free
TUESDAY
feb. 17, 2015 high 18°, low -2°
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 • Living large
P • Party gras
The Office of Housing, Meal Plans and ID Services hosted a forum Monday night to answer questions and explain recent changes to the housing lottery process. Page 3
SU hires consultant for Dome
dailyorange.com
Pulp has you covered for your personal Mardi Gras celebration with a step-by-step recipe for king cake to get you in the Fat Tuesday spirit. Page 9
S • New X-factor
Syracuse hasn’t received much, if any, offensive production from its faceoff specialists in recent seasons. Ben Williams has the ability to change that. Page 16
FUNDAMENTALS
Company to assess options for Dome’s future By Brett Samuels news editor
Syracuse University has hired an outside consultant to look into the possibility of a new, fixed roofing system on the Carrier Dome, Chancellor Kent Syverud said in an interview with The Daily Orange on Monday. The consultant is Populous, a global architecture firm that specializes in designing sports facilities. Populous has 13 offices worldwide and six offices in the United States, and has designed stadiums such as Kyle Field at Texas A&M University and Baylor University’s McLane Stadium, see carrier
dome page 8
ncaa investigations
Syverud declines to comment Chancellor says NCAA bylaws forbid discussion By Meredith Newman managing editor
illustration by tony chao art director
Science departments use $1 million donation for updated equipment By Sara Swann asst. news editor
Syracuse University’s decision to self-impose a postseason ban on the men’s basketball team was done in coordination with the NCAA, said SU Chancellor Kent Syverud on Monday. “I can’t comment any further than what’s in that announcement without, in my view, not honoring the spirit of the NCAA bylaws, which it’s very important for us to comply with,” Syverud said in an interview with The Daily Orange. On Feb. 4, SU announced a self-imposed one-year postseason ban for the men’s basketball 2014–15 season as part of its pending case in see investigations page 6
F
reshmen taking an introductory biology course at Syracuse University last semester would often find themselves using the same lab equipment as students taking those courses three decades ago. But with the help of an anonymous donation of $1 million, the biology department and the other hard sciences at SU have an opportunity to upgrade and modernize their equipment for the first time in years. This donation will allow departments, such as biology, to receive upgrades to equipment — some-
thing these areas rarely see. “If we get $5,000 here or $10,000 there for equipment — it’s just not enough,” said Ramesh Raina, chair of the biology department. “Infusion of this kind of funds makes a difference and it has already made a huge difference on the undergraduate experience. We can do things now that we could not do before.” The donation was made to the Science Equipment Excellence Fund, which was established last year by an anonymous donor and developed by Karin Ruhlandt, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, according to an SU News release. The donation was announced in
GOING UP Student enrollment in SU’s science departments has increased in the past few years.
• There are close to 700 students majoring in either biology, bio- technology or biochemistry. • Enrollment in chemistry has increased about 40 percent over the last few years. • The intro to psychology course enrolls about 1,000 students
early February and will be used to purchase new equipment. The biology, chemistry, physics, Earth sciences, psychology and science teaching departments, in addition to the forensics program, were all able to share the $1 million donation,
per semester. • 100-level Earth sciences class enrollments have doubled in the past few years (some classes are standing room only). • In the last five years, enrollment in organic and general chemistry has doubled.
Ruhlandt said. While each department is using the money for different equipment, many department chairs have said the donation is being used to make upgrades that benefit students and are long overdue. see science page 6