 2014, according to city documents. The project has stemmed out of a desire to make the Commons “a more successful retail destination,” said John Schroeder ’74, a member of the planning board. Ross said she hopes the changes will make the atmosphere of the Commons seem safer and more
The expansion of a partnership between Cornell, Columbia and Yale will allow students to learn Khmer and other “critical,” or less commonly taught, languages through video conference classes. Some language instructors, however, said they have doubts that the courses will be able to replace traditional programs Cornell elimi“Mastering a nated through budget cuts. Under the existing partnership, language which is instructors from the three universinot own’s one ties teach nine critical languages to students through video confer- gives one chances ences. With a newly-awarded $1.2to learn million grant from the Andrew W. about others.” Mellon Foundation, from Fall Jolanda Pandin 2013, the universities will also be able to teach Khmer, Sinhala, Polish and Vietnamese, according to Richard Feldman ’69, director of the Cornell Language Resource Center. In addition to increasing the number of less commonly taught languages that students are able to study, the Mellon grant may help bolster Cornell’s 11 critical language programs, which were decimated by federal budget cuts in 2011. With the languages in a financially precarious state, the Mellon grant “has the potential to ease a little bit of the pressure on the University and the [arts] college to take over those courses,” Feldman said. But the video conferencing courses, despite their use of high-quality video and audio equipment, do not replace the value of the traditional, on-campus language courses that Cornell formerly offered, several instructors said. Only five Cornell students are learning Dutch, Greek and Turkish — languages that suffered University budget cuts — through video conferencing this year, according to Feldman. “As you can see from the numbers, it’s not the same
See COMMONS page 4
See LANGUAGES page 5
COURTESY OF SASAKI ASSOCIATES
Our Commons future | Design firm Sasaki Associates plans to transform Ithaca’s downtown area in a $8.5-million project.
City Board Approves Sweeping Renovation of the Commons By JONATHAN DAWSON Sun Staff Writer
A plan to renovate the Commons by improving lighting, renovating aging infrastructure and increasing its aesthetic appeal was unanimously approved by the City of Ithaca’s Planning and Development Board on Tuesday. “The Commons project is a big transformation for downtown and we hope that more students will come down [after the renovations],” said Susannah Ross, a senior associate at Sasaki Associates, the lead designer of the project. “We’re really excited by
the changes that are happening downtown and we see the Commons as a critical step in the process of revitalizing downtown Ithaca.” Sasaki Associates’ plan to renovate 75,000 square feet of the Commons is centered around the goal of having the space reflect the geologic features of Ithaca’s environment. The plan includes creating a “distinctive paving pattern” for the ground and constructing a small water fountain that “was directly inspired by the cracking, splitting characteristics of the stone found in Ithaca’s gorges,” according to Sasaki Associates’ website.
Protesters Disrupt Goldman Sachs Recruitment Event
Art and crafts
News The Roots of Hip Hop
D.J. and Cornell visiting profesor Afrika Bambaataa gave a lecture Tuesday on the history of the hip hop genre. | Page 3
By JEFF STEIN
Opinion
Sun Managing Editor
Digital Identity
Several loud bursts of mocking laughter interrupted a Goldman Sachs recruiting event held on Cornell’s campus Tuesday night, the result of a planned demonstration aimed at deterring students from careers in investment banking. On several occasions, a group of students laughed hysterically at seemingly random instances, drawing the attention of many of the more than 100 people gathered in the Statler Hotel Ballroom, people at the networking event said. After laughing, one of the students then loudly banged on a table and shouted, “‘There’s so much greed in this room, let’s get out of here,’” according to Zach Solomon ’14, who attended the event. The group of students who had been laughing then followed this student out of the ballroom with their arms raised. In an email Tuesday night, a group claiming to represent what it said was the 30 stu-
In the wake of the Facebook copyright hoax, Jon Weinberg ’13 urges students to be mindful of what they post on the Internet. | Page 7
Arts Top Jams MORGAN GREENE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students volunteering for the Cards for Hospitalized Kids project, a national organization that makes cards for children who are very ill, designed cards and hosted a bake sale in RPCC Tuesday.
dents responsible for the demonstration explained their intentions. “Despite an ongoing global recession rooted in the excessive power of finance capital, Cornell has not reconsidered its blind acceptance of banking institutions,” the statement said. “Our actions intend to spur a dialogue
among students able to make real change — students of Cornell University.” The group insisted on anonymity, and people at the event gave a wide range of estimates of the number of people involved. See PROTEST page 4
The Sun’s arts staff has selected its favorite songs of the year, with tracks ranging from Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” to Frank Ocean’s “Pyramids.” | Page 9
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