March 25th, 2022 Daily Headlines

Cornell University is raising its COVID-19 Alert Level to yellow. In a statement the school said positive COVID cases had increased beyond their predictions. The school pinned the increase in cases on the relaxing of mask requirements, the new BA.2 variant, and an increase in social activities. Cornell is urging students to practice extra caution and to take “immediate voluntary actions” including mask wearing at social events, remaining at home if you feel unwell, and using Cornell’s optional surveillance testing. 

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Ithaca College has named Melanie Stein as the school’s new Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs. According to the Ithacan, Stein previously served as Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. Previous Provost La Jerne Cornish was named as Ithaca’s new President earlier this month. Stein has served as Interim Provost since last August when Cornish became Interim president. Cornish also appointed Professor Claire Gleitman as the new Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences.

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Last week the Tompkins County Legislature voted to provide over $250,000 towards the Arts and Culture Organizational Development Grant. Funds will be provided to 16 local arts and culture organizations including Cinemapolis, State Theatre of Ithaca, and the Sciencenter. The funds were approved unanimously at the legislature’s March 17th meeting.

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In February, New York State’s unemployment rate fell below 5 percent. According to Spectrum News unemployment fell from 5.3 to 4.9 percent with over 39,000 jobs added in the private sector. New York City has seen a higher unemployment rate then the rest of the state with unemployment now at 7 percent. Outside of NYC the state hit its lowest unemployment rate since 1976 falling to 3.4 percent.