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The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2000/11/28/tcat-approves-fare-hike-new-pass/)

November 28, 2000

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TCAT Approves Fare Hike, New Pass

By ryan | November 28, 2000

The pockets of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit commuters are about to become lighter.

Yesterday morning, the TCAT board of directors approved an increase in single zone cash fares from 75 cents to $1 and from $1.50 to $2 in multiple-zone cash fares, to begin Jan. 1.

The fare hike stems from TCAT’s $500,000 increase in expenditures due to higher insurance costs, higher fuel prices, increased hours of bus service and an employee pay raise.

To maintain good relations with their riders, TCAT will also begin offering an unlimited-use, multi-zone, calender-month pass for $30.

If commuters in Zone 1 use the pass for at least two trips per work day, the extra cost of the fare hike is negated, according to a Cornell News Service press release. Zone 1 includes all of the City of Ithaca, Cornell University, Ithaca College, Cayuga Medical Center, Tompkins County Airport and Pyramid Mall.

Passes for any consecutive 30-day-periods and short-term passes will also be available in late spring 2001.

Henrik N. Dullea ’61, vice president for University relations, stated that the new fare appeals to rural commuters because by using the pass, they save $50 each month. Multi-zone travelers currently make up only six percent of TCAT’s income.

“By boosting rural ridership, TCAT can receive more state aid,” Dullea explained.

The escalated fare will not affect current Cornell-issued passes, which will remain unchanged for the remainder of the 2000-2001 term, according to Dullea.

“The TCAT pass is an increasingly good deal,” Dullea said. “We do our best trying to keep the price down for local commuters as well.” He expressed confidence that the modest $3 increase for a month pass for single fare commuters would not negatively affect ridership.

Some frequent bus riders disagree and are upset over the increase.

“I wouldn’t pay a dollar, hell no, it’s insane,” Gabe Thaisz ’04 said. “They should let us use Big Red Bucks.”

Darragh Caldwell ’04 agreed, stating that the University should pay more than its current 2.7 percent of the fare for students.

“The bus should be free considering we pay 32 grand to go here,” Paul George ’04 said.

Archived article by Rachel Einschlag

Related

Rawlings' Salary Ranks Lowest in Ivy League

By ryan November 29, 2000

Salaries for university presidents continue to soar with a handful even approaching the million dollar mark. Base pay without benefits for President Hunter R. Rawlings III, however, decreased to $204,670 for 1998-1999 from $207,990 in the previous academic year, the lowest base pay in the Ivy League. The executive committee of the Board of Trustees determines the president’s salary on an annual basis, “pending the review of all the pertinent information,” said Barbara Krause, secretary of the Corporation. “They look at a lot of things including salary and overall compensation at peer institutions; they consider performance,” said Henrik N. Dullea ’61, vice president for University relations. “There’s also a conversation between the Board and the individual.” Dullea refused to comment on the recent decrease in Rawlings’ salary. “That’s a subject between the Board and the President. That’s a factor they work out together,” he said. Rawlings’ benefit package, however, at $220,760, ranked third among all universities. Harold Tanner, chair of the Board of Trustees, declined to comment on the amount to the Chronicle of Higher Education, stating, “We report what we’re required to report.” With benefits, Rawlings’ earnings total $425,430. The median salary for presidents at research universities is $393,288, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The highest paid university president, with benefits, is Harry C. Payne of Williams College with a total salary of $878,222. University of Pennsylvania President Judith Rodin ranks second with her earnings totaling $655,557. Currently 74 presidents earn above $300,000 with seven taking home more than half-million, according to the Chronicle for Higher Education. Cornell ranks behind the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Princeton and Columbia in base pay plus benefits.Archived article by Beth Herskovits
Cornell Creates Mini-Machines

By ryan November 29, 2000

Cornell researchers are capturing international attention for successfully creating miniature, functional machines that are smaller than most viruses. These biomolecular machines are tiny motors that can rotate a propeller at eight revolutions per second, for up to two and a half hours. Although these machines are not sophisticated enough for any immediate applications, some future uses might include the purification of pharmeceuticals by sorting through individual molecules. “This is an engineering technology that allows [people] to precisely integrate engineered devices with living systems,” said Prof. Carlo Montemagno ’80, agricultural and biological engineering, leader of the research group working on these tiny motors. Their source of energy is adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the same molecule that normally provides energy for living cells. Building these motors requires ATPase enzyme, a component of living cells. The integration of living systems and synthetic motors is one highlight of this technological advancement, Montemagno said. The new motors have propellers about 750 nanometers (nm) in length and 150 nm in diameter. One nm represents one-billionth of a meter, and a single silicon atom is about one-quarter nm in diameter. Nanobiotechnology refers to the science field that involves working with living systems and objects at the nanometer scale. The pioneering contribution to nanobiotechnology by Cornell’s team is the ability to “precisely” manufacture machines, according to Montemagno. Previous to this breakthrough, scientists have only been able to manufacture parts of the whole. Now they can integrate the pieces to work together in the machine. “This represents a new area [in nanotechnology] that integrates living material with custom nano-fabricated features,” said Ricky Soong grad, who helped create the motors. The successful building and testing of these new biomolecular motors is reported in the Nov. 24 issue of the journal Science, but has found widespread attention in other places, including MSNBC, The New York Times, The Discovery Channel and the BBC British news service. “This is like discovering that we can control the flow of electricity in a wire,” said Montemagno. “[However, this research] is a basic enabling technology, and will still take many years to reach maturity.” “The device we built was a working prototype to illustrate engineering principles and techniques that can [eventually] be applied to more complex situations, [such as] manipulating biological systems at the nanometer,” Soong said. Montemagno; Soong; Prof. Harold Craighead, applied and engineering physics, director of the Cornell Nanobiotechnology Center; George Bachand, research associate; Hercules Neves, senior research associate; and Anatolia Olkhovets grad contributed to the article which appeared in Science. The Discovery Channel will produce a program on these nano-devices, which will air on Science Live! at 8:00 p.m. today on the Science Channel.Archived article by Peter Lin