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AAU Denies Reports of Meeting Between Skorton and Iranian President Ahmadinejad

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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.

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Christian Evangelist Sues Over Noise Violation

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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.

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C.U. Names Interim Engineering Dean

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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.

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

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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.

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A Look Back: The Sun’s History of Endorsements

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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.

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Racism Cries Result From Construction Controversy

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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.

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Public Reviews Environmental Impact of Milstein

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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. 

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Collegetown Bars Open for Presidential Debate

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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.

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The Sun Speaks With CBS’ Dave Price ’ 87

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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?

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Skorton to Lead Initiative for Higher Education in Africa

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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.