INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 136, No. 41
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019
n
12 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Snow Over the Ages
Void
Back on Ice
Cold, Overcast
From sledding down the slope to snowmen, wintry weather has always been a core part of Cornell. | Page 3
The Good Place makes ethics comfortable for Katie Sims ’20.
Men’s and women’s hockey hit the road this weekend.
| Page 7
| Page 12
HIGH: 34º LOW: 26º
Phase I of College Ave. Construction Over, On Schedule In relief to commuters, business owners, C-Town thoroughfare once again open By ARI DUBOW Sun Staff Writer
College Avenue reopened to traffic earlier this week as the first of three phases of construction came to a close. The 100300 block of College Avenue had been closed to cars — with its asphalt torn up — since the College Avenue Sewer Replacement Project began on August 7, with construction crews installing new water and sewage lines. The road has been repaved for the winter and spring to allow vehicles to drive as usual. In the next construction phase, most likely beginning in May, New York State Electric and Gas Corporation crews will dig up College Avenue once again and install a gas line, as well as an electric line underground to replace the current above-ground electric lines. Since the road reopened, TCAT routes 11N, 30, 51 and 70 have resumed normal paths along College Avenue, according to a TCAT press release. The return of the bus route to this section of See COLLEGE AVE page 3
BORIS TSANG / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Road rage | Rerouting TCAT riders, awakening residents at dawn and blocking businesses, like GreenStar, from customers, the reopening of College Avenue ends what has been months of frustration for hundreds of Collegetown residents.
Ithaca ‘Cat Cafe’ Serves Up Coffee, Chance to Find Felines New Homes By GABRIELLE GONZALEZ Sun Staff Writer MICHAEL WENYE LI / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Up in smoke | With fewer than 15 percent of Cornellians responding, poor participation and mixed results have tempered a University assembly initiative to formally propose banning all tobacco use from Cornell’s campus.
Mixed Results Ash Anti-Nicotine Plans
Ambiguous survey feedback slows move against campus tobacco By STACEY BLANSKY Sun Staff Writer
After a survey spent nearly a month polling Cornellians for their views on nicotine, the results of what could have proved to be a step towards banning tobacco from the entirety of campus are finally in: little support for a smoking suspension. At an Employee Assembly meeting held Wednesday night, members discussed the outcome of the survey — which revealed a meager 14.7 percent response rate and ambiguous attitudes among faculty, student and staff on whether the University should take a harsher stance on tobacco. While initially billed as a move that could prompt the University Assembly to formally recommend that administration officials enact a tobacco ban, the survey’s tepid participation and unclear findings have, instead, elicited a more measured response, The Sun previously reported. “I still think there needs to be a lot of debate,” said David Hiner, voting member and LGBTQ+
Representative At-Large for the E.A. “We would probably draft a resolution that would recommend Cornell to do a feasibility study of offered cessation programs, how we could further enforce the 25-foot rule and, then, see what it would take for Cornell to actually enact a nico“I still think there tine use ban.” While the surneeds to be a lot of vey was spawned debate ... see what it by recent fears that nicotine use would take for Cornell.” has spiralled into David Hiner a near epidemic, it could, despite its low turnout, conclude that smoking rates across campus were low — and surprisingly so, Hiner said. “What is interesting is that the perception that people smoke is much higher,” Hiner said. “It makes you wonder if there is a perception that there is an See TOBACCO page 4
For all Cornell students desiring a pet in college without having to undertake a lifetime commitment, look no further — the Alley Cat Cafe allows students and Ithaca community members to foster cats while they wait to be adopted into a forever home. Located just off the Ithaca Commons, the Alley Cat Cafe offers its customers both coffee drinks with cat-inspired names — among them, the “Meowcchiato” or the “Catnap Latte” — and the unique opportunity to spend time with adoptable cats in various cat rooms situated throughout the shop. For only $5, patrons can reserve 30 minutes of cat play time in either the high- or low-energy cat rooms. B u t the hallmark of this eccentric eatery is not its witty coffee drinks or cat playrooms — rath-
er, the cafe houses an adoption center for Browncoat Cat Rescue, an organization that focuses on saving and rehabilitating feral and abandoned cats. These cats are often found on the side of the road, in trailer parks, barns and even in Collegetown. Most are trapped, neutered and returned back to the wild, but others receive medical attention and second chances by being put up for adoption. Launched in 2012, Browncoat See ADOPTION page 4 COURTESY OF ALLEY CAT CAFE
Cat Rescue
Catuccino | Ithaca’s Alley Cat Cafe serves coffee alongside cat playtime.