The Ithacan, 2007-11-29
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Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC The thI acan, 2007-08 The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 11-29-2007 The thI acan, 2007-11-29 Ithaca College Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2007-08 Recommended Citation Ithaca College, "The thI acan, 2007-11-29" (2007). The Ithacan, 2007-08. 2. http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2007-08/2 This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted for inclusion in The thI acan, 2007-08 by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC. OPINION FORUM CHALLENGES MEDIA CONTENT, PAGE 10 CONSISTENT IMPACT ACCENT THAT TIME ON YOUTUBE FINALLY PAYS OFF, PAGE 13 Junior swimmer continues stellar career, page 23 THIS I SEE STUDENT TRAVELS THROUGH AFRICA, PAGE 28 Thursday Ithaca, N.Y. November 29, 2007 The Ithacan Volume 75, Issue 12 Ex-employee charged with at ease in academia grand larceny Study fi nds professors are happier than general workforce BY SAMANTHA ALLEN STAFF WRITER A former Ithaca College employee was arrested Nov. 15 for allegedly stealing more than $371,000 from the college. Wendy Travis, 47, former assis- tant director of conference and events services, was arrested on suspicion of grand larceny in the second degree, according to Ithaca Town Court documents. Th is included undocu- mented refunds made to her personal credit card account and misappropri- ating college funds for personal gain, the documents said. In court records obtained from the City of Ithaca Clerk’s offi ce, the vice president of fi nance and administra- tion of the college said Travis was au- thorized to use college procurement cards intended for acquiring goods and services for the college only. Th e college was notifi ed in July that NOVA, a provider of fi nancial services contracted by the college, had detected irregular refund trans- actions in account records, accord- BY KATHY LALUK According to a recent study released immediacy of the outcome: watching stu- ing to the documents. ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity dents grow and learn.” Dave Maley, associate director Jim Daehn says his post-collegiate Association, College Retirement Equities Paul Yakoboski, a principal research of media relations, said the fi ndings plans always included entering the profes- Fund (TIAA-CREF), 96 percent of profes- fellow for TIAA-CREF, said the study were reported to Public Safety in July, sional work force. After graduating from sors polled were either somewhat or very followed 300 full-time professors at four- and Travis was fi red July 26. SUNY-Oswego in 1992, Daehn founded satisfi ed with their jobs. By comparison, a year institutions and asked about their As of Oct. 26, the college’s audit- a software company with two friends, but survey of American workers found only job satisfaction based on their balance ing fi rm, Grant Th orton, LLP, had soon found the fi nancial and market pres- about 75 percent of employees were satis- between work and life, their salary, their documented more than $371,000 in sures were too much to handle and turned fi ed with their jobs. relationships with colleagues and on an suspicious fi nancial transactions, ac- to teaching to better utilize his skills. Colin Stewart, assistant professor of overall basis. cessible by Travis, since the year 2000, “I had a blast working professionally, theater arts, said he thought most profes- Yakoboski also said TIAA-CREF spe- the documents said. Th e college is but you know, starting a new company is sors at the college were satisfi ed, but each cifi cally looked at professors of diff erent continuing to investigate transactions so risky,” said Daehn, now an assistant pro- has his or her own reasons. ages, surveying 100 professors from three prior to the year 2000. fessor of computer science at Ithaca Col- “Th e defi nition of job satisfaction var- generations: Generation X (born between Conference and Events Services lege. “Teaching sort of fell into my lap, but ies from person to person,” he said. “I think 1965 and 1980), Late Baby Boomers (born arranges for internal and exter- I like that [teaching] is not so ‘dog-eat-dog’ what makes teaching in general feel like it nal clients to schedule events on as the corporate world.” has a signifi cant level of satisfaction is the See SATISFACTION, page 4 campus. Th e offi ce handles approxi- mately $2 million every year. As as- Jim Daehn, assistant professor of computer science, sits in his offi ce Tuesday between classes. Daehn, who spent three years in the sociate director, Travis had access business world before becoming a professor, said the laid-back nature of teaching makes it a more appealing career. to several large accounts, including MAX STEINMETZ/THE ITHACAN programs generated for Suzuki and Chamber Summer Institutes, the documents said. In September 2006, Travis was promoted from business coordinator, a position she had held for 16 years, to Genocide survivor to speak on Darfur assistant director for event planning and special programs. BY RYAN MIGA so we can be stronger in standing up against the Maley said no individual at the CONTRIBUTING WRITER genocide,” she said. “As much as we can read about college has ever been suspected of When Stephanie Nyombayire was only 7 years what’s going on, there’s nothing quite like hearing misappropriating such a large sum old, her family was torn apart by the genocide in about it from somebody [who has] been there.” of money. Rwanda. Hutu extremists murdered dozens of Her personal connection to the Rwandan trag- “Th is is certainly the largest amount members of Nyombayire’s extended family. edy has led her to campaign for an end to genocide, of money to my knowledge,” he said. “Everything about that experience made me specifi cally in the current confl ict in Darfur. Maley said an event like this does want to make sure that this experience wasn’t re- In the United States, Nyombayire enrolled in not cause the college administration peated — not just for my family, but also for any Swarthmore College, in Pa. At the college, she was to lose faith in its employees. other human being’s family,” Nyombayire said. one of the founding members of the Genocide In- “We’re confi dent that the safe- Nyombayire, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan tervention Network in October 2004. She said the guards we [currently] have in place do genocide and a representative of the Genocide students who founded the network believed they and will catch when someone violates Intervention Network, will speak at Ithaca Col- could have a hand in providing security for the trust,” he said. lege tomorrow about the ongoing crisis in Darfur, people of Darfur. In November 2005, Th e Ithacan re- in which approximately 400,000 people have died “What really motivates me is that it had to be ported David Speller, former associate since 2003. recognized that human life is worth more than director of the Offi ce of Multicultural Her visit is sponsored by Ithaca College’s Stu- economic interests. … Th e cost of holding perpe- Aff airs, was charged with misappro- dent Anti-Genocide Coalition chapter, formerly trators responsible for genocide should not even be priating $33,000 from the college. called Students Taking Action Now: Darfur. calculated in terms of money or fi nancial interest.” Th e college is requesting criminal Senior Amanda Kesseler, the group’s co-presi- In 2003, non-Arab rebel forces in Darfur prosecution for Travis and full resti- Stephanie Nyombayire, a founder of the Geno- dent, said that STAND is primarily a student- staged several successful attacks against Suda- tution for the loss to the college, in- cide Intervention Network, will speak at the awareness group. nese military installations, accusing the Sudanese cluding the cost of investigation fees. college at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Textor 101. “We think it’s really important to get the cam- When contacted at her home, COURTESY OF THE GENOCIDE INTERVENTION NETWORK pus community educated on what’s happening See STAND, page 4 Travis declined to comment. find more. online. www.theithacan.org THURSDAY BRIEFING 2 The Ithacan Thursday, November 29, 2007 THIS Nation&World WEEK Musharraf steps down from military 29 THURSDAY A tearful Pervez Musharraf ended a four-de- cade military career yesterday, giving up his army International AIDS Work commander’s ceremonial baton on the eve of Colloquium presented by taking an oath as the purely civilian president of the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Pakistan. Bisexual and Transgender Th e United States, keen to promote democracy Education, Outreach and Ser- while keeping Pakistan focused on fi ghting Islamic vices will be held from 12:10 extremism, praised Musharraf’s relaxation of his to 1 p.m. in the Cayuga Lake grip on power as a “good step” forward. Meeting Room But it gave him no slack on the other key demand that he end a state of emergency that has enraged “Under Construction: Build- political rivals, strained his close ties with the West ing Mitochondrial Respiratory and cast doubt on the ability of opposition parties to Chain Complexes” lecture campaign for parliamentary elections in January. begins at 4 p.m. in CNS 112 “We welcome Musharraf’s decision to shed the Screening of “The 11th uniform,” said former Prime Minister Benazir Bhut- Hour” presented by the to, leader of one of the two main opposition parties. Student Activities Board will “Now the Pakistani army has got a full-fl edged chief, be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m.