Recent Contributions from Michael Stratford

AAU Denies Reports of Meeting Between Skorton and Iranian President Ahmadinejad

Michael Stratford — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The American Association of Universities categorically denied yesterday an Iranian news report that stated the six U.S. university presidents currently visiting Iran, including Cornell President David Skorton, were likely to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“The report is inaccurate. That’s not happening,” said AAU spokesperson Barry Toiv.

The Iranian FARS News Agency reported earlier this week that Ahmadinejad was “likely to meet” with the university presidents.

Christian Evangelist Sues Over Noise Violation

Michael Stratford — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The City of Ithaca’s noise ordinance, which has recently been a source of tension between students living in Collegetown and the Ithaca Police Department, is being challenged for its constitutionality in federal court.

Syracuse resident James Deferio, a traveling Christian evangelist, filed a lawsuit against Ithaca last week, claiming that the city’s noise ordinance violated his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

Deferio alleged that while he was preaching his message on the Ithaca Commons in August, an Ithaca Police officer approached him and “explained that Deferio would have to lower his voice or stop speaking, because his voice could be heard 25 feet away,” which violates a City noise ordinance.

C.U. Names Interim Engineering Dean

Michael Stratford — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The University announced yesterday that Prof. Christopher Ober, material science and engineering, will serve as interim dean of the College of Engineering, succeeding current dean Kent Fuchs, who was selected last month to become Cornell provost at the start of next year.

“[Ober] is an exemplary leader and faculty member at Cornell,” Interim Provost David Harris stated in a press release. “He is well respected by his peers and he is known for attention to detail. He will be deft in running the College of Engineering while the University proceeds in the dean search.”

Ober will serve as the interim dean until the University finds a permanent replacement for Fuchs.

City Votes to Dually Name State St. For MLK After Four-Year Debate

Michael Stratford — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The City of Ithaca’s Board of Public Works unanimously passed a resolution yesterday that dually designates State Street, one of the city’s major thoroughfares, as Martin Luther King Jr. Street, ending a nearly five-year long contentious debate over the street’s renaming.

The double name will become effective on Jan. 19, as part of the city’s annual celebration of King’s birthday. Residences and businesses will have the option of retaining their State Street mailing address or adopting a new Martin Luther King Jr. Street address.

A Look Back: The Sun’s History of Endorsements

Michael Stratford — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

College students across the country today will overwhelmingly support Senator Barack Obama’s nomination for presidency, according to nearly every measure of political support.

A recent poll of Cornell students’ preferences unsurprisingly confirmed that students here would not be an anomaly to the national trend. When The Sun’s editorial board endorsed Obama last week, it similarly conformed to a national trend.

Of the college newspapers that UWire, a college wire news service, surveyed, Obama received more endorsements than his rival Senator John McCain by an 86 to 2 margin.

The Daily Mississippian at the University of Mississippi and the Mesa State Criterion at Mesa State College in Colorado were the only two college newspapers in UWire’s survey to support McCain.

Racism Cries Result From Construction Controversy

Michael Stratford — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

When the New York State Electric Gas company decided two weeks ago not to fund the construction of a new basketball court in a downtown Ithaca park, it brought an apparent end to an ongoing struggle between neighbors of the park and city officials that had resulted in allegations of racism and stereotyping.

Public Reviews Environmental Impact of Milstein

Michael Stratford — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:46:12 -0400

Moving closer to a final decision on the environmental impact of the proposed Milstein Hall and Central Avenue Parking Garage, the City of Ithaca’s Planning and Development Board is currently soliciting comments from the public regarding the project’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (dEIS).

Members of the public and the Board expressed concerns about and offered clarifications for the dEIS last night in City Hall.

Planning Board member and Cornell employee David Kay voiced concern about the visibility of a proposed bike rack underneath Milstein Hall. He said that the University ought to ensure that proper signage directs pedestrians to the location of the bike rack.

Collegetown Bars Open for Presidential Debate

Michael Stratford — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Although last night’s presidential debate may not have provided as much fodder for late night comedians as last week’s vice presidential showdown, debate viewers at Pixel certainly found plenty of moments to laugh at.

The crowd of about 35 who had gathered at the Dryden Road bar last night clapped, jeered, laughed and booed throughout the 90-minute town-hall style forum between Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.), in Nashville, Tenn.

The Sun Speaks With CBS’ Dave Price ’ 87

Michael Stratford — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

CBS’ The Early Show plans to broadcast portions of its show live from Cornell on Monday as part of its report on how college has changed over the past twenty-five years. Weather anchor Dave Price ’87 will contrast his own experiences at Cornell as an ILR student with those of college students today. The show will feature interviews with students, professors, administrators and experts on applying to college.

The Sun interviewed Price when he was in Ithaca last week preparing for Monday’s show.

The Sun: Why did you choose to come back to Cornell for this report?

Skorton to Lead Initiative for Higher Education in Africa

Michael Stratford — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) announced yesterday that President David Skorton will co-chair the group’s initiative to improve higher education in Africa.

Skorton will lead the advisory board of the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative, which aims to enhance higher education institutions in Africa and further engage American schools in Africa-related issues.

“As fellow leaders in higher education, we need to collaborate with our African colleagues who are determined to secure that same dream for their young students at home,” Skorton stated in a press release.

Professors Analyze Policy Before Presidential Debate

Michael Stratford — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The 2008 presidential campaign has been largely inattentive to the issues of health care, immigration and social security, according to a group of experts in those fields who gathered at Cornell for a policy debate on Friday before the first presidential debate.

The debate, sponsored by a host of campus organizations, including the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in the College of Human Ecology, was titled “McCain v. Obama in 3D: Data and Debate on Domestic Policy” and took place at Bailey Hall.

While organizers said that the free tickets to the event “sold out,” the 1,324-seating-capacity auditorium was about three-quarters full when the event began at 6:30 p.m.

Higher Ed. Bill Seeks To Lower Cost of Textbooks

Michael Stratford — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

This is the second in a three part series analyzing the Higher Education Opportunity Act passed in August.

In an attempt to make the overall cost of attending college more affordable, Congressional lawmakers have targeted soaring textbook prices by imposing new requirements on publishers and retail sellers of course materials.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act, which President George Bush signed into law in August, contains specific provisions that aim to decrease the cost of textbooks by requiring greater institutional and publisher transparency in textbook sales.

Response to E-mail Outage Inadequate, Report Finds

Michael Stratford — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The University’s response to a massive e-mail outage in June was inadequate and caused significant interruption to the business of the University, according to a report released last month.

The unexpected and widespread e-mail failure prevented some members of the Cornell community from sending or receiving e-mail for as long as five days and caused irreversible damage to about 3,800 email accounts.

The report summarizes the findings of a group of Cornell officials throughout campus who performed an “after action review” of the incident.

Members of the group sharply criticized the manner in which the University communicated with the Cornell community and the public during the outage, calling it ineffective.

Alumnus Appeals Judge's Decision in Lawsuit Against Cornell

Michael Stratford — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Published June 30

Kevin Vanginderen ’83, the Cornell alumnus whose $1 million lawsuit against the University for libel was dismissed earlier this month, is seeking to appeal that decision, according to court documents.

Vanginderen, a practicing California lawyer who is representing himself in court, filed a notice of appeal of Southern California District Court Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz’s June 3 ruling in favor of the University.

After Four-Day Streak, Unforseen University E-mail Outage Ends

Michael Stratford — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:51:19 -0400

A known computer “bug” in Cornell’s e-mail servers triggered an unexpected and widespread e-mail outage last week that left many users of the University’s email services unable to send or receive e-mail. It caused irreversible damage to about 3,800 e-mail accounts, according to CIT.

Sudden E-mail Outage Affects Cornell Community

Michael Stratford — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:22:36 -0400

Members of the Cornell community are still facing problems trying to send and receive e-mail as the University continues to combat a widespread, unexpected outage of many of its e-mail servers.

Cornell staff and Sun Microsystems have been working “around the clock” to remedy the situation since the problems first occurred on Sunday at noon, according to Simeon Moss ’73, director of Cornell Press Relations.

Judge Dismisses Alum's Libel Suit Against University

Michael Stratford — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:49:41 -0400

On June 3, a federal judge in California dismissed a former student’s $1-million libel suit against the University. By dismissing the case, the court avoided ruling on some of the first amendment issues that the lawsuit had raised.

Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz granted Cornell’s special motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed last October by Kevin Vanginderen ’83, who alleged that a 1983 Cornell Chronicle article describing his involvement with a string of on-campus burglaries was libelous and constituted an illegal public disclosure of private facts.

Alum Files $10 Mil. Lawsuit Against C.U.

Michael Stratford — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The alumnus who sued Cornell last year for defamation and libel has filed additional litigation against the University. In a $10 million lawsuit filed April 8, Kevin Vanginderen ’83 alleges that Cornell published libelous information, placed him in a false light, publicly disclosed private facts about him and intruded into his private affairs.

Some of Vanginderen’s latest complaints relate to a 1983 Cornell Chronicle article — digitized and placed online last year by the University — that described his involvement with several thefts on campus. After finding the article online last year through Google, he sued the University for libel and defamation for the first time.

University Profs Do Not Sign Affordable Textbook Pledge

Michael Stratford — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

To most students, the concept of free textbooks is a distant fantasy.

However, a group of professors representing schools across the country has pledged try to use a cost-cutting — and often times free — alternative when selecting textbooks for courses.

According to The Affordable Textbooks Campaign, 1,000 professors from over 300 colleges states joined the group’s latest initiative last week, declaring their intent to use open textbooks in their classes — instead of traditional, commercial textbooks. While professors at Harvard, Stanford and Yale have signed onto the campaign, no Cornell professors are signatories on the declaration.

E-mails Target Professor For Showing Tibet Film

Michael Stratford — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As international attention on the situation between Tibet and China has increased over the past few weeks while China prepares for the Olympics, a Cornell anthropology professor was the subject of personal attacks posted to two University listservs last week in response to a film screening and discussion she organized on “the prospects for peace in Tibet.”

After Prof. Kathryn March, anthropology, began publicizing the event several weeks ago, it immediately provoked a wave of impassioned e-mail responses, most of which criticized the event. A handful of the responses on the listservs were personally directed at March.

C.U. Earmarks Break From Nat’l Trend

Michael Stratford — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Cornell seems to be defying the national trend of increased earmarks for academic research, which was highlighted in a report published last month by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Earmarks are provisions in federal appropriations bills that dedicate money to specific pet projects of members of Congress.

For the 2008 fiscal year, Congress appropriated over $2.1 million dollars in federal earmarks that will directly benefit Cornell research, according to the University’s Office of Federal Government Relations.

This figure is significantly less than the amount the University received five and 10 years ago, at nearly $7 million and $4 million respectively, according to The Chronicle.

Louie’s Lunch Truck Robbed at Gunpoint

Michael Stratford — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

A 25-year-old man allegedly robbed Louie’s Lunch food truck at gunpoint around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, according to the Ithaca Police Department and one of the victims.

Shane M. Jacobs, of Hector, N.Y. was arrested and charged with robbery in the second degree, the IPD said yesterday.

Parker Imrie ’07, who works at Louie’s Lunch as a cook several days a week, said he was on the phone with truck owner Ron Beck when his co-worker told him that the truck was being robbed.

Financial Aid Policy May Increase Diversity

Michael Stratford — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The new financial aid policy at Cornell — announced last month as several of the University’s peer institutions made similar changes — will have an impact on the University’s ability to recruit and enroll minority students, according to Avis Robinson, founder of the Washington Metropolitan Scholars program.

Washington Metropolitan Scholars is a non-profit organization that helps African-American high school seniors gain admittance to elite universities and finance their education. Cornell works with the program and regularly accepts its students.

Student Journal Focuses on International Politics

Michael Stratford — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The Cornell International Affairs Review released the inaugural issue last semester, seeking to fill what it considers to be a void in the level of foreign policy discourse at Cornell. The scholarly journal aims to spark academic debate and eventually serve as an influential voice in international policy making.

The publication features articles ranging in topics from the challenges facing Europe to China’s influence in Africa to an assessment of NAFTA. The first issue of the journal — which plans to be published biannually — featured an equally varied group of contributors that included French Cabinet Minister Michel Barnier, as well as international scholars and Cornell undergraduate students.

Cornell Allows for Disclosure of Student Files

Michael Stratford — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Cornell explicitly asserted in a policy change adopted last year that it may release student educational records to the parents of most undergraduate students without prior consent. This employs a provision of federal privacy law unused by most other universities.

The new policy changes the way the University implements the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, permitting the University to disclose records of students who are over 18 to parents if the student is claimed as a dependent on the parents’ federal tax forms.

Ithacan Will Likely Be a N.Y. Democratic Superdelegate

Michael Stratford — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

As the battle between Senators Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over convention delegates becomes increasingly close, party superdelegates could, for the first time in recent elections, play a deciding role in selecting the Democratic nominee for president. One of those superdelegates will likely be a local voice from Tompkins County.

Irene Stein, a Town of Ithaca resident and chair of the Tompkins Democratic Committee, will likely be designated by the state party in May as one of New York’s 45 superdelegates to the convention.

Stein, who has been a superdelegate for the past two presidential elections, said this year’s nominating contest is the most exciting and promising for Democrats.

Eyes on the Primaries: Paul, Keyes Still Going

Michael Stratford — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Correction Appended

As voters head to the polls on Tuesday, they will face one of the most open fields of candidates in recent history. On the Republican ticket, voters will see two lesser-known candidates — a libertarian-leaning congressman who is engaging supporters in unprecedented ways online, and a former assistant secretary of state who did some of his undergraduate work at Cornell during Vietnam War protests.

Alum Sues Cornell Chronicle

Michael Stratford — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A former student has filed a million-dollar defamation lawsuit against Cornell stemming from an archived Cornell Chronicle news report that describes burglary and larceny charges he faced while attending the University.

Kevin Vanginderen ’83, a practicing California lawyer, filed a complaint in San Diego County Superior Court last October for libel and public disclosure of private facts against Cornell resulting in “loss of reputation” and “mental anguish”.

The lawsuit seeks to hold Cornell liable for making libelous and private information about Vanginderen prominently available nearly 24 years after the article was published in print form.

Environmental Study to Examine Milstein

Michael Stratford — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The physical appearance and visual impact of the proposed Milstein Hall are among the issues that Cornell may have to evaluate as part of an environmental impact study for the project.

The City of Ithaca’s Planning and Development Board is working with Cornell to determine the scope of the environmental impact study that the University must complete to move the Milstein Hall project forward.

Last night, at the board’s public scoping session, Prof. Martin Hatch, music, a resident of the Town of Dryden, voiced concern about Milstein Hall becoming an “environmental sore spot” that does not fit in with the surrounding buildings.

He urged the board to value the public good over “the fulfillment of architectural ego.”

Slope Day Set to Receive By-Line GPSA Funding

Michael Stratford — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

As both the Student Assembly and the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly finalize budgeting their respective student activity fees for the 2008-2010 funding cycle, the Slope Day Programming Board (SDPB) will be allocated more money from the S.A. and will likely receive by-line funding from the GPSA for the first time.

GPSA by-line funding for the annual spring celebration has been the source of some controversy between undergraduate and graduate student leaders over the past few years.

“I want [Slope Day] to be a by-line funded group of the grad students because Slope Day is supposed to be a community event,” said Liz Rapoport ’09, chair of the SDPB.

Cornell CIO Charts Growth of The University Endowment

Michael Stratford — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The University’s endowment is doing well, with exceptional investment returns over the past few years, according to James Walsh, Cornell’s chief investment officer. Walsh, who is responsible for managing the University’s endowment, discussed investment strategy, the investment process and his own background but did not address recent student pressure for socially responsible investment last night in a presentation in Sage Hall.

Walsh told an attentive and intimate audience of nearly 25 undergrads that over the past few years, “[Cornell’s] investment returns have been fantastic.”

C.U. Given High Rating for LGBT Policies on Campus

Michael Stratford — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Cornell received high marks for its policies regarding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues earlier this month from a new national index that evaluates colleges and universities on a range of criteria.

Campus Pride’s first-ever “LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index” gave Cornell an overall score of 4.5 stars out of a possible five. The survey measured LGBT inclusion based on eight specific factors ranging from institutional commitment to student life to campus safety. Cornell received the highest score in all areas except “housing and residence life” and “recruitment and retention efforts,” in which the University scored three out of five and 3.5 out of five, respectively.

Cornell Examines Taser Use

Michael Stratford — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

In light of the tasering of a University of Florida student in September that sparked a national dialogue about campus security, free speech and the use of Tasers on college campuses, the Student Assembly is looking into how those issues apply to Cornell.

“As advocates of undergraduate students, we felt an obligation to investigate: can this happen at Cornell?” asked C.J. Slicklen ’09, executive vice president of the S.A.

“In short, the answer is no,” he said.

The Cornell University Police Department does not arm its officers with Taser guns and has no plans to purchase the devices, according to CUPD Captain Kathy Zoner.

Study Links Alcohol and Absences

Michael Stratford — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

For many students at Cornell and other schools across the country, the weekend starts on Thursday nights. This trend, known to some as “Thirsty Thursday,” has recently come under attack by college and university officials.

Prompted by pressure to reduce underage drinking and the results of a recent study, some schools are increasing the number of Friday morning classes in order to curb students’ Thursday night drinking habits.

At Cornell, 81 percent of Cornell undergraduates report taking Friday classes and about one in four students has missed class at some point because of alcohol or drug use, according to Deborah Lewis, alcohol projects coordinator at Gannett.

Students Discuss Republican Politics in an Open Forum

Michael Stratford — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Cornell College Republicans hosted an open forum in Rockefeller Hall last night in an effort to reach out to black students and dispel stereotypes they said have distorted their party’s image and views on race.

The event, which was the first of its kind in recent years, consisted of a two-member panel of Republicans, and was entitled “Cornell Republicans Exposed: The Real Conservative View on Issues that Affect the Black Community.”

The goal of the event was to engage in a constructive dialogue, “not the type of thing we see on so many cable news networks,” David Harris, deputy provost, said to open the forum.

We wanted “to expose people to republican ideals,” said Ahmed Salem ’08, chair of the Cornell College Republicans. He also served as a panelist.

C.U. to Begin Construction on New Sciences Building

Michael Stratford — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Correction appended. See below.

After about a decade of planning and several months of preparatory work, construction is expected to begin this week on a new physical sciences building that will adjoin Baker Laboratory and Clark Hall, which the University hopes will help facilitate more interdisciplinary collaboration and create much-needed research space.

The 197,000 gross square foot and $140 million project — designed to increase the research and instructional capabilities of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, the Department of Physics and the School of Applied and Engineering Physics — will be completed by the end of 2010, said Michael Husar, project manager in the Department of Planning, Design and Construction.

C.U. Farm Promotes Local Organic Food

Michael Stratford — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

As interest in agricultural sciences increases at Cornell, Dilmun Hill, the University’s student-run farm is offering student farmers and those studying agricultural science the opportunity to learn about the benefits of sustainable agriculture.

Located on a 12-acre plot of land on Rt. 366 and next to the Cornell Orchards, Dilmun Hill is one of the largest student-run farms in the country. About 30 students, spanning several colleges and majors, operate the farm independently and participate in all aspects of farming — from planning to harvesting to transporting the crops.