free
TUESDAY
feb. 21, 2017 high 39°, low 36°
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 • Headliner
Ohio Gov. John Kasich will deliver the keynote speech at the Syracuse University-sponsored Toner Prize award ceremony in March, SU announced. Page 3
P • Giant success
Alternative rockers Young the Giant played in Syracuse on Monday, reprising old hits like “Cough Syrup” and showcasing music from their new album. Page 9
dailyorange.com
S • Out of the zone
This is the 45th season since Syracuse eliminated baseball, the first sport established at the university. Now, the Orange is the only ACC school without a team. Page 16
REPEATING HISTORY Concerns about Carrier Dome renovations reflect worries brought up when the venue was first built
Funk ’n Waffles to close By Jacob Gedetsis and Sam Ogozalek the daily orange
Funk ‘n Waffles’ campus Hill location at 727 S. Crouse Ave. will close this week, the restaurant has announced. The Thai restaurant appeThaizing at the same address will also close this week, its owner said. In a Facebook post on Monday, Funk ’n Waffles announced that after 10 years of operation the business will close on Wednesday. “This has been difficult for us as a staff, however we are left with no choice as the building block is being torn down,” the post states, referring to the proposed demolition of several businesses at 727 S. Crouse Ave. and 721-23 S. Crouse Ave. to create see businesses page 7
city
Suspect to appear in court By Michael Burke news editor
More than $200 million in renovations are planned for the Carrier Dome as part of Syracuse University’s Campus Framework. Some on campus have questioned whether SU should be allocating that amount of money to athletics. brandon bielinski staff photographer By Michael Burke news editor
T
he construction of Syracuse University’s signature athletic venue in the late 1970s didn’t come without controversy. In the years leading up to the Carrier Dome’s opening in 1980, some SU community members expressed displeasure that the university was spending millions to build the stadium. At a University Senate open forum in early 1978, for example, the university’s decision to construct the stadium rather than address academic issues was a “major concern,” according to Daily Orange archives. One person said it was “reprehensible to undertake such a facility.” Fast forward almost 40 years, and some current campus community members say they have concerns that closely mirror those that were expressed in the late 1970s. This time, the grievances stem from the roughly $205 million in renovations that
are planned for the Carrier Dome. Tens of thousands will pack the Dome on Wednesday when the SU men’s basketball team takes on Duke in what will perhaps be the most prominent event to be held at the Dome this academic year. The stadium has become a staple at the university since its original construction, to a large extent because of important men’s basketball games that frequently set on-campus records for crowd sizes. But the Dome’s infrastructure is deteriorating. In interviews with community members across campus earlier this academic year, most said they believe something should be done to improve the Dome. But many questioned whether it was necessary for SU to spend as much as it plans to on the renovations, arguing that the university should be funneling more resources into academics. “The ($205 million) it will cost to renovate Carrier Dome makes a lot of people unhappy,” said Albrecht Diem, an associ-
ate professor of history, in a fall interview. “It probably is necessary, but there is, among a lot of faculty, very limited empathy with campus athletics.” The same could have been said in the late 1970s, when the Dome was merely a conceptual idea and construction was being planned. In 1978 and 1979, at several open forums and city meetings regarding the Dome, community members repeatedly voiced concerns about the Dome construction, often saying they felt it wasn’t the best way to allocate the university’s funds. In the spring of 1979, a University Senate report called for the Dome to not “encroach on the traditional academic … activities of the University, either financially or environmentally.” “Faculty and students are especially anxious that the new dome not drain money from the traditional university budget,” the report stated. The then-Senate’s administrative see carrier
dome page 7
One of the men charged with murdering a Syracuse University student is expected to request the dismissal of a separate but related charge of tampering. Cameron Isaac, 23, will appear in Syracuse City Court on Tuesday at 10 a.m. for a pretrial hearing regarding a charge of tampering with a witness in the fourth degree. Isaac, along with Ninimbe Mitchell, 20, was arrested in November and charged with murder in the second degree, in relation to Xiaopeng “Pippen” Yuan’s death. Isaac was indicted last month on a first-degree murder charge, upgraded from the second-degree charge. Isaac last appeared in city court on Jan. 19 for his first appearance in relation to the tampering charge. His lawyer, Lance Cimino, told Cecile that day that he intended to motion to have the tampering charge dismissed. Isaac received the tampering charge in early December because he allegedly asked a witness not to testify against him in the murder case. Cimino said in an interview following Isaac’s January hearing that he was seeking to have the tampering charge dismissed because the information in the charge didn’t indicate a violation. mdburk01@syr.edu @michaelburke47