THURSDAY ITHACA, N.Y. OCTOBER l0, 2002 28 PAGES, FREE , ...e.1 VOLUME 70, NUMBER 6 ·The Newspaper for the Ithaca College Community WWW. ITHACA.EDU/ITHACAN A+ elin1ination Protesting war _in·Iraq nears approval SGA passes one of first college resolutions in nation BY SUDHANSH U SARIA Staff Writer :av MICHELLE THEIS Opinion Editor Faculty could be forced to adjust grading standards if a proposal to end The Ithaca College Stude}!t Government A+ grades receives final approval. Association became early Wednesday The maximum grade-point average morning one of the first colleges nationwide at Ithaca College would be reduced to to pass a resolution officially opposing a pre­ 4.0 from 4.3. However, the bench­ emptive military strike on Iraq. marks for the Latin honors at gradu­ The resolution, which "urges the U.S. and ation_would remain the same. Iraqi governments to work in good faith to en­ The Faculty Council began exam­ sure the return of the U.N. weapons inspectors, ining the issues of grade inflation and to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people and the validity of A+ grades when a group to abide by the framework of international law," of faculty members proposed the re­ passed 29-10 with nine abstentions. view in Fall.1999. The council creat­ Student Congress passed the final form of ed the Grading Policies Committee to the resolution at 12:45 a.m. after more than four study the matter closely. hours of debate between attendees and repre­ The committee, along with the Stu­ sentatives that at times became heated. Much dent Government Association, con­ of the debate centered on the purpose of SGA ducted research comparing the college and whether student representatives were ob­ to other similar institutions in the As­ ligated to vote with their constituencies in mind. sociation of New American Colleges, a Other debates arose when some students group to which the college belongs. thought that the resolution divided the cam­ Among the 21 schools in the asso­ pus into liberal and conservative factions. Se­ ciation, two others awarded A+ grades nior Lucas Shapiro and other student repre­ at the time of the committee's research. sentatives stressed that the resolution was not One of the two, . a declaration against war in general, but rather the University of a plea for more consideration by both Con­ Dayton in Ohio, gress and President Bush. did away with The meeting itself was well-attended af­ A+ grades this ter SGA's executive board sent out an e-mail fall. to students Tuesday morning informing Faculty Coun­ them of the proposed resolution and encour­ cil Chairman aging them to attend the meeting. Signs were Stanley Seltzer, put up across campus Monday. associate pro­ A crowd of about 100 people, excluding fessor of mathe- Student Congress, gathered in Textor 102 to matics and SELTZER raise concerns about the proposal, worried computer sci- that a resolution passed by SGA would speak ence, said he expects that the course for students who did not agree with the state­ catalog for the next academic year will ment. Student Body President Lisa Palmero reflect changes in the grading system. was one of the first to speak, saying that more "This fall, the next spring and in the students needed to be consulted than just the summer, professors will be able to give 52 who make up SGA. SARAH SCHULTE/THE ITHACAN A+ grades," he said. "But next fall, I'm "That's not even 1 percent of the popu­ ITHACA AREA RESIDENTS protest war in Iraq on The Commo~s Saturday afternoon. guessing A+ will be history." lation of more than 6,000 students," she said. Lee Bailey, associate professor of Others, including Melissa Ferarro, SGA vice philosophy and religion and chairman president of communications, expressed the of the Grading Policies Committee, said irony of the situation: While students wanted SGA RESOLUTION the research clearly reflected a need for to vote on an issue that would encourage U.S. "Resolved, that the Ithaca College sent situation, the Ithaca College Student action on the issue of grade inflation. Congress to take more time to contact its con­ Student Government Association urges · Government Association urges represen­ "We are one of the only colleges stituencies, the same students wanted their own the U.S. and Iraqi governments to work in tatives in Congress to vote against any who still work with the A+ among representatives to vote immediately. good faith ~o ensure the return of U'.N. resolution that would allow the president schools of our category," he said. Junior Maria Stojanova, one of the weapons inspectors, to alleviate the suf­ power to escalate military action against The Faculty Council forwarded drafters of the resolution, along with several fering of the Iraqi people and to abide by Iraq at least until Congress has more time only one of the four recommendations · constituents, said that in the course of less than the framework of international.law. to discuss the issue with its constituents, proposed by the Grading Policies · two days, the drafters had gotten more than 400 ''Thereby, absent new evidence or as well as additional time to gather evi­ , Committee - revoking the A+ grade events that dramatically change the pre- dence and decide on the issue." - to the Academic Policies Com­ See STUDENTS, Page 8 mittee last spring. That committee for­ mulated a proposal and sent it back to the Faculty Council, which approved City of Itha_ca signs measure against action it unanimously Sept. 3. The council then returned it to the BY MICHELLE THEIS ing a unanimous vote in Santa Cruz, they shouldn't use us to attack another nation," Academic :policies Committee, which Opinion Editor Calif., last week that condemned the Bush said Alderman Edward Hershey, D-5th Ward. forwarded it to the provost. If passed, administration for its pla.is to invade the Only a week before the council's decision, it will require approval from the pres­ After listening to petitions from several Itha­ Mideast country. the Green Party of the United States approved ident before being included in the cat­ cfresidents, the City oflthaca Common Coun­ Although the majority of the council a statement officially opposing the war on na­ alog for the next academic year. cil voted unanimously Oct. 2 to pass a reso- agreed that taking a stance on national issues tional and international levels. Deborah Martin, assistant profes­ lution against war with Iraq. · · and foreign policy was not typical, all con­ In Tompkins County, Green Party candi­ sor of music performance and chair­ The resolution, drafted by Alderwoman Su­ cluded that the issue at hand was important date Ralph Nader received more than 20 per­ woman of· the Academic Policies san Blumenthal, D-3rd Ward, stated that "ab­ enough to adopt a citywide statement. cent of the presidential vote in 2000 and sev­ Committee, said she expects students sent new evidence or events that dramatical­ "We need to give a public voice to peo­ en Green-backed candidates were elected to to react positively to a change in the . 1.. ly change the present situation, Common Coun­ ple's concerns," Blumenthal said. office in last year's elections. Given the area's A+ policy because it would make Itha­ cil urges the city's representatives in Congress Mayor Alan Cohen had one reservation strong Green Party representation, the reso­ ca College transcripts comparable to to vote against any resolution in Congress that about the phrasing of the resolution and sug­ lution seemed logical to many residents. those of other schools. would allow the president to declare war on gested that council rewrite it to acknowl­ : Alderman Daniel Cogan, D-5th Ward, said "I don't think even our students Iraq."Alderman Peter Mack, D-4th Ward, was edge that Congress may have more infor­ he was not surprised thc!t the vote was unan­ would want to feel they come from a absent from the meeting. mation than the City of Ithaca. His request imous, given the community's strong polit­ place where the grades are overly Ithaca's official public opposition to the was dismissed. ical sentiments. He said passing the resolu- · - high," she said. war was the second in the nation, follow- "We need to.know, and if they can't tell us, tion "felt like the right thing to do." .. INSIDE ACCENT ·••• 1S CLASSIFIED ••• 21 COMICS ••• 22· OPINION ••• 12 SPORTS ••• 28 I \ I 2 THE ITHACAN NEWS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2002 T National and I nternational News Demonstrators gather to protest war Thousands of protesters opposed to a war in Iraq con­ verged Sunday as part of a coordinated national effort that stretched from New York City's Central Park to San Fran­ cisco's Union Square and spots in at least a dozen other cities. ti L,os Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lt. Pat Jor­ i dan estimated the crowd at the Federal Building in Los I Angeles at about 3,000 but a California Highway Patrol officer overseeing the peaceful rally and march put the t number at "well above" the group's permit for 3,500. \; Organizers pegged the turnout at 10,000. I The rallies, organized by an umbrella group called the Not I in Our Name Project, coincided with the eve of the one-year s anniversary of the start of bombing in Afghanistan. ( While polls have generally shown support for the Bush r administration's actions since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and for a war on Iraq with allied and United Nations sup­ C port, the weekend's well-coordinated events indicate the e presence of a national dissent movement.