The Ithacan, 2008-09-18
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC The thI acan, 2008-09 The thI acan: 2000/01 to 2009/2010 9-18-2008 The thI acan, 2008-09-18 Ithaca College Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2008-09 Recommended Citation Ithaca College, "The thI acan, 2008-09-18" (2008). The Ithacan, 2008-09. 4. http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_2008-09/4 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 MIDDLE STATES PROCESS HELD UP, PAGE 10 ‘RAIDERS’ REMADE SPORTS SENIOR RUNNER RETURNS TO THE TRACK, PAGE 23 ’80s adaptation comes to Cornell Cinema, page 13 SPORTS WOMEN’S SOCCER SEEKS AN IDENTITY, PAGE 28 ThursdayThursda Ithaca, N.Y. Septembereptember 18,18 2008 The Ithacan Volume 76, Issue 4 Temperature in Friends Hall raises concern BY ELIZABETH SILE NEWS EDITOR Th e Offi ce of Facilities has begun to make improvements to Friends and Job halls in response to com- plaints by faculty, staff and students concerning heat refl ecting from the windows of the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center for Business and Sustainable Enterprise. Rick Couture, associate vice presi- dent of the Offi ce of Facilities, said the windows that make up the southern side of the School of Business refl ect light and heat into the classrooms and hallways of adjacent buildings. “When the sun comes out at the right time of day, there is a refl ection off the glass, and it does go into Job and Friends,” he said. Hayder Assad, lecturer of Arabic at Ithaca College, stands at the front of his class Tuesday. Scott Th omson, assistant profes- Before coming to the college, Assad was a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq. sor of speech communication, who JIM LUDLOW/THE ITHACAN teaches in Friends Hall, said he has felt the heat of the School of Business just walking between classes. International professors draw from experience to give students “It just blasts on you,” he said. “It’s super hot.” Junior Zachary Gidding, a Ger- man major whose session as a teaching assistant is in Friends Hall, said in the last week he has not felt uncomfort- able in the classroom, but the heat was a global perspective noticeable during the fi rst few weeks of classes. BY LIZ GETMAN October 2007, he left his position when vio- that fi gure. “It’s the business school’s fault,” he SENIOR WRITER lence against translators by Iraqi militants in- Tanya Saunders, assistant provost and dean said. “If we could somehow collect all Bullets pierced through the windows of tensifi ed. With the help of a friend, he traveled of the Division of Interdisciplinary and Interna- the heat from the business school, we Hayder Assad’s car. Instant messages left on to the United States and settled in Ithaca. He is tional Studies, said the presence of internation- could heat the place in the winter.” his computer detailed threats of torture and now a lecturer of Arabic at Ithaca College. al faculty enriches the campus environment. Couture said the Offi ce of Facilities murder. His friends and co-workers were being Assad is one of several international pro- “Our institutional mission emphasizes the is beginning to install air conditioning beaten and killed at an alarming rate. Assad had fessors who bring their stories from abroad preparation of students for citizenship and ser- in parts of Friends Hall that have yet to two options: leave his to the college community. Th is semester’s vice in the global community,” she said. “Inter- be temperature controlled. Currently, native country of Iraq numbers will not be available until Novem- national faculty are critical to that.” the fi rst level of Friends Hall has air or risk his safety. Read more about ber, but last year 15 “nonresident alien” Th ough the college does not specifi cally conditioning but the second and third international facultyt “I was in severe members at www. faculty taught at the college, according to the market to international faculty, Saunders fl oors, where the building’s classrooms danger,” he said. “Th e theithacan.org/ Offi ce of Institutional Research. said, it “seizes opportunities to bring them are located, do not. best decision was just go/08professors A “nonresident alien” includes anyone who here when they present themselves” and Job Hall, including the offi ces of the to leave for a while and is not a citizen of the United States and who is encourages visiting scholars to teach cours- president and provost, are already air try to relocate and see what’s going to happen.” in this country on a visa or temporary basis. es related to their experiences abroad at the conditioned, he said. To address prob- For more than four years Assad worked as But many international faculty, like Assad, have lems with the sun’s glare, especially a translator for the U.S. Army in Najaf, Iraq. In permanent residency, which doesn’t factor into See INTERNATIONAL, page 4 in Job Hall, Couture said the college installed new shades, sun-blocking materials and more curtains. Th omson said he thought installing curtains would not be enough to keep the building cool. Green transit discussed “Th ese curtains are a disaster,” he said. “Th ey’re falling apart. They need BY REBECCA WEBSTER the ground, much like a monorail to be installed better.” STAFF WRITER system. Th e system ultimately Th e Offi ce of Facilities anticipates Th e City of Ithaca became a hub reduces the amount of carbon completing installation of the air con- for international eco-innovation emissions released into the atmo- ditioning system by the end of next earlier this week by hosting the sec- sphere compared to regular, fossil month, Couture said. ond annual Podcar City Sustainable fuel–burning vehicles. Th omson said he thought the prob- Transportation Conference, which Fernando DeArogan, staff di- lem counteracted the sustainable goals ended yesterday. rector of the Ithaca-Tompkins of the School of Business. Students, professors and Ithaca County Transportation Council, “I wonder if they take that into residents were joined by visitors said the small, lightweight ve- consideration when they do the envi- from all over the world to discuss hicles, known as podcars, carry ronmental assessments of the build- the possibilities of Personal Rapid anywhere from four to six passen- ing,” he said. Transit, a computer-controlled gers and bring passengers nonstop Couture said when the School electric transportation system ca- to their exact location of choice. of Business was being designed and David Pimentel, professor emeritus of entomology at Cornell University, pable of operating without human Other types of PRT run at ground planned, heat caused by refl ection was speaks Tuesday at the Podcar City Sustainable Transportation Conference. drivers. Th e fi rst conference was level on designated roadways. JIM LUDLOW/THE ITHACAN not considered. held last year in Uppsala, Sweden. DeArogan said podcars are “I don’t believe the architects Holding one in Ithaca marks the just an idea for sustainable trans- getting a lot of interest from diff er- transit be as effi cient as possible.” anticipated this would be a prob- city’s commitment to sustainability. portation in the U.S., but many ent companies and people who are Colin Howard, student coor- lem,” he said. PRT aims to avoid transporta- other countries are working on in the fi eld,” he said. “We want to dinator for Ithaca College’s Re- Robert A.M. Stern Architects, tion congestion by running eco- implementing PRT systems. bring better ride-sharing opportu- the building’s designers, could not be friendly cars along a track above “It holds a lot of promise and is nities, revamp old systems, have the See PODCARS, page 4 reached for comment. find more. online. www.theithacan.org THURSDAY BRIEFING 2 The Ithacan Thursday, September 18, 2008 THIS Nation&World WEEK U.S. apologizes to Afghan civilians 18 THURSDAY Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed “personal regret” yesterday for recent U.S. air- Screening of “Sex and the strikes that killed Afghan civilians and pledged City,” sponsored by Student more accurate targeting in future. Activities Board, from 7:30 to After meeting with Afghan President Hamid 10 p.m. in Textor 101 Karzai and other senior government offi cials, Gates said at a news conference, “As I told them, La Noche de Juego, spon- I off er all Afghans my sincere condolences and sored by African-Latino personal regret for the recent loss of innocent life Society for Latin Heritage as a result of coalition airstrikes.” month, from 7 to 10 p.m. in Gates said the U.S. military takes extraor- IC Square dinary precautions to avoid civilian casualties but added, “It is clear that we have to work even 19 FRIDAY harder.” He told Afghan offi cials that he would be Screening of “Repo! The discussing the issue with American commanders Genetic Opera,” produced and pilots. by Dan Heffner, followed by a Gates agreed to an Afghan government pro- Q&A session, at 4:30 p.m. in posal to create a permanent joint investigative Park Auditorium group to probe any incident involving civilian casualties, rather than assigning investigators to Shabbat Services at 6 p.m. individual cases as they arrive, according to Pen- in Muller Chapel tagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. Shabbat dinner at 7:15 p.m.