Squashers Set to Play Home Season Finales

By wpengine | January 24, 2003

The men’s and women’s squash teams hit the Belkin courts this weekend for their last home matches of the season. For the seniors, it will be a final chance to shine on the East Hill.

“It’s going to be bittersweet; I never thought this day would come,” said senior men’s captain Jeff Porter. “I’ll be sad to see [squash] go because it’s become such a big part of my life.”

“I’m ready to win,” said senior women’s captain Rachel Perschetz. “It’ll be nice to have a good match as my last at Cornell.”

After a match against Amherst today, the men clash with Ancient Eight rival Dartmouth tomorrow morning. In recent years, contests with the Green have been heated and arduous. The Red has already avenged last season’s loss with a victory in the preseason Ivy Scrimmages and is looking to continue the pattern of success.

“The win at Scrimmages was huge for us,” said Porter. “We want to build on that momentum this weekend; we just need to come out focused.”

Dartmouth is the weekend’s only opponent for the women, who are looking forward to the light schedule after suffering a string of injuries last week.

“Dartmouth is always an intense match for us,” said senior Becca Brier-Rosenfield. “They’re tough, and we’re going to have to play very well.”

Rounding out the weekend is the men’s tilt with another Big Red — Denison College — tomorrow night.

“They’re going to be a decent team,” said sophomore Scott Sill, who transferred from Denison last fall. “Matt [Serediak, the Cornell No. 1] will have his hands full with [Javier] Castilla.”

Castilla, Denison’s star No. 1 player, was sixth in the collegiate ranks last year and was a first-team All-American.

The women’s team travels to Annapolis next weekend to take on Navy and George Washington; the men will go south to battle the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats.

Archived article by Per Ostman

C.U. Medical Amnesty Gives Students Break

By wpengine January 27, 2003

When an emergency erupts involving underage students and alcohol, Cornell University officials are encouraging students to put the health of their peers above their fears of punishment. University officials initiated the Medical Amnesty Protocol (MAP) last fall with the support of students and faculty in an effort to reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol related emergencies on campus. Medical Amnesty is not extended to Collegetown or other off-campus locations, although the Ithaca Police Department is aware of the policy and may choose to exercise it, according to Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant JD ’88. “Over the past few decades at colleges across the country, there have been an increasing number of alcohol related injuries and death,” said Jessica Skrebes ’04, student representative for the Policies and Behavioral Accountability Committee of the President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (PABAC), the team that developed the protocol. “The purpose of the MAP is to increase the likelihood that students will call for medical help whenever someone has alcohol poisoning,” said Tim Marchell, director of alcohol policy initiatives at Gannett: Cornell University Health Services. According to Marchell, some students avoid calling for help in alcohol-related medical emergencies out of fear they will suffer judicial consequences for underage possession of alcohol or disorderly conduct. “Since alcohol poisoning can be fatal, we wanted to reduce the barriers to people calling for assistance,” he said. The person who calls for help is not subject to judicial charges of underage possession, provision of alcohol to an underage person or disorderly conduct, according to Marchell. “We’re not going to get you in trouble for doing the right thing,” Grant said. If the incident occurs at an on campus event, the host of the organization is expected to call for help, and his or her action will “mitigate any judicial charges that might arise against the organization for Campus Code of Conduct violations that may have been committed,” Marchell said. “By contrast, if no one calls for help, it’s considered an aggravating circumstance and may affect the judicial resolution if any Code violations occurred at the time.” The MAP also excuses an individual who receives medical attention related to alcohol consumption from judicial action if he or she completes a required follow-up visit at Gannet, according to Grant. “The University’s primary concern is for the health and safety of students, and [the University] aims to reduce the risk that someone will get severely intoxicated again,” Marchell said. Grant noted that while an individual receiving amnesty is issued a warning rather than a written reprimand and is excused from having to meet with the Judicial Administrator, the MAP still mandates education for the person who has had too much to drink. The individual receiving amnesty is required to attend a follow-up session at Gannett but is not required to pay for Gannett’s services, Grant said. Marchell noted that last year the Cayuga Medical Center treated 80 students for alcohol related emergencies, excluding the students treated on Slope Day. “With the MAP, we may see a short term increase in the number of cases seen at Cayuga Medical Center, but in the long run, we’d like to see those numbers drop as students realize the risks of getting severely intoxicated,” Marchell said. The concept for the protocol started in the fall of 2001 when Renaissance, a grassroots student advocacy group, pushed for the development and implementation of a medical amnesty clause, according to Justin McEvily ’03, co-president of Renaissance and the student representative for PABAC. “Through informal surveys, it came to light that the student body was in favor of such an initiative, so Renaissance added this sentiment to the already growing supportive voice of some administrators and health promotion staff who were exploring the possibility of implementing such a policy,” McEvily said. Though the MAP supports the University’s goal to keep students safe and healthy, some students were concerned that “the MAP might be perceived as condoning underage drinking, but there’s a tension we chose to live with between our commitment to enforce the policy and the need to get people medical help,” Marchell explained. Though the MAP exempts an individual receiving medical emergency attention for alcohol related emergencies upon completion of Gannett’s follow-up service, the MAP does not excuse all aspects of underage drinking. The MAP is designed to address the harmful consequences of intoxication or injury related to consuming alcohol, but “it does not provide exemption from more serious charges, such as an assault that may be related to drinking or the possession of fake identification,” Marchell said.Archived article by Janet Liao
S.A. Passes Gender Equality Resolution

By wpengine January 27, 2003

The Student Assembly (S.A.) last Thursday joined 160 countries in passing a resolution calling for the end of discrimination against women. The Convention on Eliminating Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a sort of international treaty that details a women’s bill of rights, was initially adopted by the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly in 1979. Over 160 countries have ratified the CEDAW, which, according to the U.N.’s Division for the Advancement of Women Web site, “defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.” Countries that accept the Convention commit themselves to promoting legal gender equality, outlawing discrimination against women and establishing institutional legal measures to protect women, according to the Web site. “The U.S. is the only industrialized country that has not ratified the treaty,” said Max Eisenburger ’05, president of Cornell Amnesty International. Eisenburger, who drafted the S.A.’s resolution, was the main catalyst in getting it introduced and passed. “The goal, primarily, was to raise awareness on campus, to politicize the campus, because a lot of people don’t know that the U.S. didn’t ratify [CEDAW],” Eisenburger said. The S.A. had several motivations for its resolution. “First, and foremost the Student Assembly is bringing public light to an issue that is long overdue — the ratification by the United States of the United Nation’s treaty. Our passage will hopefully spark debate and encourage other campus leaders from around the country to pass similar resolutions,” said S.A. President Noah Doyle ’03. In order for the U.S. to ratify the Convention, it will have to be passed by the Senate. Although the international treaty has existed since 1979, it has only come up for discussion in the full Senate once in 1994. Last year, the CEDAW passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the second time, and it is expected to be up for vote again in early 2003. “When [ratification of the treaty] was up for vote in 1994, it was near the end of the session, and a small group of Republicans stonewalled the treaty by filibustering,” Eisenburger said. Major American proponents of the treaty, such as Amnesty International and the National Organization of Women, are pressuring liberal Senators to make sure the treaty is passed the next time it comes up for a vote. In addition to raising awareness on campus about the issue, Cornell Amnesty International and the S.A. created the resolution to “urge the Senate, especially Senators Clinton and Schumer (D-N.Y.), to advocate for the treaty to be introduced, discussed and ultimately passed,” Eisenburger said. Erica Kagan ’05, LGBQT liaison to the S.A. and chair of the Assembly’s committee on women’s issues, added that the S.A. intends to “get the other university assemblies to pass [the resolution] — and in the next few weeks, bring it to our senators.” Additionally, “a copy of this resolution will be sent to President Rawlings. We encourage President Rawlings to join us in support of this resolution and hope our President will encourage Cornell’s Government Affairs Department to lobby our elected representatives in support of CEDAW’s passage,” Doyle said. Kagan and the women’s committee worked with Eisenburger to ensure that the resolution was passed by the S.A. “The agenda of the women’s committee is based on whatever people want us to do,” Kagan said. “As a relatively new committee [this resolution] is an awesome thing to start the committee off with.” Many students said they appreciate the S.A.’s action in its role of representing students. “I think the Student Assembly is making an important statement to our senators. It is important to have this resolution passed because discrimination is a big part of our society. It doesn’t make sense that we are the only industrialized country that hasn’t passed it, putting us in ranks with Iran and Somalia,” said Asmi Shah ’05. “Even though there have been a lot of improvements in women’s rights in the last 100 years or so, things still aren’t where they need to be and the Senate needs to recognize and acknowledge this.” Although Erica Frank ’03 said she felt that it is important for the U.S. to ratify the treaty, she said, “I think it’s a nice thing to do but I don’t really think that it can have much of an effect. I also think it would be nicer if the S.A. worried more about what’s going on at Cornell.” Archived article by Aliza Wasserman