Junior Jack Curran named The Ithacan editor-in-chief
The Ithaca College Board of Publications has named junior Jack Curran the editor-in-chief of The Ithacan for the 2014–15 academic year. The Board made its decision at the conclusion of its March 25 meeting in Newsroom 220, where Curran was interviewed as the only candidate for the position.
Curran will begin his duties as editor-in-chief at the end of the semester.
Nine colleges to take part in business competition
The Upstate Venture Capital Association of New York is coming to Ithaca College April 8 to host a competition among nine colleges in the Central New York region. The entrepreneurship event, held in Emerson Suites, is called “Tomorrow’s Leaders: Student eShip in CNY” and will feature keynote speaker Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO
of Chobani.
Student startup teams from Ithaca College, Binghamton University, Clarkson University,
Colgate University, Cornell University, SUNY Cortland, LeMoyne College, Syracuse University and Tompkins Cortland Community College will pitch their ventures to a panel of eShip alumni. Confirmed so far as judges are Patrick Ambron, Syracuse alumnus and CEO of Brand-Yourself; MacLaren Cummings, CEO and co-founder of Terakeet; and Tim O’Neill, managing partner of Golden Seeds.
A networking event for students, fauclty and staff to learn more about the event sponsors will begin at 4 p.m.
Event sponsors include Ithaca College, Envisage Information Systems, The Business Council of New York State, Miller Mayer Attorneys at Law, The Central New York Business Journal, Colgate University, Cayuga Nature Fund, Cornell University and Tompkins County Area Development.
Students to run dodgeball to benefit Ithaca charity
Registration for a student-run dodgeball tournament to benefit the Family Reading Partnership of Ithaca is open until April 20. The tournament will be held from 1–4 p.m. April 27 at the Lehman Alternative Community School on Chestnut Street in Ithaca.
Sophomores Ryan Zaploski, Casey Gavin, Bryan Baiman, Brian Belvin and Brian Borders and senior Brandon Cheeseman are organizing the event as a project for a class, Sport Event and Faculty Management. The tournament is structured as a double elimination bracket with teams of six, and winning teams will receive prizes.
Players must pay an entry fee of $10, but all participants who pre-register will receive a free T-shirt at the event. Participants should give their registration information and payment to Mary Bennet in Hill Center G56 or Nikki Bonanni in Hill Center G43.
Committee begins search for next Cornell president
The search process for Cornell University’s 13th president began with the March 28 Board of Trustees meeting, when chairman Robert Harrison shared the names of the members of the new Presidential Search Committee.
The search committee, led by Jan Rock Zubrow, will find a replacement for current president David Skorton, who announced his resignation effective July 2015 to become secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
A subcommittee of the Presidential Search Committee interviewed search firms and selected Spencer Stuart to assist Cornell.
Visiting scholar to read from social justice works
In a presentation called “A Voice for Freedom,” human rights activist Sonali Samarasinghe will give a reading at 5:30 p.m. April 9 in the Handwerker Gallery, where she will read from her new poetry chapbook and upcoming nonfiction work on issues surrounding Sri Lankan media and politics.
Samarasinghe serves as the Ithaca College Honors Program’s International Visiting Scholar in Residence, as well as the Ithaca City of Asylum’s writer in residence. Her first book published in the U.S., “The Land My Father Gave Me” from the Ithaca press Vista Periodista, contains an introduction written by Katharyn Machan, professor of writing at the college.
Also an award-winning lawyer and journalist, Samarasinghe worked in these fields in Sri Lanka for 20 years focusing on human rights and women’s issues. After her husband, a high-profile attorney and activist for freedom of the press, was assassinated, she fled the country in 2009. In the U.S., she created a website called Lanka Standard, which is dedicated to open coverage of Sri Lankan events.
The Honors Program works with the Ithaca City of Asylum to bring an International Visiting Scholar to the School of Humanities and Sciences. The event featuring
Samarasinghe is free and will include a reception.
Red Cross drive to accept blood donations April 11
The American Red Cross will host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 11 in the Fitness Center. Anyone who wishes to donate may call 1–800–REDCROSS or email [email protected] to set up an appointment prior to the blood drive. Donors can also visit the Red Cross table from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 3–9 in the Campus Center.
Someone in the United States needs blood every two seconds. Eligible donors make up only 38 percent of the population, and 8 percent of the entire population gives blood, according to statistics from the Red Cross.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Cynthia Smith at [email protected] or 607–227–3713 as soon as possible.
Thieves hold gun to victim in robbery on State Street
The Ithaca Police Department is still investigating an armed robbery that occurred March 28 in the 200 block of West State Street in the City of Ithaca.
Tompkins County Sheriffs Department deputies responded at about 1:52 a.m. to South Applegate Road to a victim who reported being held at gunpoint while two offenders stole his vehicle, a blue 2005 Volvo V70 SUV.
IPD officers then interviewed the victim, who said he was sitting in his vehicle in a parking lot on West State Street when a female appeared at the driver-side window with a handgun pointed at him. She ordered the victim to sit in the passenger seat while a male entered and sat in the seat behind the victim, pressing another gun to the back of his head. The female then drove the three of them toward Elmira, stopping in the middle of the road in the 300 block of South Applegate Road to drop off the victim and
continue driving.
Anyone with information that would aid this investigation should contact the Ithaca Police Department at 607–272–3245.
