Cornell Student Assembly
S.A. Resolution Underscores Privacy Concerns Over Cornell’s Use of Zoom
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Cornell’s Student Assembly passes resolution addressing concerns of privacy protections for students using Zoom.
The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/resolution/)
Cornell’s Student Assembly passes resolution addressing concerns of privacy protections for students using Zoom.
The Student Assembly unanimously passed a resolution Thursday to establish an Office of the Student Advocate, a student-run office which would provide counsel to students struggling to navigate Cornell’s administration.
The Student Assembly passed a resolution Thursday that would call upon Cornell to urge an association of universities to divest from the construction of an observatory on Hawaii’s indigenous lands.
The Student Assembly convened Thursday for a public forum on a resolution for the boycott, divest and sanction movement on campus. Community members voiced often emotional opinions on the pro-divestment Resolution 36 and delivered pointed appeals toward S.A. members in a packed room. Several supporters of the resolution wielded large signs with slogans such as “Cornell has blood on its hands” and “Our tuition is funding oppression.”
The resolution, which calls upon Cornell to “divest from companies participating in the human rights violations in the Israeli occupation of Palestine,” was introduced by co-sponsors Max Greenberg ’22 and Mahfuza Shovik ’19 — S.A. representative for the College of Engineering — as well as leaders from Students for Justice in Palestine Adam Khatib ’20 and Omar Din ’19, who is also S.A. representative for the College of Human Ecology. BDS has commanded the spotlight in the Student Assembly this semester, emerging as a major focus of S.A. presidential debates and assembly meetings, The Sun previously reported. At last week’s S.A. meeting, controversy erupted over allegations that supporters of the resolution had tried to force an early private vote, culminating in what observers called “Islamaphobic” comments.
The resolution requests the University to “remove this [security] policy immediately” so as to not create “any additional financial burden” on student groups sponsoring select events.
The University Assembly passed a resolution requesting all 12 colleges to review their academic departments to identify majors that might qualify for STEM certification — a certification that would grant international students two additional years of work authorization in the United States.
Gabe Kaufman ’18, undergraduate representative to the University Assembly, said the resolution’s intention was to create a committee “to investigate possibly restructuring the membership composition of the Student Assembly and to issue a formal report on its suggestions and recommendations.”
“These aren’t big changes to Campus Code of Conduct, but they are still really important ones,” he said.
Current legal guidelines stipulate that employers cannot discriminate based on prior convictions alone, which can be difficult to prove, according to Garrison Lovely ’16, co-founder and president of the Prison Reform and Education Project.
Senior Vice Provost of Academic Affairs John Siliciano has been named Deputy Provost, Acting President and Provost Michael Kotlikoff announced at the Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday morning. “This is in recognition of John’s terrific oversight of the Provost Office and his involvement in every initiative in the Provost Office,” Kotlikoff said. The trustee meeting began with the board’s adoption of a resolution mourning President Elizabeth Garrett’s death. “She set in motion a process that had long been regarded by university leaders as important but daunting … establishing a College of Business,” Acting Chairman Jan Rock Zubrow said. Following the successfu adoption of this resolution, Zubrow also read the unanimous resolution passed by the University Assembly, expressing condolences and appreciation for President Elizabeth Garrett.