X-Sender: bmd2@postoffice7.mail.cornell.edu

Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 12:52:27 -0400

To: president@cornell.edu, shm1@cornell.edu, hhr6@cornell.edu, cam18@cornell.edu

From: Brett de Bary <bmd2@cornell.edu>

Subject: Faculty Response to Eisner/Murphy Memos


Redbud Faculty Working Group Response to Vice President Susan Murphy's Message to Tom Eisner of June 23, 2005


Dear President Lehman,


With our faculty colleagues, and on behalf of those 360 faculty who have already expressed a strong commitment to these issues, we would like to express our appreciation for the proposal put forth in Professor Thomas Eisner's memo and Vice President Susan Murphy's response of June 23 with regard to Redbud Woods. We accept the first three points in Vice President Murphy's June 23 document and are eager to begin the effort to reduce parking demand on campus. We are heartened by the fact that these three paragraphs reflect a concurrence of views between Vice President Murphy and Professor Eisner. We hope they also reflect your views. We believe the other points in the message merit substantive discussion and look forward to engaging in it with you.


We want to emphasize at the outset that this is a large and complex issue which has broad implications for the University, its surrounding community, and our institutional priorities and commitments. It goes far beyond the narrow question of specific sites and numbers of parking spaces. We are also mindful that issues of transportation and parking will need to involve the university's many constituencies, of which faculty are only one.


However, we will immediately begin to address with our faculty colleagues the proposals in Professor Eisner's memo and Vice President Murphy's response of June 23. We are confident that, when the linkage is more fully articulated between our immediate parking problems and Cornell's larger commitments to campus and global sustainability, faculty and students will be willing to take the steps necessary to reduce reliance on cars and driving on campus.


In response to Vice President Murphy's message, the Redbud Faculty Working Group will draw up a preliminary document containing proposals for reducing parking demand. We will send this document to you by June 30. Clearly, however, creating a practical and detailed long-term plan to reduce parking demand will require more than one week.


We will continue to communicate to the students our opinions and concerns about safety issues. As a group representing the faculty, we cannot speak for the students and local residents concerned with the Redbud issue, nor do we have control over any particular use of the Woods. However, we are confident that your agreement not to commence construction during your tenure will significantly allay tensions.


We would appreciate having responses to this letter addressed to the faculty who have signed it (including Professor Eisner), whose e-mail addresses are listed above.


Signed,


Redbud Faculty Working Group


Thomas Eisner, Neurobiology and Behavior


Ti Alkire, Romance Studies


Kora Bättig, Romance Studies


Lourdes Beneria, City and Regional Planning


Abigail Cohn, Linguistics


George Conneman, Emeritus, Applied Economics and Management


Roy Colle, Emeritus, Communications


Stuart Davis, English


Brett de Bary, Asian Studies and Comparative Literature


Tim Fahey, Natural Resources


Martin Hatch, Music


Jane Marie Law, Asian Studies and Religious Studies


Lois Levitan, Environmental Risk Analysis Program


Joanna Luks, Romance Studies


Barbara Lynch, City and Regional Planning


Jane Mt. Pleasant, American Indian Program


Kenneth Mudge, Horticulture


Judith Pierpont, John S. Knight Writing Institute


Trevor Pinch, Science, Technology, and Society


Carol Rosen, Linguistics


David Rosen, Music


Paul Sawyer, English


James Siegel, Anthropology


Aaron Sachs, History


Elizabeth Sanders, Government


Nava Scharf, Near Eastern Studies


William Trochim, Policy Analysis and Management


Margaret Washington, History


Anke Wessels, Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy


Thomas Whitlow, Horticulture


June 27, 2005





--- end forwarded text



--


================================

Abigail C. Cohn

Associate Professor

Department of Linguistics

203D Morrill Hall, Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853-4701

607-255-1747

FAX: 607-255-2044



Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:RFWGtoPresident0626_1.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (007C4F46)




Redbud Faculty Working Group Response to Vice President Susan Murphy's Message to Tom Eisner of June 23, 2005


Dear President Lehman,


With our faculty colleagues, and on behalf of those 360 faculty who have already expressed a strong commitment to these issues, we would like to express our appreciation for the proposal put forth in Professor Thomas Eisner's memo and Vice President Susan Murphy's response of June 23 with regard to Redbud Woods. We accept the first three points in Vice President Murphy's June 23 document and are eager to begin the effort to reduce parking demand on campus. We are heartened by the fact that these three paragraphs reflect a concurrence of views between Vice President Murphy and Professor Eisner. We hope they also reflect your views. We believe the other points in the message merit substantive discussion and look forward to engaging in it with you.


We want to emphasize at the outset that this is a large and complex issue which has broad implications for the University, its surrounding community, and our institutional priorities and commitments. It goes far beyond the narrow question of specific sites and numbers of parking spaces. We are also mindful that issues of transportation and parking will need to involve the university's many constituencies, of which faculty are only one.


However, we will immediately begin to address with our faculty colleagues the proposals in Professor Eisner's memo and Vice President Murphy's response of June 23. We are confident that, when the linkage is more fully articulated between our immediate parking problems and Cornell's larger commitments to campus and global sustainability, faculty and students will be willing to take the steps necessary to reduce reliance on cars and driving on campus.


In response to Vice President Murphy's message, the Redbud Faculty Working Group will draw up a preliminary document containing proposals for reducing parking demand. We will send this document to you by June 30. Clearly, however, creating a practical and detailed long-term plan to reduce parking demand will require more than one week.


We will continue to communicate to the students our opinions and concerns about safety issues. As a group representing the faculty, we cannot speak for the students and local residents concerned with the Redbud issue, nor do we have control over any particular use of the Woods. However, we are confident that your agreement not to commence construction during your tenure will significantly allay tensions.


We would appreciate having responses to this letter addressed to the faculty who have signed it (including Professor Eisner), whose e-mail addresses are listed above.


Signed,


Redbud Faculty Working Group


Thomas Eisner, Neurobiology and Behavior


Ti Alkire, Romance Studies


Kora Bättig, Romance Studies


Lourdes Beneria, City and Regional Planning


Abigail Cohn, Linguistics


George Conneman, Emeritus, Applied Economics and Management


Roy Colle, Emeritus, Communications


Stuart Davis, English


Brett de Bary, Asian Studies and Comparative Literature


Tim Fahey, Natural Resources


Martin Hatch, Music


Jane Marie Law, Asian Studies and Religious Studies


Lois Levitan, Environmental Risk Analysis Program


Joanna Luks, Romance Studies


Barbara Lynch, City and Regional Planning


Jane Mt. Pleasant, American Indian Program


Kenneth Mudge, Horticulture


Judith Pierpont, John S. Knight Writing Institute


Trevor Pinch, Science, Technology, and Society


Carol Rosen, Linguistics


David Rosen, Music


Paul Sawyer, English


James Siegel, Anthropology


Aaron Sachs, History


Elizabeth Sanders, Government


Nava Scharf, Near Eastern Studies


William Trochim, Policy Analysis and Management


Margaret Washington, History


Anke Wessels, Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy


Thomas Whitlow, Horticulture


June 27, 2005





--- end forwarded text



--


================================

Abigail C. Cohn

Associate Professor

Department of Linguistics

203D Morrill Hall, Cornell University

Ithaca, NY 14853-4701

607-255-1747

FAX: 607-255-2044



Attachment converted: Macintosh HD:RFWGtoPresident0626_1.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (007C4F46)