Following the accidental gorge deaths of three students this summer, President David Skorton endorsed a report on Thursday from the Gorge Safety Steering Committee calling for new infrastructure, increased educational outreach and a student patrol group to improve safety in the gorges. 

The Cascadilla Gorge Trail, which has been closed for renovations since 2008, was reopened Monday.

A student fell 30 feet into Fall Creek Gorge while apparently trying to rock climb near the Thurston Avenue bridge on Saturday afternoon. The student suffered “severe abrasions” and was airlifted to a hospital in Pennsylvania, according to John Carberry, a Cornell public information officer.

A restoration project has begun that will refurbish and ultimately reopen the Cornell Plantations’ Cascadilla Gorge Trail. According to the University’s Facilities Services website, the total budget for the project will range between $250,000 and $500,000. The restoration is included within the trustee-approved capital budget as a General Purpose Maintenance and Infrastructure Project.

The 161 things list is all about getting caught. Apart from the obvious (#1: Sex in the Stacks. Duh.), there are plenty of entries that can get you into trouble. These range from the boring (#90: Males — Get Thrown out of Balch Hall) to the commonplace but always amusing (#47: Do the Walk of Shame) to the sounds fun but never going to happen because I’m too lazy (#122: Go on a Road Trip to Canada, Flirt with the Border Patrol, Smuggle Booze Back).

I’m not really sure why “Get J.A.’d for drinking in your freshman dorm” didn’t make it on the list, but there is clearly no shortage of things that you can get in trouble for at Cornell.

As the end of the year approaches, campus officials have begun a thorough review of various public safety measures in light of the University’s recent budget cuts. Representatives from the three colleges in Ithaca — Ithaca College, Tompkins County Community College and Cornell — met last night in the Africana Center for a panel discussion of the challenges facing their respective student bodies.

Ithaca is gorges. However, according to the city’s municipal code, it is in fact illegal to swim in Ithaca’s gorges. The University Assembly is now considering a resolution — proposed by the Codes and Judicial Committee (CJC) — to amend Cornell’s Code of Judicial Conduct so that the gorges on Cornell’s campus are off-limits as well.

At the assembly meeting last night, there was only enough time to briefly review the issue. The assembly will continue the discussion in its meeting next month.

The picturesque views of Beebe Lake from the Thurston Avenue Bridge will now feature one eye-catching disruption. Cor­nell’s Hydraulic Lab — a decaying stone building that projected out from Fall Creek Gorge next to the Triphammer Footbridge and across from the Alumni House — is no longer standing.

The abandoned five-story tower, often considered an icon of Cornell’s scenic campus, collapsed at the end of last week, ending any speculation as to how long the structurally precarious building would last.

The remains of the 70-foot tall building lay in the gorge on Saturday morning, according to Giffen Ott ’13, a first year architecture student who noticed on Friday afternoon that the lab had collapsed.

Ryan Lavin ’09, president of the Student Assembly, was at the scene two years ago when a group of students helped pull the body of a drowned teenager out of one of the gorges. Now, Lavin, along with other student leaders, Cornell administrators and Ithaca city officials, participated in a meeting on Friday to discuss new tactics for enforcing gorge safety issues in light of recent deaths and injuries.

Local emergency officials declared a Cornell student dead when his body was recovered from Fall Creek Gorge below the suspension bridge leading to North Campus last night around 9:20 p.m. He was later identified as 18-year-old Douglas Lowe from Shelton, Conn, a student in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Lowe was said to have been swimming in the gorge with about 12 other people when his body was pulled under the current, the Ithaca Journal reported. He slid down a smooth rock surface that leads to a swirling pool of collected water — often a popular swimming spot for Cornellians.