The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/funding/page/3/)
McGraw Hall’s renovation plan — indefinitely postponed since the University installed temporary struts after three ceilings collapsed in 2010 — may finally be brought back in motion.
Funding was increased from $250,000 to $350,000, a 40% increase, which will go into effect later this year.
To keep up with demand, the Student Assembly passed a resolution to allocate $0.87 from the Student Activity Fee to the S.A. with the understanding that all of the allocation would go towards the Summer Experience Grant.
The Provost has indicated it’s unlikely that Cornell can cover the deficit the Cinema would incur if S.A. votes to divest from the Cinema in 2018.
A few semesters ago, when I was a more active staff writer in this section, I reviewed the 1971 film Walkabout before it screened at the Cornell Cinema. When the opportunity arose to review one of the greatest Australian films ever made, I obviously seized it without hesitation, thankful there exists an institution right here at Cornell that is devoted to showcasing profound examples of world cinema, like Ran and Koyaanisqatsi, alongside more contemporary works like Moonlight and Baby Driver. I didn’t expect much to come of that review — after all, who actually reads this section, if not this paper, right? — but at the bottom of the online article, I found a comment by an alumnus named David Moriah ’72, whose response is tangible evidence of the enduring relevance of institutions like the Cornell Cinema. It has been nearly half a century since David graduated, yet he has “returned to [Walkabout] several times over the years and continue[s] to drink in the deep well of its wisdom and beauty.”
Recently, we were all rudely awakened to discover the Cornell Cinema has been threatened by not just a reduction to existing funding, but a complete withdrawal of financial support.
Scientific research isn’t perfect, far from it. In fact, according to Richard Harris, correspondent at National Public Radio, the scientific process is in need of repair. Among the many issues, the limited ability to examine existing, mundane findings seems to be a consistent obstacle. At a lecture at Cornell on Oct. 16, Harris discussed his criticisms of the manner in which science research is published and presented.
“We amended it to clarify that students applying for the Special Projects Fund have to just report all other funding sources that they have or intend to apply to in order to fund their project,” said Julia Montejo ’17, vice president of diversity and inclusion.
The Student Assembly discussed a revision to the regulation of their Student Activity Fee and the allocation measures allowed to byline funded organizations in a meeting Thursday. Members also determined how they will gift their $39,000 budget surplus. Matthew Stefanko ’16, vice president of finance, proposed a resolution that he said would hold student groups more accountable for how they allocate their funding. “We haven’t really gone after groups that do not use their money appropriately in the past and that’s something that we should and will do,” he said. Jordan Chessin’18, transfer at large, suggested that a clause about reserving rooms in Willard Straight Hall should be added into the revision.
The Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit will not face budget cuts as the Senate and House have agreed to restore 5340 transit program funding and give New York almost $100 million for its various transit operations. The provision has been added to a transportation bill that will be voted on later in the week. Originally, an amendment proposed to the bill would cost New York transportation nearly $100 million each year, according to a press release by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). The proposed amendment would have cut transit funding, costing TCAT $207,000 annually, The Sun previously reported. Schumer led the fight against the amendment in the bill passed by the House only a few weeks ago, advocating the replacement of the bill with the 5340 transit provision.
An amended bill passed by the House of Representatives would slash funding to the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit by thousands of dollars, jeopardizing the public transit system in our community. Overall, mass transit organizations across New York State would lose hundreds of millions of dollars, with TCAT losing $207,000 each year. To ensure TCAT continues to serve the Ithaca and Cornell communities well, the amendment must be removed from the final federal highway bill. The House of Representatives bill calls for the defunding of the 5340 Program, also known as the High Density States program, which provides funding for transit systems in states with large populations. According to the New York Public Transit Association, TCAT would need to increase the cost of the service for riders and decrease service to cope with the decreased funding.