free
thursday
march 20, 2014 high 39°, low 28°
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 |
N • All together now
dailyorange.com
P • Just ripe
Nearly 144 alumni from across the nation sent in videos detailing their favorite campus memories in honor of SU’s 144th birthday. Page 3
Ottos from the past reflect on the history and traditions of the colorful mascot. Page 9
S • And it begins
Syracuse went to the Final Four last year, and its quest to return starts in Buffalo on Thursday. Page 20
university senate
Senators discuss teaching Committee on Instruction outlines potential for programs, improvements By Jacob Pramuk asst. news editor
50 “Part of justice is remembering”
Conference marks 50th anniversary of Civil Rights Movement
By Jessica Iannetta staff writer
T
he history books remember 1964 for the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Nobel Prize win and the Freedom
Summer campaign in Mississippi. But other equally important events that happened in 1964 never found their way into the history books. In December 1964, two men belonging to the Ku Klux Klan organization broke into Frank Morris’
The University Senate continued discussion on Wednesday about teaching improvement and assessment recommendations outlined in a task force report released last June. Robert Van Gulick, chair of the Committee on Instruction, didn’t propose a motion to a vote. However, he outlined a variety of policies from the report that the Senate could consider to improve teaching methods and the student experience at Syracuse University. see usen page 8
john lewis, a U.S. Representative from Georgia, embraces Margarette B. Nelson in Atlanta at an event in 2010 where families of victims lost to Civil Rights Era murders converged. The conference was the first time the families met in one place. courtesy of cold case justice initiative
shoe repair store, trapped him inside and set the building on fire. He died four days later of third-degree burns that covered his entire body. In February, the FBI closed Morris’ case after concluding that the men likely responsible are dead. Morris’ case is just one of many racially motivated murders that occurred in 1964. Fifty years later, justice remains elusive for him and many other victims of similar crimes being investigated by the Cold Case Justice Initiative. The CCJI, an interdisciplinary program at the Syracuse University College of Law, serves as an important link between the civil rights movement and the victims’ family members who decades later are still struggling with the aftermath of these crimes. To emphasize this connection between past and present, the CCJI is holding a conference this weekend called “Looking Back, Moving Forward: 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the civil rights movement 1964-
2014.” The three-day conference will include workshops and discussions on social justice issues and non-violent activism, a poetry jam and a dinner honoring civil rights icons including the Rev. C.T. Vivian and Diane Nash. “This is not just a commemoration event. It’s not just to remember civil rights but it’s also to bridge the gap. There are still civil rights issues today and we need to recognize the civil rights issues and we also need ways in which to combat those issues,” said Susan Schneider, a second year law student who helped organize the conference. Part of bridging this gap between past and present involves getting justice for the victims of these decadesold cold cases, said Paula Johnson, co-director of the CCJI. Most of the CCJI’s work involves researching and identifying these cases on their own and then pushing the FBI to investigate or re-open these cases. Often, the FBI is reluctant to devote see civil
rights page 8
SU may cut ties with factories By Tamara Rasamny staff writer
Syracuse University plans to cut ties with all Bangladeshi merchandise producers who do not sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh by June 30. For about one year, the United Students Against Sweatshops organization at SU has pushed SU to implement the accord on licensees in Bangladesh. Last week, the USAS accomplished its goal. “As an institution the university is concerned with the working conditions at the factories producing items which contain university trademarks,” Jamie Cyr, the director of auxiliary services and university trademark licensing, said in an email. Bangladeshi garment factories have
see bangladesh page 8