The Downtown Ithaca Alliance and the Collegetown Neighborhood Council have enlisted DesignConnect, a student organization, to work on Ithaca-area design and urban planning projects this semester. Students are slated to be at the forefront of planning expansions to the Six Mile Creek walk.

Both the Interfraternity Council and the Student Assembly unanimously passed resolutions this week in support of a campaign to spread awareness about New York State’s Good Samaritan law.

Despite a financial crisis that caused philanthropy to plummet nationwide, the University raised 80 percent, or $3.83 billion, of its “Cornell Now” fundraising campaign goal as of Feb. 3, putting it ahead of track to reach its target of $4.75 billion by 2015.

Ithaca attorney Leslie Danks Burke announced her candidacy Wednesday for the congressional seat in New York State’s 22nd District, which is currently held by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.). Hinchey, who has served in Congress for 18 years, said in January that he would not seat reelection.

At the end of last year, the City of Ithaca’s Parks Commission unanimously rejected a proposal to install a memorial plaque near Ithaca Falls for Nathaniel Rand ’12, a student who died in a swimming accident at the gorge site in July.  Above, a man fly fishes on Thursday in the waters of Fall Creek, below the Falls.

On Jan. 30, the University was awarded a gold rating under the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating System in recognition of its campus-wide sustainability efforts. Out of 152 participating universities, Cornell was one of 25 to earn a gold rating from STARS.

The Cornell Store has recently changed several of its marketing policies in an effort to make textbook prices more competitive to combat the growing number of students who have begun purchasing textbooks from outside sources, according to Margie Whiteleather, strategic projects manager for the Cornell Store.

Members of the Faculty Senate voiced concerns about the University’s plans for the new New York City tech campus in a meeting Wednesday night.

Fifty-eight Cornellians joined the Peace Corps in 2011, more than any other Ivy League university, according to Jim Haldeman, senior associate director of Cornell’s international programs, which includes the University’s Peace Corps program.