Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider passing The Free Flow of Information Act, which would protect the right of journalists — including student journalists and bloggers — to conceal confidential sources from the government. We endorse the bill and hope that the Senate will recognize its value in securing a journalist’s right to responsibly disseminate information.

Students comprise 98 percent of Ithaca’s fourth ward, the district which encompasses Collegetown. Due in part to student apathy and to the disproportionate political influence of the neighborhood’s small minority of permanent residents, students living in Collegetown frequently find their voices marginalized in city politic — an unfortunate reality for a population that contributes so much to the local economy. This is reason alone to fully endorse Eddie Rooker ’09 to represent Ithaca’s fourth ward on the Common Council.

As the Student Assembly upheld a 22-percent cut in byline funding for Cornell Cinema last week, a number of issues surfaced that must not go overlooked. Aside from the cultural misfortunes that this budget slash would bring, we take issue with the manner in which the cuts were implemented, and what this decision will mean for the future of student funding at Cornell.

Conflicting Interests

While the strict Student Assembly Finance Committee guidelines intend to impart fairness in the distribution of funding to student groups, these rigid rules have instead prevented certain groups from fulfilling their mission. Such is the case with Sexual Awareness for Everyone, a student group that works to educate students on sexual health topics and promote safe sex practices.

In order to fulfill their goal, SAFE requested funding for condoms, lube and dental dams to distribute free of cost to the Cornell community. A clause in the guidelines prohibited the group from receiving funds. It is clear that the SAFC needs to revisit its guidelines so as not to thwart worthwhile causes due to bureaucratic practices.

Correction Appended

Students at Northwestern’s school of journalism are doing more than learning to write ledes, conduct interviews and blog. Instead, they have worked toward and succeeded at exonerating innocent inmates who have been wrongfully accused. But now, the group of students who take part in the Medill Innocence Project are being threatened by a demand by local prosecution to hand over information surrounding a current investigation.

It has been made clear by Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy ’73 that program houses are not going anywhere in the near future. With that in mind, it is time to turn the discussion away from a debate about whether or not the program houses should exist, and refocus on how to better represent and integrate program houses into the community at large.

On a cold and rainy night this past Friday evening, members of the Board of Trustees, scurrying from dinner to a gala in Bailey Hall, were met with an unlikely greeting: peaceful, yet pronounced, student protest.

A self-described “coalition of students of color” staged the protest to shine light on what they consider to be a lack of administrative support for the needs of various minority communities on campus. Among these concerns were minimal financial resources for Asian and Asian-American students, neglect of student input in the decision to reassign Ujamaa Residential Housing Director Ken Glover and insufficient staffing at the Office of Minority Educational Affairs.

Today, the Board of Trustees converges on the Hill. If this is news to you, we’re not surprised.

Aside from extending an invitation to a few involved students to attend a dinner here or a forum there, the University has made little effort to inform the community of this weekend’s events.

The rush to sign off-campus housing contracts for next year has already hit a lull. For weeks, anxious students have been trying to navigate the murky waters of Collegetown realty, often unaware of the laws meant to protect tenants. And like every year, the scramble has left many unclear of what their lease really means, what they are paying for and what services they have the right to receive.

Turning out the lights in Rockefeller Hall every night could save the University an estimated $3,200 over the course of a year. By turning off the light switches in 20 buildings across campus, Cornell could save over $60,000 per year. These findings — the results of a study conducted by a student committee that collected data on energy usage in Rockefeller Hall over a week-long period — have many important implications that cannot be overlooked as the University struggles to make ends meet in the face of a massive budgetary shortfall.