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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2000/09/08/home-tournament-starts-season-for-golf/)

September 8, 2000

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Home Tournament Starts Season for Golf

By ryan | September 8, 2000

The Cornell golf team is ready to open is season.

And this weekend, it gets to open on its own turf.

When the Red tees off on the Robert Trent Jones Course tomorrow as the host of the Cornell/Colgate Invitational, it will face over 20 opposing teams.

But senior Frank Ross feels the team is ready to go.

“It is always nice to get underway at your own course. And we have a little advantage here,” he said.

Since the Red is hosting the event, it is allowed to have all 10 of its players in the competition. These players include freshmen Justin Watzka and Sam Grilli, sophomore Justin Gatwood, juniors David Nayak and Ross LaFleur, Tim Roth, and seniors Mike Mao, Connor Brownell and Ross.

“We have a couple of new faces this year, which is good,” Ross said.

The team is recovering from a difficult spring, in which former coach Dick Costello suddenly resigned. The team, now under the tutaledge of Matt Baughan, is ready to place well in tournaments again.

Archived article by J.V. Anderton

C.U. to Move Events to Commons?

By ryan September 11, 2000

The historic State Theater downtown will re-open next Spring for events for the first time since 1997, before Bailey Hall closes for renovations in 2002. But, will the various Cornell organizations that use Bailey for concerts and lectures, decide to temporarily relocate their events to the theater located on the Commons? Historic Ithaca, Inc., the owner of the State Theater, is currently in discussions with the administrators of the Cornell Concert Series. While no contract has been signed, the organizations have a “gentleman’s agreement” regarding future use of the theater, according to Cornell Concert Series manager Richard Riley. “As recently as last Friday, I found out that Historic Ithaca would be able to commit the theater’s space for 2002,” Riley said. “I’m glad to know that I have the opportunity [to use the space] and will likely bring at least one or two artists [to the theater] in Spring 2001.” This tentative agreement could provide the Concert Series with a necessary venue while the audiences play a major part in revitalizing the theater and the downtown area. Up until the 1960s and 70s, the State Theater was very popular in Ithaca. “[The theater] has been a favorite of Cornell Students since the 1920s,” Scott Whitham ’90 of Historic Ithaca said. “I’ve talked with many alumni who have the fondest memories of the theater — it was where you went to see the big bands.” However by the mid-90s, deferred maintenance projects had taken their toll on the building. Historic Ithaca, Inc. bought the State Theater in 1998, after it had been condemned by the city because of structural code violations, Whitham said. The theater, which originally opened in 1928 as a movie and vaudeville house, is the most ornate theater in the area. Its walls are coated with gilt and plaster work, with a ceiling of twinkling stars, incorporating elements of the Moorish and Renaissance Revival Styles. In 1999, the American Institute of Architects identified the theater as one of the most significant architectural landmarks in New York State. “[State Theater] is the last performance stage of that size and type in the area, and when [the restorations] are done, it will be the biggest and the best,” Whitham said. Historic Ithaca is raising money to pay for a two phase restoration project, the first of which will correct code violations. Phase I will allow the theater to open in spring 2001. So far, approximately $800,000 has been raised. Bailey Hall is also due for renovations. According to Riley, a 1995 study recommended replacing all of the seats in the downstairs area, removing around 500 seats. In addition, heating, cooling, and ventilation will be changed. The lighting and sound capabilities will be brought up to modern standards. The connection between the two venues, though accidental, bodes well for cooperation between Cornell and Historic Ithaca. Yet nothing has been made official. “There is risk involved in moving anything off campus when people are used to having it on-campus,” Riley said. “[Also, the theater] is unique and wonderful, but it is also very modest … [there] is not an endless array of possibilities.” Riley said that State Theater would not be suited for artists with a large multimedia components to their acts because of limitations in its capabilities. The theater would be more suited to big name soloists with simpler technical needs. Not all organizations that use Bailey are in talks with Historic Ithaca. For example, the Cornell Concert Commission is looking into using other buildings on campus when Bailey closes. It is considering using State Theater, but it is not their main option now, according to Cornell Concert Commission Executive Director Nicole Pinochet ’01. Historic Ithaca hopes that more organizations will use the theater. Such relocation when Bailey closes would help the theater get back on its feet and perhaps would contribute to the economic redevelopment of the downtown, Whitham said. “By committing myself and my audience for 12 to 18 months, it will help State Theater gain legitimacy in the area,” Riley said. “[The theater] will be able to say that the Cornell Concert Series plays here and you can too.”Archived article by Eve Steele
Local Sororities Await Ruling on New Alcohol Policy

By ryan September 11, 2000

The University’s Panhellenic Council hopes to keep sorority events involving alcohol monitored and on campus as they await further discussion of their request for a variance from the National Panhellenic Council’s (NPC) Alcohol Resolution. In accordance with this resolution, each national sorority adopted some level of a policy forbidding sororities from co-sponsoring events with fraternities that are not dry. At the end of April, Panhel President Gabi Erbacher ’01 presented a 200-page document to the national presidents of the thirteen sororities which have chapters at Cornell. The document contains information recommending the use of Cornell’s policies to regulate sorority events in place of the NPC Alcohol Resolution. Erbacher said that over the summer she and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs discussed the document with members of the executive board of the thirteen national organizations. “Now we’re working towards deciding whether or not we’re going to have an alcohol summit. If we have an alcohol summit, a representative from each one of the 13 sororities would come and discuss their concerns and our concerns,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that our situation would necessarily change, that we would be allowed to have a variance; it doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be allowed to have a variance. They’re just saying ‘let’s continue discussion.'” The NPC devised the alcohol resolution in response to a request by the national fraternities. About a year and a half ago, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity nationally went dry and was no longer allowed to serve alcohol. Phi Delt wanted other fraternities to go dry as well so they would be the same for recruitment and in policy. When many of the fraternities did not go dry, the fraternities approached the NPC. “They asked the members of the National Panhellenic Council, which is 26 organizations, if they would consider passing something that would say that their women can’t drink in fraternities anymore,” Erbacher said. The NPC devised an alcohol resolution with three levels of strictness, the strictest forbidding a sorority to co-sponsor events in a fraternity which is not dry. Each national sorority adopted a policy which falls into one of these levels. “That policy is good in theory,” Erbacher said. “They’re saying, ‘listen, your parties are ruining fraternity houses, and we don’t think you should be having as many alcoholic events as you do.’ It makes sense for most campuses, especially the ones still having keggers that are unregistered and unmonitored.” Cornell has a system of checks and balances for events involving alcohol, Erbacher said. In addition, because of Cornell’s rural location and lack of nearby facilities which allow people under 21 to enter, a policy requiring social events to be held in locations other than fraternities would create unsafe situations resulting in drunk driving or girls walking long distances at night. “I think Cornell has always had a good policy,” said Nikki D’Amato ’01, president of the Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. “[The current policy] takes into account a lot of characteristics which are specific to Cornell, which AOPi’s [national policy] does not.” Until the variance is discussed and finalized, Cornell’s chapters must each follow the policy their national house adopted. AOPi’s policy falls in the middle category of strictness of the NPC Alcohol Resolution. This means that they are allowed to have events in a fraternity house if alcohol is not involved and may hold events involving alcohol at locations other than the fraternity house. Erbacher also said that if people want to drink, they are going to drink; and without using Cornell’s system of checks and balances, the events will not be monitored. To hold an event involving alcohol at a fraternity, a house must register through the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. The police and fire departments are notified of where the party will be, and Spirits catering service monitors the event and controls under-age drinking. Random checks also ensure that whoever is supposed to be sober is sober. “I think the Greek system at Cornell is moving towards a responsible drinking environment that supports its members, but also offers a healthy and safe social outlet,” Associate Dean Felicia Hunt said. If the variance is not granted, Panhel may devise a policy for Cornell sororities. “We would probably come up with a resolution that would go along with one of the policies, one of the levels,” Erbacher said. We would adopt one, and then depending on how strict ours was, the houses would have to either follow ours or follow their own policy, depending which one was the stricter one.”Archived article by Abbie Westervelt