The Ithacan, 2009-09-24
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Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC The thI acan, 2009-10 The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 9-24-2009 The thI acan, 2009-09-24 Ithaca College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2009-10 Part of the Higher Education Commons OPINION ARE WE COMPROMISING OUR REPUTATION?, PAGE 10 SIGHTSEEING SPORTS TRAINERS HELP STUDENTS GET FIT, PAGE 23 Professor visits national parks and monuments, page 13 PHOTO FINISH BOMBERS WIN HOME OPENER, PAGE 28 Thursday Ithaca, N.Y. September 24, 2009 The Ithacan Volume 77, Issue 5 SPECI AL REPORT College faces What went wrong? discrimination High acceptance rate may have been key factor investigation BY ALLISON MUSANTE in the college’s unique over-enrollment problem MANAGING EDITOR PERCENTAGE OF APPLICANTS ACCEPTED Ithaca College is under investigation for a com- 100 plaint alleging discrimination against its students, staff and faculty with mobility impairments, particularly in 90 accessing most campus facilities, 80 including residence halls, academ- 70% National Average ic buildings and parking lots. 70 The Office of Civil Rights, a 60 subagency of the U.S. Depart- 50 ment of Education, is investigat- ing a complaint filed April 8, ac- 40 cording to Jim Bradshaw, press 30 officer at the U.S. Department of 48% 60% 63% 59.2% 74.9% Education. Bradshaw could not M ALEY said a 20 ELON S EYRACUS W AGNER IT HACA IT HACA discrimination com- release details about the inves- plaint against the 10 UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE COLLEGE COLLEGE tigation, including the name of college was filed. 2009 2009 2009 2008 2009 the complainant or if and when DESIGN BY MICHELLE BARRIE SOURCE: OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH an OCR representative would be visiting campus to investigate the facilities, because of the Federal Privacy Act. BY MALLORY DIAMOND Ithaca followed a similar enrollment “Increased [acceptance rate] is cer- The complaint has four components: 43 differ- S ENIOR WRITER strategy: It increased tuition by just 4.75 tainly a factor,” Sgrecci said. “We thought ent facilities are inaccessible; the college discrimi- As Ithaca College struggles with the percent, increased the discount rate for we had to accept more students to get our nates by denying requests for accessible housing; impact of a 25 percent over-enrollment in first-year students by 4 percent and en- class target because we figured the yield campus parking lots do not have the required first-year students this fall, a look at peer in- hanced recruitment strategies. Its accep- might decline.” number of accessible parking spots; and there are stitutions shows the college is facing these tance rate, however, increased dramatically. Sgrecci also attributed this year’s over- no curb ramps en route to Williams Hall. challenges alone. Of the college’s 12,752 total applicants, enrollment to fears resulting from the Dave Maley, associate director of media rela- Data gathered from regional institu- 9,471 were accepted. This marks a signifi- economic downturn, as well as increased tions, said that the allegations pertain to “mobility- tions as well as New American Colleges cant jump in the college’s acceptance rate volatility from the previous year’s freshman impaired” students and staff. He said the college and Universities, institutions to which the of first-year students, from 59.2 percent last class, which was under-enrolled by around believes it is in compliance with all regulations of college traditionally compares itself, show year to 74.9 percent this year, an overall in- 200 students. the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American no statistical evidence of significant over- crease of 15.7 percent. “We simply could not afford to miss our Disabilities Act. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation enrollment elsewhere. This increased acceptance rate may have class two years in a row,” Sgrecci said. Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination of the basis of These colleges and universities, which played the key role in the college’s over- Donald Saleh, vice president of enroll- disability in all programs and activities that receive met or modestly exceeded their enrollment enrollment problem. ment management at Syracuse University, federal financial assistance, including colleges. goals, shared four basic enrollment strate- Carl Sgrecci, vice president of finance said there was a lot of concern about the “We have buildings built prior to the enact- gies: a small percent increase in tuition, a and administration at the college, said he economic downturn and it was hard to re- ment of these federal laws, and there was grand- minimal increase in the discount rate for has not encountered any other institution sist panicking in “a very difficult year.” fathering that took place,” Maley said. “There were first-year students, increased communica- that has exceeded its target enrollment by Despite this increased pressure to reach exemptions, so we believe that while we are in tion with prospective students and little-to- 25 percent and described the college’s over- compliance with the laws as they apply to us, we modest increase in acceptance rates. enrollment as “off the charts.” See ENROLLMENT, page 4 also recognize that there may be some facilities on campus that are not completely accessible.” Maley and Bradshaw would not release names of specific facilities in question because the investigation is ongoing. Bradshaw said the results of the investigation City to determine fate of residents of the Jungle would be released upon completion; the process usually takes six months. Maley said he believes this is the first BY ARCHANA MENON tions in the Jungle in early spring. complaint against the college of this nature. SENIOR WRITER City attorney Dan Hoffman Leslie Schettino, director of Academic Support Tucked away behind the rail- said the violations include tres- Services for Students with Disabilities, said her of- road tracks in Ithaca’s West End passing on private property, a lack fice supports about 480 students; about 20 have exists a small community known of sanitary facilities in a residen- mobility impairments. She said in the 14 years that as the Jungle — a place some Ithaca tial area and open fires where the she has been director, each year her office typically homeless call home. Tents are burning materials gave off pollut- supports between 420 and 450 students. scattered at random spots, each ants like plastic into the city. She also said that during that time, she has felt her alive in a style of its own, showing The city determined the prop- office consistently requires additional funding and a freedom from society that drives erty belonged to the Norfolk staff to better meet students’ individual needs. She this group Southern Corp. and sent a noti- has a staff of two professionals, two part-time em- of people fication to them. The letter asked ployees, two administrative assistants, one technol- together. V iew an audio them to push the Jungle residents ogy specialist and a handful of student workers. The Jungle slideshow of the off the property or be charged “One of our staff members is housed in another h o u s e s Jungle at ithacan.org/ $1,000 dollars per day, Rudy building entirely,” she said. “Our biggest problem is three to go/09jungle. Husband, the railroad company’s [having enough] space.” four people year-round, while spokesman, said. According to Carl Sgrecci, vice president of others come and go to visit “We immediately went down finance and administration, the college allocates their friends. and posted signs that they were $70,000 a year to improve accessibility, such as Joe Lotito, a Jungle resident, trespassing on railroad property, funding more wheelchair ramps and elevators. built a home there three years ago. and they would be subject to ejec- Bashar Hanna, associate provost for programs He set himself up in a tent deco- tion if they did not leave,” he said. and initiatives, said Academic Enrichment Ser- rated with his own art and com- But no residents left the Jungle, vices, which includes Schettino’s office, hasn’t pro- plete with a rain cover, bed and ra- which has been around for more posed a formal request for a budget increase. dio. Since spring, the city has held than 70 years. Husband said the “All Ithaca students, including those that have numerous meetings to decide the railroad company met with the physical disabilities, should recognize that I’m fate of Joe’s home and the Jungle. city in early July, and the city de- Frank, a frequent visitor of the Jungle, stands next to a memorial very confident in Ithaca College’s ability to meet The city’s building depart- for a loved one Sunday afternoon in the Jungle. ment noted multiple city viola- See JUNGLE, page 4 ALLISON USAVAGE/THE ITHACAN See COMPLAINT, page 4 find more. online. www.theithacan.org [THURSDAY BRIEFING] 2 The Ithacan Thursday, September 24, 2009 THIS Nation&World WEEK Nuclear tests hinder peace in Korea { } South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said 24 THURSDAY yesterday that North Korea must scrap its atomic Father Roy Bourgeois, weapons programs before the divided Korean founder of SOA WATCH, will peninsula can be unified with the signing of a speak at a lecture sponsored peace treaty to formally end the Korean War. by Latin American Studies Lee told world leaders gathered at the Unit- from 10:50 a.m. to noon in ed Nations General Assembly that North Ko- the Handwerker Gallery. rea, which conducted its second nuclear test Careers in Chiropractic, a in May, should return to stalled international lecture by Michael Lynch, direc- nuclear disarmament talks “right away and tor of admissions for the NY without any preconditions.” Chiropractic College in Seneca Lee, whose tough policies on the North have Falls, will be held from 12:10 stoked fury in Pyongyang, spoke as his coun- to 1:05 p.m.