Dear Uncle Ezra - Questions for Tuesday, April 30, 1996

Dear Uncle Ezra,
Two questions: First, I was under the impression when I first applied to Cornell that regardless of which college I was in--I would have access to everything.  That everyone was a Cornellian and you were only separated by college because it was easier to monitor specific requirements for what you wanted to study.  I am now a senior and I don't like the fact that I don't have access everywhere. Examples:  Computer Labs.  Why does the AG school and ILR computer labs close them out to students outside of their college?  Is this fair.  plus, why are there so many career centers and if you want to attend something given by HumeEc or Hotel you have to belong to those schools?
        Second, what is the deal with graduate students being so much different than undergraduate students.  When I was a freshman, Olin Lib. was closed to undergrads and I would have to wait in a long line while I requested a book from the stack.  Now that it has changed and is open--there is no difference to the privacy and quiet atmoshphere in the stacks.  Everyone regardless of status goes to the library to do what they need to do and leave.  I am tired of this grad crap.  The Law school library goes around asking for your Id and if you are an undergrad you must leave at the early closing time.  This is'nt fair. Many of the materials in the Law Library are used by undergrads for the many law classes offered at the undergrad level.  Why is it that because I am not a grad student that I can's stay???  I am even older than some of the first year law students.  Am I going to misbehave because I am an undergrad.  Cornell altogether doesn't give undergrads much credit.  Many of the grad students need to realize that they are jsut a year or two ahead of us and need to get off of the!  ir high horse.
        Thanks in advance for helping all undergrads find out WHY.

                                                              The Wonderer

Dear Wanting Access,
You're asking complex question with no easy answers here, as I'm sure you know.  In general, we at Cornell would like to lower barriers between the units, but we recognize that we have a ways to go.  And under certain circumstances, such as the areas you mention, focusing use of services for a given population of students does make sense as a way of allocating limited resources.
        To get more specifics, I went to the folks in charge of the facilities (and policies behind them) that you mention.  H. Dean Sutphin (hds2@Cornell.edu), Associate Dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, responds:  "The Ag computing labs are primarily instructional facilities, funded by the college.  Thus, these facilities are almost completely booked by faculty for teaching during the day.  Evening hours may also have priority for instruction."  Frances Blodgett (fib1@Cornell.edu), who manages the computing facility, adds:  "Warren Computer Labs, Riley Robb labs, and the labs in Warren Hall are only closed to users during class sessions.  We make no distinction as to who can use the machines during public use times.  Sometimes users are restricted to time limits when we are in a waiting-line situation.  Mann Library's Stone Microcenter I and II are open to all students regardless of what college they belong to.  They have very few classes (no regularly scheduled ones) so as to remain open for public use.  In fact, Stone II Mac facility was opened last fall for the very purpose of having a lab completely free from class situations so that all students could have access."
        Robert Stewart Smith (rss14@Cornell.edu), Associate Dean in the ILR School, checked with ILR's computer support people:  They stated that some computer labs on campus are funded centrally by Day Hall, and others are funded by particular colleges out of "college funds" (the money that each college gets from its students' tuition payments).  The ILR lab in question is in the latter category (ILR pays for the temporary building that houses the lab, for the staff that supports it, and for the computers).  The purpose of the lab is to support ILR courses and ILR students, and the costs are borne (indirectly) by ILR students.
        The Law Library offers access to undergrads, other students, faculty, and staff for many hours each week.  Once the building closes, only law students and personnel are allowed, which, according to Law School Dean Russell Osgood, is "an ancient and sensible policy."  Q1 in the 5/16/89 "Dear Uncle Ezra" posting,
Q07 in the 7/24/90 posting, and Q02 in the 4/10/90 posting (among many letters in the Uncle Ezra archives) give more details about the law library's hours and policy.
        I also shared your letter with Susan Murphy (shm1@Cornell.edu), Vice President for Student and Academic Services, who would like to pass your questions and the responses above along to all the associate deans.  I'm sure your concerns will be fodder for more dialogue leading to needed changes to increase access when possible.

Uncle Ezra

Dear U.E.
I was just wondering why the fraternity system is called "Greek"? As far as I know universities in Greece never had fraternities and they certainly aren't big beer drinkers...
Thanks

Odysseus

Dear unc,
I am trying to locate someone who has graduated from a college in Midwest recently we have lost touch by accident and I would like to renez our acquiantence.. The thing is that I was able to locate her name and class through her school's Web page however it doesn't list her phone # or an e-mail address... is there a way thaty I could find out her e-mail address by some other means

thanks

sleepless in Ithaca

Dear Sleepless in Ithaca,
Try writing to the postmaster at your friend's school. Barbara Skoblick at CIT (BS10@Cornell.edu) says in response to your inquiry, "We get lots of requests just like yours. Our postmaster address is postmaster@Cornell.edu. Other colleges have similar ones. The 'Cornell' part needs to get replaced with whatever name the other college uses on the internet (which is most likely part of their Web address). There may also be an address as part of their Web page to write to for more information. And there is a Web page called 'who/where' (http://www.whowhere.com/) which allows you to enter a name and it tries to find it. Also, there are numerous commercial enterprises now that gather names and email addresses from directories and lists and make them available like phone books."
Thanks, Barbara! I hope your friend's address soon pops into view.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle Ezra--
I seem to have a problem and woud like your advice. It seems very childish and juvenile, but it really is frustrating to me.  I seem to have a recurring problem with the parents of my friends.  They tend not to like me, and regard me as a bad influence over their children. Now I must say right away that I do not consider myself a bad influence.  In fact, I am what most parents refer to as "such a nice girl" - hardworking, friendly, moral, wholesome, non-smoking, non-drinking, non-drug-taking.  (Not that I think people who drink, smoke, etc.  are bad.  I am simply referring to the thoughts of an older generation.)  So, it baffles me that I am considered a bad influence.  True, I have faults, like everyone.  I'm not saying I'm perfect.  But I don't see how I could be a bad influence or so disliked.
        In the past I had a close friend who has since cut me off from her company at the advice/insistence of her parents.  She will no longer visit me and I am not allowed to visit her at her parents home. That's fine.  I mean, I'm sad to lose a friend, but as I cannot see that I have done anything to warrant such behavior, I can assume that the fault lies with them.  However, just recently another close friend told me that her parents (wonderful people who I've always considered to be a second set of parents to me) have ceased to regard me so highly and that they would prefer my friend not visit me, nor I her. This really floored me.  I mean, if something like this happened once, I could assume the problem was with the other people.  For it to happen twice makes me think that the problem is mine.  I am more than willing to admit my faults and change my behavior if it is offensive. But I don't know what to do?  The only common denominator between the two situations is that when I spent time at the house of my friends' parents (both of them) I suffered from a migraine.  (I used to get them a lot and nothing woud help, even prescription medicine.  Light and sound would make things worse and plunge me into excrutiating pain.  I usually would have to lay down in a dark, quiet room.)
        Anyhow, once when I visited each friend, this happened, as it does periodically.  (My friends are used to it, the parents weren't)  For the space of several hours to a day (but never more than that), I was very quiet and spent time lying down and not talking to anyone. However, I explained to them that if I seemed anti-social I was just suffering from a migraine and that I needed to lie down and be quiet and that it would be fine in time.  And as it only happened once, and I haven't suffered from this very much in the past year, I didn't think it could be a problem.  Neither set of parents will say why they don't like me (I'd love to get specifics but they just won't tell me) so I try to figure it out on my own.  Both of my friends and their parents are different from each other as people can be, and the Migraine Thing is the only event that the two situations have in common.  Is it possible by some random twist of fate for me to have had two friends whose parents bear an un-remitting prejudice against Migraine sufferers.  This seems unlikely.
        Anyhow, it's worrying me now because I've already had one friend dump me because she was influence by her parents opinion.  I do not want this to happen again with my other friend.  She swears she will not be influenced by them, but I do not want there to be any tension in this situation.  The parents in question refuse to discuss the situation with either me or my friend (to my face, they act as if they really love me) and I am at a loss.  I know this sounds like a silly elementary school problem, and I think that everyone is acting immaturely by refusing to discuss the problem.  And I think I am juvenile by letting it upset me.  But I don't know what to do.  Do you have any advice?

                                               -- Bewildered Bad-Influence

Dear Bewildered,
It's not at all childish to be dismayed and confused about your friends and their parents shutting you out, especially when they won't give you concrete reasons that would allow you to make decisions about what, if anything, you can change.  Their silence leaves you guessing at the root cause of the problem -- pulling out random possibilities like the migraine incidents -- and that kind of self-doubt can be very unsettling.
        Since poor communication seems to be one of the most difficult aspects of the problem, you can try extra clear communication as an antidote.  For instance, you can write a couple of letters -- one to each friend and her family -- saying what you value in the relationships, how you're hurt and confused by the turn of events, and that you'd deeply appreciate any feedback they can offer about what happened and why.  Putting something in writing makes it more formal and suggests that an equally in-depth response would be considerate. You can't control whether or how they respond, but at least you'll have the satisfaction of having said your piece.
        Whether or not writing feels to you like a good idea, you'll want to find ways to be self-reflective (though not self-condemning) about how you approach friendships.  In light of these recent incidents and also apart from them, are their any changes YOU would like to make in your own behavior?  What kind of friend would you most like to be, and what steps do you need to take to get there?  In this process, you may find it helpful to talk to an EARS counselor (211 WSH; 255-EARS) or some other objective, caring person who can give you tools to sort out what you can do and what you need to leave in others' hands.
        Above all, don't let these other people's perceptions paralyze you into feeling you can't build the kind of life you want.  As Etty Hillesum wrote in her diaries (AN INTERRUPTED LIFE:  THE DIARIES OF ETTY HILLESUM 1941-1943):  "If one burdens the future with one's worries, it cannot grow organically.  I am filled with confidence, not that I shall succeed in worldly things, but that even when things go badly for me I shall still find life good and worth living."

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle Ezra,
I've never had the need to ask you a question before but now I do and I hope that you can answer it. My question regards a class I am taking, Rural Sociology 175, and the legality of the Professor's procedures. First, he allows students to appeal only one of three exams (which are graded by TAs) and only if students have signed an A+_ contract. So if you think grading is unfair on more than one occasion or if you haven't signed this "Contract" (which says that you are dedicated to the class and will attend every lecture), then whatever the TA gives you stands. Also, on this next take-home exam, he asks us to compare the plight of Native Americans to people of our own ethnic heritage. Is this fair? I shouldn't have to write about my own culture if I don't want to and he specifies that I have to write about only my own culture. I find this incredibly racist and unjust. Is there anything I can do about it?

a loving niece

Dear Loving Niece,
Let me start with your second question. If the content of your class is multi-cultural in nature, then it would not be unusual  or inappropriate for the professor to give an assignment in which you come to understand others through understanding yourself more fully. Personalizing learning by having students connect it to their own life experience is an important teaching style.  You'll find this style in reflective journaling assignments in English classes, in ethics courses that require you to ponder "What would I do about his?", and in classes like yours that look at the interface between different cultures.
        At the same time, there are people who feel that any personalization of learning is inappropriate, that values need to be examined in an objective context without bringing in the ways in which your own values influence your perception of others.  Also, some students feel strongly about when and where they share details of their cultural heritage.  To clarify where you own concern comes from, you can ask whether it bothers you to share your own culture in this way or whether you're simply doubting that the assignment is relevant to the course.
        If you still have qualms about the assignment after considering the potential value of personalized learning, then you can talk to your professor about your concerns.  If he says that you do need to proceed with the assignment, perhaps you can work out a way to keep it as confidential as possible.  As an alternative, you can call the Ombudsman's Office staff (255-4321) to explain the situation and ask when and under what conditions you can refuse an assignment without penalty.
        I shared your struggle with the A+_ contract with Dean of Faculty Peter Stein (PCS1@Cornell.edu), who -- like myself -- doesn't know what the contract means.  If you'd like to call him to discuss the problem in further detail, he can be reached at 255-4843.

Uncle Ezra

DUE-
I was wondering about the escort service; why do they end the service early? I was just in a situation were I fell asleep and missed the 2am bus from North to Collegetown, but there was no way for me to get home. I didn't want my boyfriend to walk all the way down, then have to walk all the way back, and I wasn't very comfortable walking the whole way myself. I got very lucky and there were extra people on shift on the Police and was able to get a ride home, but what if I didn't? I think that it would be more sensible to extend the escort service past the hours when the buses run, when some people might really need it. Now, I'm not suggesting that it needs to be a student, if it could be a staff member, only one would probably be needed, so that there is another option, just in case. I don't know what anyone would think about it and I'm sure it's been suggested before, but I just wanted to ask and bring it to your attention. Thanks!

A concerned student

Dear Concerned Student,
Thanks for caring enough about your own safety and the safety of others to write.  The Blue Light Escort operates from 8:30pm to 1am while classes are in session, except during study and exam weeks, when the hours are 9pm to 2am.  The escorts do not work beyond these hours for two main reasons:
        1.  The escorts are students and, like you, have to study and sleep.  Most students are not interested in working the late hours.
        2.  The majority of requests for escorts are between 9-11pm, with very few between 11pm and midnight, and hardly any after 12:30am. Even when the hours are extended to 2am for two weeks (study and exam weeks), there are usually only two late-hours requests for the entire period.
        Students and staff should arrange their schedules to utilize both the Blue Light Escort (255-7373) and the Blue Light Bus Service. There are several taxi services that are available (for a fee) 24 hours a day, in instances where you accidentally fall asleep or for other reasons simply can't keep within the escort hours.  If an emergency situation occurs, calling the Cornell Police (255-1111) for an escort is possible as a last resort.

Uncle Ezra