Cornell Blog: An unofficial blog about Cornell University

Yes, you heard me right. You can submit a comment to the authorities at Cornell University about their new code of conduct, which is Ithaca’s own little version of the Patriot Act. The rationale behind this “open” revision process is outlined in the Krause Report Memo:

Since the Campus Code of Conduct and related disciplinary processes affect all members of the Ithaca campus, it is important that there be opportunities for members of the university community to comment on the proposed changes. For that reason, I ask that you read these materials with great care and be prepared to join President-elect David Skorton and others, in the fall, in discussing the recommended changes before The Board of Trustees is asked to take any action regarding them.

Luckily for us busy alumni bloggers, they provide a summary of major changes, which I will trust for now:

• The Office of Student affairs will lose its independence from the university administration
• Off campus “misconduct” can now be considered directly by the Office of Student Affairs
• Evidence must be a “Preponderance (more likely than not)” rather than “Clear and convincing”
• Accused loses the right to remain silent; compelled to cooperate with the Office of Student Discipline
• Accused loses the right to appeal a decision

I am including this reworked Cornell University logo so that it’s clear that I think these Code of Conduct changes enable a police-state controlled by the current administration.

This should be a bigger deal that it is. The changes implement a “guilty until proven innocent” judicial ideology, tie Cornell’s judicial branch directly to its internal management, allow consideration of “off campus character” in determining on-campus justice, and force the accused to testify against himself. All the proposed Krause changes need to be entirely perfect is the following change:

Before: The Cornell University campus is policed by the CUPD.

After: The Cornell University will be patrolled by heavily armed men wearing black coats, body armor, dark glasses, and earpieces. Students found violating the code of conduct will be discretely “dealt with” efficiently so as not to pose further threat the Cornell community.

Cornell just released a brand-new website for their Comprehensive Master Plan project, which was anounced earlier this spring.

If you’re wondering what the Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) is, a sentence from their opening paragraph describes it best:

The plan will guide the long-term physical development of the Ithaca campus in concert with the University’s academic goals over the next 10 to 25 years and is expected to be carried out over the next 18 to 22 months.

In other words, the CMP is a program is designed to create a plan for the use of physical property across the Cornell University Ithaca campus over the next decade. Decisions about student housing, campus atmosphere, parking, public transportation, physical security, beauty, new buildings, and renovations are in the CMP committee’s purvue. As Cornell students, you should be intimately interested in who is running this committee, as it will make wide-ranging decisions that affect day-to-day student life.

While a number of consulting and architectural teams have been chosen, the comittee itself is lead by David Skorton, C. Biddy Martin, and Steve Golding, who comprise the executive steering committee. It’s only fair to point out that provost Biddy Martin has been involved in a bid to close to the college of Architecture, Art, and Planning, the resignation of Arts dean Phil Lewis, and according to the Cornell Review some diversity favoritism.

The Cornell Chronicle has posted two new interviews with Cornell University president elect David Skorton. The first, a general interview, focuses on Skorton’s goals in communication with students, staff, and the press and his focus on the Arts:

“I think in general universities are places where one has to consult, where one has to cast a wide net for opinion.” He then paraphrased Cornell’s legendary historian Carl Becker, saying, “universities are places where one thinks otherwise.”

The second interview talks specifically about how he plans to enhance the Arts and Humanities at Cornell:

“Every research university in the country, whether or not originally a land-grant university, has that responsibility because we all get so much public money,” he added. “We get hundreds of millions of dollars in external funding, predominantly from the federal taxpayers; we get very precious support from the state of New York, and we get support from alums and friends and the students and their families. So we owe a giving back in all the disciplines we have on campus.”

While the two interviews are quite short, they are an excellent place to go to get a better feel for the personality of Cornell’s next president.