The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/2009_freshman_issue/page/3/)
Obamania erupted in Collegetown just after 11 p.m. on Election Day as Barack Obama was declared the 44th president of the United States. People poured out of bars and crowded the streets as they soaked in the historic moment.
“It’s crazy, oh my God,” Leslie Tseng ’10 said describing the scene at Collegetown as the last hours of Nov. 4 ticked by. “Everyone is running up and down Dryden Road, yelling ‘Barack Obama’ and setting off fireworks.”
In Ithaca, gorges are more than just a defining part of the landscape. They have become a source of fame for Ithaca, inspiring the well-known “Ithaca is Gorges” t-shirt. For Cornell, the gorges, particularly the two that run through campus (Fall Creek and Cascadilla gorges), have become parts of University lore. Jumping from great heights into the gorges and swimming in them has become something of a right of passage for Cornell students. Ask many on campus and they will recall well-preserved memories, including the vivid, coherent thoughts that raced through their minds right before splashing into the water.
The Ithaca Common Council, the city’s top legislative body, will likely hold an important vote in August on a contentious issue that has dominated town-gown relations in Ithaca for the past several years –– the future of development in Collegetown.
As various city bodies, hired consultants and neighborhood planning organizations have worked to formulate a comprehensive urban plan for Collegetown, the process has sparked an often heated yet complex debate among permanent Ithaca residents and students.
Urban Outfitters Opens Store in Downtown Ithaca
Downtown Ithaca underwent a wardrobe change last month when national clothing company Urban Outfitters opened it’s second upstate New York store in Ithaca.
Urban Outfitters occupies the majority of the ground floor beneath Cayuga Green, a new mixed-use apartment building on Green Street.
Some students welcomed the variety that Urban will add to local shopping.
“I think nothing better has ever happened in Ithaca,” Allie Strauss ’11 said.
Other students voiced concern that the store would disrupt Ithaca’s quaint atmosphere.
New Gourmet Café Debuts on College Ave.
One of the main challenges for each Orientation Steering Committee is putting a new spin on the annual event.
According to Jack Cao ’10, one of the members on the OSC, this year the committee is trying to give the orientation theme a more prominent role than previous years’ themes.
“What makes 2009 unique is the emphasis on integration,” Cao said. “The theme of technology is meant as a metaphor for the OSC’s attempt to get the new freshmen integrated and connected to Cornell.”
For the first time in Cornell’s history, the admit rate for the incoming freshman class dropped below 20 percent. After a rise in early admissions applicants in December, Cornell administrators projected an increase in the number of this year’s regular decision applicants, which reached an all time high of 34,381.
A Most Selective Class
The admit rate for the Class of 2013 fell to the unprecedented level of 19.1 percent. While Cornell admitted 36.68 percent of early decision applicants, regular admissions only accepted 17.2 percent of applicants.
With a third of Cornell students in one of 60 Greek chapters on campus, the Greek system is a major part of Cornell’s social life.
From the very start of their Cornell career, students encounter members of Cornell’s Greek society, who help freshman move into their dorms, volunteering as “movers and shakers.” Throughout orientation week, Greeks volunteer as Orientation Leaders, helping students get acclimated to their new surroundings.
Hum Ec Prepares Budget
The College of Human Ecology has a strengthened ability to cope with this decrease in funding because of the cuts it had already made in programming and in terms of its budget to finance the construction. After losing space due to structural deficiencies in the north wing, the college began construction of a new building connected to MVR. In order to cope with the losses of space in 2001 and funds in 2008, the college was forced to cut back on its programming and search for other areas to minimize expenses.
AAP Cuts Force Program Reevaluation
Cornell Cuts Supplier’s Contract
While 15 percent of annual apparel sales at the Cornell Store were made from Russell Athletics merchandise, the University has settled on, for the time being, making due without one of its primary suppliers.
Cornell, along with many other American universities, terminated its contract on March 31 with Russell because of its anti-union labor practices. Investigations conducted by the Fair Labor Association and the Worker’s Rights Consortium concluded that one of Russell’s Honduras factories was closed down because its workers attempted to unionize to negotiate for better wages and benefits.