Pending the results of an Environmental Review Board (ERB) hearing scheduled for next Tuesday, Dr. Susan Millar is scheduled to commence work on the long anticipated Glacier Restoration Project early this winter. “We’ve been working at this for a long time,” Millar said at a press conference in the James Library. “It feels like its coming to an end, but “It feels like its coming to an end, but we expect that it is just the beginning of a new epoch in glacial research, if not a new glacial epoch.”

Dr. Millar and her team was awarded the International Cold Environments (ICE) Grant for Groundbreaking research in order to begin restoration of the ice sheet that covered much of North America nearly two million years ago. “It’s important, in a project of this magnitude, to start small. Fortunately we’ve had wonderful support so far from the City of Syracuse and from the University.”

In exchange for naming rights of the glacier, Carrier Corporation has agreed to expand their Syracuse plant in order to produce the air conditioners necessary for the initial cooling. The City Council expects that the glacier will become a major tourist attraction, adding an outdoor component to the DestiNY USA project. City Councilman Ben Doggle has hopes for a major resort development . “In the face of global warming, we expect vacationers to seek out opportunities to escape the heat. We want to position Syracuse on the leading edge of cryo-tourism.”

Not everyone is as enthusiastic as Councilman Doggle. Dr. Millar and her team have frequently encountered resistance, on the one hand from restoration skeptics, who have argued that we can’t yet to be sure of the science and that more study is needed before such drastic measures are taken. On the other hand, a more vocal group has argued that the newly restored Carrier Glacier will threaten the habitat of the Syracuse black Squirrel (Spirmophilus Orangeus) . Additionally, Jim Boeheim, coach of the men’s basketball team, has expressed concern that a glacier outside of the dome will cause the team’s free-throw shooters to go cold.

A ground covering ceremony is planned for next Wednesday (weather permitting) at the North Entrance to the Carrier Dome. Please feel free to bring your own snow and ice to contribute to the cause and participate in the festivities.