THURSDAY ITHACA, N.Y. MAY 1, 2003 32 PAGES, FREE V OLUME 70, NUMBER 28 The Newspaper for the Ithaca College Community WWW. ITHACA. EDUflTHACAN Cemetery.raises abortion issue Public Safety investigates new flag theft BY KELLI 8 . GRANT News Editor A flag representing the lesbian, gay, bi­ sexual and transgender community is miss­ ing after someone cut the flagpole lines ear­ lier this week. Office of Public Safety Investigator Thomas Dunn said the white canvas banner reading "Homophobia?" - which BI­ GAYLAraised two weeks ago after the gay pride flag was stolen - was cut down some­ time Tuesday morning. It was reported stolen at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Dunn said the person or persons respon­ sible may also have been trying to steal the gay pride flag. "They were able to break lose the rope at the top but could only get the one flag," he said. Senior Lynly Egyes, co-president of BI­ JOE GERAGHTY/THE ITHACAN GAYLA, said she was angry when she heard STUDENTS FOR LIFE MEMBERS Mike Wier, left, and Michelle Meredith, both sophomores, discuss abortion with senior Brian about the incident. She said it is a perfect ex­ Felder Monday in front of the "Cemetery of the Innocents" display in the Academic Quad. ample of ignorance on campus and the need BY DAN GREENMAN white crosses on a grassy patch in theAca- Sophomore Mike Wier, president of Stu- for education and tolerance. Senior Writer demic Quad just outside the Campus Cen- dents for Life, said the students' reaction was "We still don t have the students ter to mimic a graveyard, which they called "mixed." He said the group expected total op­ where they need to be," she said. "We need An anti-abortion display in the middle of "Cemetery of the Innocents." ' position but was surprised to hear some stu- to come so much further, but we are very campus raised controversy Monday and The crosses represented the 400 fetus- dents speak out against abortion. lucky on this campus to have the admin­ Tuesday, eliciting discussion on the issue of es aborted each minute in the world, ac- "We have had some vehement opposition, istration on our side." abortion. cording to the American Life League, an and some people saying it's good to hear this Public Safety is asking anyone with in­ Students for Life put 400 I-foot-tall anti-abortion organization. See CROSS, Page 4 formation to call 274-3333. Boozehounds beware Security tightened on last-day drinking traditions BY ANN HARENDA Week, the week after exams when most un­ Staff Writer derclassmen have left campus for the sum­ mer. Some seniors feel that all the "fun" As the final day of classes approaches, has been removed. students are busy catching up on any missed Senior Amanda Zackem said that al­ work, arranging their schedules for finals thoug~ Fountain Day never actually oc­ week and making plans for their celebra­ curred during her years at the college, she tory activities on Friday. remembers the protest from students the first At both Ithaca College and Cornell Uni­ year the celebration was altered. versity, celebra- "It was something that brought the se­ tions on the last See nior class together," she said. "It ruins the day of classes FORGOTTEN, Page 14 tradition that formerly united Ithaca Col­ have tradition- lege seniors." ally revolved around alcohol and resulted in Brian McAree, vice president for student vandalism and injuries, The college had been affairs and campus life, said the adminis­ known for Fountain Day up until 2000, but tration has been trying to accentuate the fact Cornell's Slope Day events can still almost that the last day of class is just that - one be heard from across the city. last class before fi nals. As the City of Ithaca and both institu­ "People should be doing what they tions have cracked down on alcohol use, would normally do on a regular class day," these traditions have been altered or retired. he said. · Until 1999, Fountain Day was when all McAree said that al­ students spent the last day of classes drink­ though the college is FILE PHOTO/THE ITHACAN ing and celebrating, culminating with a se­ continuing the THE CLASS OF 2000 parties in the fountain outside Dillingham Center during nior jump into the Dillingham fountain. In tradition of Senior Week. They were the first seniors to have an administration-sanctioned 2000, the college moved that Fountain Day during Senior Week instead of on the last day of classes. celebration to Senior jumping in the fountains, the focus is not ipate in the jump. on alcohol. Cornell University's infamous Slope "On the first day of senior week, there Day, usually held on he last day of class­ is a carnival in the Campus Center Quad," es, is also undergoing serious alterations. he said. "The last part of the carnival is What used to be a free-for-all drinking day the seniors walking to the Dillingham on Libe Slope at Cornell is now becoming Fountain and jumping in." a more controlled atmosphere. Seniors are required to pay a According to the Slope Day Web site, nominal fee or use their Senior security will limit the number of nonstu­ Week pass to participate in the car­ dents that Cornell students are allowed to nival. Those who don't wish to attend the bring to the event. They will check the IDs carnival can show up at 4 p.m. to partic- See CITY, Page 4 ROBIN ROEMER/THE ITHACAN INSIDE ACCENT ••• 17 CLASSIFIED ••• 23 COMICS ••• 24 OPINION ••• 14 SPORTS ••• 32 2 THE ITHACAN NEWS THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2003 · National and I nternational News "It is now a safer region with the change of regime in CAMPING OUT Iraq," Rumsfeld said. Troops open -fire on Iraqi protesters Residents of Fallujah, a conservative, tradition-bound city west of Baghdad charged Tuesday that 14 Iraqis were killed and 75 others were wounded when U.S. soldiers · opened fire on a crowd of protesters there. More than 24 hours later, the circumstances of the shoot­ ings involving members of.the 82nd Airborne were still in dispute. The Americans said they were only defending them­ selves after Iraqis started shooting at them Monday night and that they could not confirm U.S. forces had killed apyone. Participants insisted it was a peaceful, if heated, demonstration, and pointed to scores ofdead and wounded. Sorting through the various accounts of what occurred is difficult, not only because of .the chaos of war, but because of the hatred filling the streets of this city, and because of the vast cultural gap that exists between the Iraqis and the Americans. This was Saddam Hussein country, a Sunni Mus­ lim enclave about 60 miles west of the capital that was hos­ tile to U.S. forces long before they ever arrived. No matter what the truth turns out to be, the _incident has fanned outrage against the Americans as they try to stabili-ze the country and win the trust of the Iraqi people. File swappers get wa~ning messages The music industry beg·an using a novel tactic Tuesday in its ongoing fight against music piracy .- sending in­ DON BARTLETTI/LOS ANG RES TIMES JORDANIAN WORKERS under contract to the United Nations hastened last month to build this ca111p for stant messages that pop up on the computer screens of peo­ non-Iraqis and Iraqi nationals fleeing the war. But so far, both have seen only a handful of arriyals. ple as they are swapping unauthorized copies of songs. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the five major music comganies and hun­ tions and because we are convinced that such methods do dreds ofrecord labels, is using the instant-messaging'Sys­ Palestinian prime minister approved not lend support to a just cause like ours, but rather de- terns of the Grokster and Kazaa file-sharing services to no- A first Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, and s.troy it," Abbas said.. - · tify users that they may Qe violating copyright laws by "up- his new Cabinet were approved Tuesday by Palestinian law­ U.S. mov. es Mideast air base to Qatar loading" songs to 1?e copied.free by ~ther users. makers after hearing him say that the armed conflict with Grokster and Kazaa, th(? RIAA contends, are next-gen- Israel had run its course. The Pentagon has moved control of its Middle East air erati.on Napsters used to distribute songs free, which the record The legislators' endorsement of Abbas, widely known as operations from Saudi Arabia to neighboring Qatar, and near- companies say violates copyright laws. The RIAA has waged Abu Mazen, cleared an important hurdle for the unveiling ly all of the 4,500 Air Force personnel and 100 U.S. planes a series of court battles to try to shut down the file-sharing_ of an American-backed peace plan known as the road map. still at Prince Sultan Air Base will exit by August, military services and has targeted individual users with lawsuits. The Abbas' ascension follows weeks of wrangling between him officials said Tuesday. music industry blames online piracy for the sharp drop in and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and was also the prcxl­ The decision to mothball the air operations center was sales of compact discs in recent years. · uct of intense international pressure to curb Araf~'.s powers. made by.:'mu~ ~~" w.~S~IQVemmeat. ... • ~- · · · Abbas, speaking publicly for the first time since he was Defense Secretary Don d H. Rumsfeld said after meet- audience," sm s1 ent ary erman.