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THURSDAY
feb. 6, 2014 high 22°, low 9°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
dailyorange.com
2014 national signing day
N • Building blocks
Construction continues on buildings for the College of Law, Newhouse and a new bookstore.
part 3 of 3
Syracuse unveiled its 2014 recruiting class on Wednesday, with a group of 25 impressive players. See full coverage on page 10
Page 3
SU cancels classes for snowstorm By Ellen Meyers asst. news editor
On Tuesday, students braced for word from Syracuse University officials that classes would be canceled the following day. A university-wide email teased to the possibility of canceling classes, but when Wednesday morning arrived, students were met with no announcement and a surge of disappointment. But that afternoon, at around 1:40 p.m., students’ calls for a snow day were answered as the university announced it would be canceling all classes scheduled after 2:15 p.m. “Given the changing weather patterns forecasted compared to what was known this morning, it was in the interest of the university to cancel classes for the remainder of the day,” said Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs at SU. All State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry classes continued as scheduled, said Ragan Squier, SUNYsee snow page 8
MENG SHEN, an undecided sophomore in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, enters the Quad on the way to E.S. Bird Library on Wednesday. Heavy snowfall caused SU to cancel classes after 2:15 p.m. SU has only canceled classes twice before due to snow. sam maller photo editor
LONG OVERDUE Lack of funding creates challenges for Bird Library By Brett Samuels asst. news editor
A
fter years of construction, Syracuse University students and faculty were able to use the newly renovated Carnegie Library Reading Room at the start of the spring semester. The new space featured an architecturally restored room that provided a quiet place to study. “It’s an exquisite renovation. It’s just a lovely space,” said Deborah Pellow, chair of the University Senate Committee on Libraries. Just past the Quad sits E.S. Bird Library — which is 50 years younger than Carnegie, but contains some
furniture that’s older than its counterpart and thin collections of academic resources such as maps, journals and other research materials. In a report given at the Jan. 15 University Senate meeting, Chancellor Kent Syverud and Vice Chancellor Eric Spina were in attendance when Pellow told the audience that university libraries have suffered a long history of neglect. She called the library system “grossly inadequate for a university with the size and ambition of SU.” Pellow compared SU’s library funding to 13 other private research universities including Duke University, Cornell University, Northwestern University and Boston
College. Of the 14 schools in the comparison, SU ranked last in library expenditures in 2009-2010 with $18,372,392 versus Cornell, which had the highest expenditures of $44,199,742. In order to reach the median expense range of peer institutions on that list, Pellow said the university would have to add almost $9 million in funding. In the report, Pellow said the lack of funding and neglect for libraries has worsened in the last 10 years. “I believe that under Cantor’s administration, the focus and the energy, money or not money, was on the community, not the city,” see library
funding page 8
crime
Investigation begins into string of campus thefts By Brett Samuels asst. news editor
The Syracuse University Department of Public Safety, in a joint investigation with the Syracuse Police Department, has identified one or more persons of interest in connection to recent thefts in academic buildings on campus. Personal and university property was stolen from buildings between the Quad and Waverly Avenue, said Ed Weber, senior detective with DPS. The items taken include laptops, cell phones and change. Weber said whoever was responsible also rummaged through individuals’ belongings. The thefts began at the end of
January, with most of them occurring after 10 p.m., which is after business hours for the university, Weber said. He added that DPS believes the thefts are all connected based on the timeframes and type of items that were taken. Weber said some of the items taken were personal items and others were SU property. Items were stolen from both staff and students, he added. Some thefts occurred during weekends and DPS wasn’t notified until Monday, Weber said. Many of the thefts occurred during hours in which academic buildings are locked, and Weber encouraged anyone who see thefts page 9