The Ithacan, 2009-03-19

Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC The thI acan, 2008-09 The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 3-19-2009 The thI acan, 2009-03-19 Ithaca College Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2008-09 Recommended Citation Ithaca College, "The thI acan, 2009-03-19" (2009). The Ithacan, 2008-09. 17. http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2008-09/17 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, 2008-09 by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC. OPINION NEW PROGRAM LACKS REAL DIVERSITY, PAGE 10 A NEW CHALLENGE ACCENT STUDENTS REVERSE SEXUAL ROLES, PAGE 13 FreshmanFreshmann competescom at pentathlon for fi rst time, page 23 THIS I SEE REAL LIFE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, PAGE 28 Thursday Ithaca, N.Y. March 19, 2009 The Ithacan Volume 76, Issue 22 Study reports area sewers as source of TCE BY DAVID DURRETT SENIOR WRITER Emerson Power Transmission Praying for Tolerance and the Department of Environ- mental Conservation are reevalu- Members of the Ithaca Baha’i community gather ating area cleanup methods after a report last year found that sewers to pray for Baha’is persecuted in the Middle East were the main source of trichloro- ethylene contamination. Th ough TCE has been an issue in Ithaca for more than 20 years, it was previ- ously thought that Emerson’s reservoir was the main source. TCE, which can cause cancer, liver and kidney ailments and ner- vous disor- ders over time, was Watch South Hill fi rst iden- residents’ responses at theithacan.org/ tifi ed on go/09tce. South Hill in 1987, after Emerson reported fi nding TCE in its personal reser- Ithaca Baha’i Kalyari Ramanujan holds a rose voir. Th e DEC required Emerson to Sunday at a prayer service in Dewitt Park. enter a consent order to address the EVAN FALK/THE ITHACAN TCE contamination, and in 1994, Emerson installed a pump fi ltra- BY ELIZABETH SILE the Tehillim weaved in between messages and tradi- ing forward to, of a global peace, a true global peace,” tion system to treat contaminated NEWS EDITOR tional teachings of their own faith — Baha’i, a 165 year she said. groundwater. Th e TCE contami- Only the rustling of papers, the shrill of sirens old religion that emphasizes the unity of mankind. Th e arrests and detentions of seven Baha’i lead- nating soil was believed to have and rhythmic strum of church bells could be heard Baha’is believe each of the world’s major religions ers in March and May 2008 in Iran prompted mem- come from the reservoir, but his- over quiet mumblings of prayers in Dewitt Park. is part of a single process by which God reveals his bers of the Ithaca Baha’i community to gather Sun- torical and geological information “And truly thy Lord will repay everyone according will to humanity through divine messengers such as day. A photograph of these seven Baha’is rested on a found for the fall report revealed to their works; For he is well aware of what they do,” a Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Christ and Muhammad. tiny shrine, looking out toward the followers as they contamination came from sewers. woman recited in English. Th ey believe Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i prayed for equality and peace. Gregg Townsend, the regional “Th e troubles of heart are enlarged: O bring thou faith, is the most recent of these prophets. On Feb. 11, deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan hazardous waste remediation engi- me out of my distresses,” another delivered in Arabic, Ithaca Baha’i Shamsi Brinn, who coordinated the Haddad announced to the press that the “illegal neer of the New York State DEC, said carefully weighing each sound. prayer, said prophets come with a message that is Baha’i group” would be tried on charges that in- most of the contamination aff ecting It was a small, muted event — more than 30 gath- right for the world climate at the time. cluded “espionage for Israel [where the Baha’i head- South Hill was originally dumped ered Sunday to protest religious intolerance. Prayers “[Baha’u’llah] has come to usher in the age that all into the sewer systems, rather than from the Quran, Bible, Buddha, Bhagavad Gita and religions and all peoples of the world have been look- See RELIGION, page 4 into the plant’s reservoir. “In addition to cleaning up the groundwater associate fi rewater reservoir, we’re going to be asking Em- erson to address the soil vapor mi- Teach For America applications at record high grating through the sewers,” he said. Th e DEC held a meeting BY BECCA BURNS also be attributed to a growing inter- March 5 to make an amendment ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR est among young people to engage to its 1994 Record of Decision With job opportunities for college in public service [and to] the reputa- that would upgrade the system seniors looking bleak, there has been tion we have developed among young that extracts toxins from the soil. a huge surge in students applying to people for achieving results with un- Th e cleanup for the land Emerson Teach For America, a national corps derserved students,” he said. owns will cost approximately $3.5 of college graduates who commit Senior Steven Lowery was accepted million. Th e DEC will formulate a two years to teaching in low-income to the program this year and will be plan to deal with on-site contami- public schools. teaching upper elementary education nation during the next few months Th ough these college seniors know in Connecticut this fall. Before this year, and will open the plan to public they will only make $27,000 to $47,000 he said he had no intentions of join- comment as early as June. per year, more than 35,000 college ing the program, but once he learned Diane Carlton, regional pub- seniors applied for the program this about its opportunities from Anasstas- lic aff airs and education offi cer year, according to Trevor Stutz, na- sia Baichorova, the college’s recruiter, for the DEC, said the work to re- tional communications manager of he decided he wanted to join. move contaminants, which poten- TFA. Th is is a 42 percent increase “She shared these amazing experi- tially include pumping chemicals from last year and is a new record for ences of classroom settings and po- to counteract TCE or removing the organization. tential growth as not only a person in contaminated soil, would have “Th is record number of applicants general, but a great leader when joining a minimal impact on residents, is especially encouraging because it the program,” he said. “It was a once in as much of the work has already occurs at a time when a growing body a lifetime opportunity to just go off and Senior Steven Lowery reads materials from Teach For America on Tuesday in been done. of rigorous research demonstrates try doing something great for the U.S. his Circle Apartment. Lowery will join the organization after graduation. “You’re not going to see a lot that TFA corps members are highly and actually use all of the liberal arts LAUREN DECICCA/THE ITHACAN of trucks or equipment coming in eff ective classroom teachers,” he said. skills I’ve obtained here at IC.” or out of the area,” she said. “Th ere Stutz said more than 6 percent of Lindsey Dickerson ’06 worked and social and human rights issues cally aff ected by issues of poverty.” won’t be an impact for [residents].” graduating seniors from Ithaca Col- for two years as a campus campaign because of the town’s location on TFA aims to eliminate this inequal- Ken Deschere, who has lived lege and 11 percent from Cornell coordinator for TFA, recruiting and the border. ity and to improve student achieve- on South Hill since 1981 and main- University applied for next year’s promoting on the college’s campus. “Everyone sees the statistics hung ment. Currently, about 6,200 TFA tains the Web site www.ithaca-ship. teaching corps. She now works in Brownsville, Texas, on fl iers around campus, but educa- corps members teach in 29 urban and org to organize relevant documents “While the economy played a role as a second-grade teacher. She said tional inequity is very, very real,” she rural areas across the country. on TCE contamination, said hom- in reducing competition for top appli- her experience there has largely been said. “Even by the second grade, I have Dickerson said she thinks the eowners in the area are concerned cants, we believe this year’s increase colored by issues surrounding immi- students who are already two years be- in Ithaca and across the country can gration, Mexican-American culture hind academically and who are drasti- See CORPS, page 4 See TOXINS, page 4 find more. online. www.theithacan.org THURSDAY BRIEFING 2 The Ithacan Thursday, March 19, 2009 THIS Nation&World WEEK Leader denounces arrest warrant 19 THURSDAY Th e Sudanese president rallied Arab support- ers in Darfur yesterday by saying no war crimes “A Fig by Any Other Name court or the U.N. Security Council can touch Would Smell Just as Sweet: A even “an eyelash” on him despite an international Study of Phylogeny, Biogeogra- order for his arrest. phy and Floral Volatile Speaking to thousands at a rally in the south- Mimicry in Figs and Close ern Darfur town of Nyala, Omar al-Bashir de- Relatives,” presented by Wendy nounced the West for allegedly seeking to “create Clement ’02, at 4 p.m.

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