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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 87

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2014

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News

Arts

Sports

Weather

Election Semester

Dropping Out

Heart Breaker

Sunny HIGH: 25° LOW: -9°

To promote creativity, the Student Assembly recently altered its election policies. | Page 3

Jason Ecker ’16 gives his perspective on the 10th anniversary of Kanye West’s debut album. | Page 10

Udeme Akfaete ’16 broke her own school record in the 400 meter race at the Valentine’s Invitational. | Page 16

C.U.Study Abroad Alliance Seeks to Invigorate C-Town Program in India To Launch in’15

By KEVIN MILIAN

Sun Staff Writer

The recently-formed Collegetown Small Business Alliance proposed working with Cornell to invigorate Collegetown business and creating a map of all area businesses at a Collegetown

By ANIKA SETHY Sun Staff Writer

The University will launch a new study abroad program in Spring 2015 for students to work at a local learning center in Kotagiri, India.

The Nigris Field Learning Center was created in a partnership between Cornell and the Keystone Foundation, which works with local communities to solve natural resources and rural development issues in India.

Cornell’s program, previously set to begin in Spring 2014, aims to explore how to create sustainable environments by teaching students about biodiversity, the effects of urbanization and systems of governance that can implement “We believe Cornell environmental students will emerge conservation, according to from the program ... as the program’s better global citizens.” website.

The faculty Prof. Neema Kudva lead on the program, Prof.

Neema Kudva, city and regional planning, said that the year-long delay was due to an underestimation of the complexity of the NFLC program.

Kudva said that the NFLC is unique because it incorporates a diverse group of Cornell faculty from four different colleges. The scope and interdisciplinary nature of the project meant that planning the program took more time than Kudva and her colleagues had anticipated.

“There are different timelines, different priorities to balance,” Kudva said. “Our greatest advantage is the core group of thoughtful, committed people who have come together to make this project a reality.”

See INDIA page 5

Neighborhood Council meeting Tuesday.

To stimulate business in Collegetown, the alliance, which was formed last fall, directly asked President David Skorton to consider making Sheldon Court and Cascadilla Hall — the two Collegetown residence halls — options for summer student housing, according to Marty Johnson, CSBA member and owner of Uncle Marty’s Shipping Office.

According to Johnson, the alliance sent a letter to Skorton and Ithaca city officials regarding the housing change.

Though the administration said summer students are housed on West Campus to access dining halls more easily, Johnson said Cornell would continue to work on the issue with the alliance.

“We had a positive response and they will keep us in mind for things regarding housing and dining,” Johnson said.

See C-TOWN page 4

Digital world | The Collegetown Small Business Alliance announced Tuesday that theyworking with Pop Shop to create an interactive mobile app.

DYLAN CLEMENS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Univ.Honors Professors With Fellowship Weiss Fellows will receive $25,000 for contributions to teaching

By NABIHA KESHWANI Sun Contributor

President David Skorton announced that three professors have been named recipients of the Stephen H. Weiss Fellowship — an award to

honor University faculty for making important contributions to undergraduate teaching — at a Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 31.

The award is for professors who have a record for inspiring and influencing

students “beyond the formal role as a teacher,” according to the fellowship’s website.

The fellowships — which will be officially awarded in a spring ceremony — include $5,000 per year for five years to be used any University-

related purpose.

Prof. Ashim Datta biological and environmental engineering, Prof. Melissa Hines, chemistry and chemical biology, and Prof. David See WEISS page 4

Autism Rights Activist Urges Students to Recognize‘Neurodiversity’

By ANUSHKA MEHROTRA Sun Senior Writer

Ari Ne’eman, president and founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

which seeks to empower people with autism, spoke about the importance of celebrating the neurological diversity of people with disabilities Tuesday at the Biotechnology building .

During the lecture, Ne’eman — who is diagnosed with

Self advocacy | Ari Ne’eman speaks about shifting the public’s perspectives regarding people with disabilities.

autism and a member of public about the strengths the United States National that people with brain difCouncil on Disability — ferences have and to focused on promoting change the discourse about “neurodiversity,” a movement to shift the “We don’t view autism public perception away from viewing disabili- as a disease to be cured ties as weaknesses. and we don’t think we “We don’t view autism as a disease to be need fixing.” cured and we don’t Ari Ne’eman think we need fixing,” Ne’eman said. “We do feel comfortable with the word disability because disabilities to an “appreciawe understand what it tion of difference,” accordmeans.” ing to the event’s website.

The neurodiversity Ne’eman said the prinmovement ultimately ciples of neurodiversity aims to inform the directly oppose that of

eugenics, an earlier movement that sought to prevent people with disabilities from having children.

“Eugenics was also about isolating them from the general population,” he said.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, Ne’eman said a goal of ASAN is to move away from the idea that people with autism should feel pressured to act as if they do not have a disability.

“We didn’t agree that the objective of autism intervention should be to make us appear, look and act as normal as possible,”

he said.

According to Ne’eman, ASAN seeks to create an environment in which people with autism are treated with respect.

“It’s about changing the conversation from creating a world without autistic people to creating one where autistic people are respected and enjoy the equality of opportunity,” he said.

Ne’eman said he prefers saying “autistic people” instead of “people with autism” because he views See NE’EMAN page 4

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Weird News

Umpteen speedy televisions perused two sheep, then umpteen tickets towed Jupiter, and Dan untangles five progressive orifices. Umpteen quixotic aardvarks annoyingly bought two Macintoshes. Umpteen bureaux tickled two extremely putrid botulisms. Paul sacrificed one lampstand, then Jupiter marries the very quixotic pawnbroker. Five purple poisons laughed, yet umpteen chrysanthemums kisses five aardvarks. Batman noisily untangles one Jabberwocky. Two Macintoshes laughed, then one extremely schizophrenic Jabberwocky drunkenly untangles two sheep, however Quark telephoned umpteen obese Jabberwockies. Five irascible botulisms slightly lamely auctioned off the subway, and five chrysanthemums easily untangles one mostly speedy Klingon. Five dogs drunkenly perused Minnesota, however the mats ran away cleverly, although one partly progressive subway quite comfortably sacrificed

Today Daybook

of the Week

Today Entomology Seminar Series 11 a.m. - Noon, 226 Weill Hall

Ohio Mom Legally Changes Name to ‘Sexy’

C.U. Music: Midday Music for Organ 12:30 - 1:15 p.m., Chapel, Anabel Taylor Hall Coffeehouse Series: Career Opportunities for Majors in the History of Art 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Library Lounge, Carol Tatkon Center Open Mic at the Bear’s Den Pub 7 - 9 p.m., Bear’s Den Pub, Willard Straight Hall

Tomorrow Soup and Hope Noon - 1:15 p.m., Sage Chapel The Trials and Tribulations of Large Scale Algae Farming for Biofuel Production 12:20 - 1:10 p.m., 135 Emerson Hall

NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — A central Ohio woman who loathed being named Sheila and wanted a moniker that reflects her personality has legally changed her first name to Sexy.

A Licking County judge on Tuesday approved the request from the 41-year-old Pataskala woman formerly named Sheila Ranea Crabtree.

In her application, Crabtree called her given name “the ugliest one out there.” She says that if the court didn't allow the switch to Sexy, she’d try to become known legally by her middle name, which she has used for years.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Crabtree told a judge that her husband and teenage daughters approve of the change. When the judge asked why she chose Sexy, Crabtree said she’s fun and free-spirited and thought the change would make her complete.

Singing Fish Scares Off Would-Be Burglar

Shedding Light on Planet-Disk Interactions 4 p.m. - 12 a.m., 105 Space Sciences Building Cornell in Washington Summer Program Info Session 5 - 6 p.m., B12 Day Hall Darwin and Paleontology 5 - 7 p.m., Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP) — Big Mouth Billy Bass apparently got the best of a would-be burglar in Minnesota.

Authorities in Rochester say the motion-activated singing fish apparently scared off an intruder who tried to break into the Hooked on Fishing bait and tackle shop.

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The novelty bass had been hung near the door and would start singing “Take Me to the River” whenever someone entered the shop.

The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office says the fish was found on the floor after the intruder knocked it down while breaking the door to get in late Sunday or early Monday.

Sgt. Tom Claymon tells the Star Tribune the would-be burglar left without stealing anything, including cash that had been left in “a very visible spot.”

Glitch Leads to Penny Gas At North Illinois Station WOODSTOCK, Ill. (AP) — An error at northern Illinois gas station caused pumps to sell fuel for a penny a gallon.

The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald reports a Shell station in Woodstock wound up mistakenly selling the nearly-free fuel for about two hours Sunday night.

As word spread, cars lined up and jostled to fill-up.

Woodstock Police Sgt. Dennis Leard says authorities had to use an emergency shut-off to stop the sales before the gas station closed in order to reset the pumps to regular prices.

But before that, cars were blocking traffic and lining up on the street to reach the cheap gas.

Leard says the station clerk working at the time wasn’t aware of the glitch.

It wasn’t clear how much gas was sold.

NEWS

S.A. Amends Election Rules To Allow Endorsements

By ALISHA FOSTER Sun Staff Writer

In an effort to promote “creative campaigning,” the Student Assembly has loosened several election rules, allowing candidates and student organizations to show public support for candidates running for certain positions, according to Alfonse Muglia ’14, director of elections for the S.A. Previously, election guidelines prevented candidates from talking about other candidates. Now, all candidates are open to discuss the presidential and executive vice presidential races and publicly support candidates for both positions, Muglia said.

“In the previous system, we told the most knowledgeable students on campus issues to hold their opinions to themselves,” Muglia said. “Why shouldn’t these candidates tell their friends, ‘You know, I support this presidential candidate because he or she has [a certain] platform?’”

Muglia also said he hopes this will create two to four distinct platforms for the upcoming election.

“The idea is that the platforms will exhibit a trickle-down effect,” he said. “So if one [candidate says] ‘this is what we think of mental health,’ for example, I imagine anyone that would be endorsing him or her would have the same idea.”

Some students, however, said they think the changes in election policies could create confusion.

“People might inadvertently vote for people who are affiliated with candidates that they support or like instead of voting based on the issues,” Rachel Whiteheart ’14 said.

According to Jessica Reif ’14, a member of the S.A. elections committee, this year student organizations are also allowed to support candidates through campaigning and at the S.A.-sponsored debate forums.

“Hopefully, student organizations will choose to support candidates based on their qualifications rather than their personal relationships,” Reif said.

Muglia added that, in addition to the S.A. forums, the elections committee wants organizations to hold debates themselves, with the elections committee helping with “planning and promotion.”

Reif said she hopes that organization involvement will help boost debate attendance, which was poor last year.

“People are more likely to show up at an event if their student organizations are attending,” she said.

Muglia said that election rules became a focus last spring after a candidate was disqualified for using a megaphone on Ho Plaza without permission during a voting day parade, though that particular rule was left unchanged because it is part of the campus code of conduct.

“You can’t get rid of a Cornell rule,” Muglia said. “We had to look for other ways to be creative.”

According to Muglia, one way the elec-

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014 3

MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Open discourse | This year’s Student Assembly representatives meet in Willard Straight Hall to discuss issues happening across campus.

tions committee has tried to improve communication with candidates is by allowing them to submit campaign strategies beforehand. “[Now] we can be a little more proactive in finding any potential violations,” Muglia said.

Another change has narrowed the definition of election harassment, which, according to Muglia, will allow candidates to bring up past records, resumes and campus policies during campaigns.

Hanny Chrysolite ’14 believes that changing the definition of harassment will create problems.

“Students could think of negative things that have happened in the past that are completely unrelated to the campaign and could bring up issues that are timewasting,” she said. “It could be an invasion

of privacy.”

The committee also increased the number of petition signatures presidential candidates need to secure a place on the ballot to three hundred, according to Muglia.

“The idea [is] that we’ll get more motivated students to run,” he said. “You have to go that extra step. And those 200 more people will be hearing platforms beforehand.”

According to Muglia, the assembly’s end goal has always been for the student voice to be heard.

“The more you educate students now on how the Student Assembly works, the more they can make a difference and the more their voices can be heard,” he said.

Alisha Foster can be reached at afoster@cornellsun.com.

Prof: Columbia Higher Ed. Study ‘Imprecise’

By JONATHAN LOBEL Sun Staff Writer

Several Cornell professors and University officials are critical of a new study known as the College Educational Study Project, which attempts to quantify the quality of large research universities by assessing academic rigor and teaching quality.

Prof. Corbin M. Campbell, higher education, Columbia University, and a team of graduate students observed 158 courses and analyzed 149 syllabi at two “selective” research institutions last spring, according to the study’s website. The team then scored the educational quality of each institution on the basis of these observations.

The researchers of the study expect to pursue a second, multi-institutional pilot of 7-10 institutions in the fall of 2014 and ultimately conduct a national study after that, according to the study’s website.

Susan Murphy, vice president of Student and Academic

Fan club

Services, said she is skeptical of these future studies. “[I’m] not sure [the study] is scalable to any helpful degree,” she said.

However, Murphy said that the study is “thought provoking” because it does not focus on what many university rankings emphasize, namely, selectivity, SAT scores, and funding.

Although Murphy said attempts to quantify the quality of a university are “very difficult,” she said that they are certainly “worth doing.”

The metrics for academic rigor depended on the complexity of the course, the quantity of work assigned and the level of expectations set for students, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Teaching quality was based on how well the instructor introduced major concepts and called forth student’s prior knowledge of the material.

Prof. Donald Viands, plant breeding and genetics, said he was concerned that the research team did not directly account for

ANTHONY CHEN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Prof. Eswar S. Prasad, trade policy, signs a copy of his book The Dollar Trap: How the U.S. Dollar Tightened Its Grip on Global Finance after a discussion Tuesday evening.

what students actually learned from their courses.

“The most critical factor [in assessing educational quality] is learning so that students are able to accomplish the learning outcomes for the course,” he said.

As a result of this deficiency, Viands called the study “imprecise” in its approach to quantifying teaching quality.

Viands was also critical of the short duration of the study, saying that meaningful conclusions could not be drawn from such an investigation.

“The [study’s] rating is very subjective,” he said. “Many observations, not just one week, are needed in a course.”

Prof. Malden Nesheim, nutritional sciences, said that factors including interaction with committed peers and levels of student and faculty commitment to learning were not measured. “[It’s] hard to capture all this in a single number,” he said.

Prof. Mark Constas, applied economics and management, also said he was critical of the study’s methodology. According to Constas, the facts that the study had a response rate of less than 33 percent and that no assessment of response bias was provided make the study’s results suspect.

“One of the fundamental weaknesses in social science studies can be attributed to bias associated with non-random sampling procedures or to the failure to adjust estimates that suffer from bias,” he said, saying that the study contained these flaws.

Both studied universities’ scores in academic rigor and teaching quality were statistically indistinguishable, according to the Chronicle of Higher education. Constas attributed this finding to flawed statistical procedures, which lacked sensitivity.

“This study, while thought provoking, does little to promote the view that investigations of education are based on strong theoretical foundations and supported by careful analysis,” he said.

Jonathan Lobel can be reached at jlobel@cornellsun.com.

Police R eport Unlawful Possession Of Alcohol and Endangerment Three students were referred to the Judicial Administrator Friday for unlawful possession of alcohol and endangerment in Balch Hall, the Cornell University Police Department said.

Agency Assist in Barton Cornell Police assisted the Ithaca Police Department with a reported menacing complaint at Barton Hall Friday, according to CUPD. Unlawful Possession Of Marijuana Two students — one in Sheldon Court and the other in Townhouse E — were referred to the Judicial Administrator in separate cases of unlawful possession of marijuana Saturday, CUPD said.

False Reporting of a Fire An officer was dispatched to take a report regarding an individual maliciously activating the a fire alarm pull box in the basement area of Low Rise 7 on Sunday, according to CUPD. Driving While Intoxicated An individual from Ithaca was referred to Ithaca Town Court after being arrested for driving while intoxicated on Pleasant Grove Road Monday, according to CUPD. — Compiled by Noah Rankin

4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014

NEWS

Founder of National Autism Group Speaks on Inclusion NE’EMAN

Continued from page 1

autism as part of his identity.

“We don’t view our autism as an appendage — as something that snuck in and attached itself to a normal person,” he said.

“We don’t refer to ourselves as people ‘with’ Judaism or people ‘with’ Christianity.”

Ne’eman added there is a growing consensus within

ASAN to use the term “autistic people.”

“Our history of abuse, dehumanization and being disempowered is closely tied to the idea that we somehow can separate our being autistic from ourselves,” he said.

However, Ne’eman said that the preference of whether to use “identity-first” language ultimately depends on the individual.

“No one should go to someone and tell them ‘I know how you should refer to [yourself ],” he said.

Katherine Fahey, director of Student Disability Services, said the goal of the autism advocacy movement is closely related to Cornell’s own goals regarding diversity and inclusion. “[We’ve] had an initiative of understanding neurodiversity and building a more inclusive campus for the past year or so,” she said. “The goal of the autistic rights movement is part of a broader social justice movement for inclusion that aligns well with Cornell's diversity initia-

tives.”

Kathleen Long, Prof. romance studies, who has a son with autism, introduced Ne’eman, commending him for his contributions to the community of people with autism spectrum disorders.

“He’s probably one of the people I most admire in this regard,” she said. “He’s been a tireless advocate for people on the spectrum.”

Long said that Ne’eman is a qualified lecturer because he has had a leading role on the National Council on Disability.

“Not only does he have political experience, but he has edu-

cational experience,” she said.

Fahey added that the lecture was particularly important because of Ne’eman’s firsthand experience with autism.

“It was very important to us to have ... people with autism speak about the empowerment and advocacy of the neurodiversity movement,” she said.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Office of and Diversity Academic Initiatives, Residential Programs and Student Disability Services.

Anushka Mehrotra can be reached at amehrotra@cornellsun.com.

C.U.Profs Recognized for Contributions WEISS

Continued from page 1

Sherwyn ’86, academic director of the Cornell Institute for Hospitality Labor and Employment Relations, were all nominated and selected by the Board of Trustees to receive the fellowships for 2014.

The three recipients have been recognized for a variety of efforts.

Datta’s research is about the physics of food processes, with an emphasis on the “quality and safety” of complex processes.

“In the initial years, what kept me going was primarily my conviction that this is the right thing to do in defining the emerging biological engineering undergrad-

uate curriculum,” he said.

Datta added that his research goal is to develop engineering frameworks that can be applied to multiple food products and processes as opposed to just one.

In addition to his research, Datta said he finds teaching to be an extremely important part of his life.

“My greatest joy comes when I see the nod or smile as someone understands a concept or the passing remark of someone that he [or] she is really enjoying the course content,” he said.

Hines, who is working to understand the reactivity of atoms of nanoscale surfaces in order to produce surfaces with a specific structure or reactivity, said that receiving the Weiss Fellowship was a great honor for her.

“This is truly a great place to be and to learn … the students are extremely bright, highly motivated and very enthusiastic, ” she said.

Sherwyn said he decided he wanted to teach when one of his professors at Cornell — Prof.

Michael Gold, industrial and labor relations — was out of town and asked him to run a threehour class.

“I couldn’t believe that this was a job you could actually get paid for,” Sherwyn said. “It changed my whole view on life on whether I wanted to be a practicing lawyer or a professor.”

Sherwyn said he researches issues regarding labor law and

employment and is currently working with to modernize relations between unions and management. He also started the hotel school’s first industry roundtable.

Sherwyn emphasized the importance of teaching and influencing students in his lifetime.

“Cornell is a world class institute where colleagues are amazing, students are incredible, and where you are just blown away all the time by who you get to teach and who you get to work with,” he said.

Sherwyn also spoke about the individual reward he receives from teaching his students.

“The great thing about teaching is making students think … making them walk out of class fighting about the two or three sides of an argument and thinking about it one step further,” he said.

Datta said he intends to use the fellowship money for various purposes to help students and further research.

“The fellowship will advance teaching directly,” Datta said.

Echoing Datta’s sentiments, Sherwyn emphasized giving back to the community through teaching as opposed to from the money he will receive from the fellowship.

“We have landed in a place where there is incredible access to resources and industry,” he said.

Nabiha Keshwani can be reached at nk444@cornell.edu.

Businesses Plan Interactive Map C-TOWN

Continued from page 1

The CSBA is hoping to get the University involved through business with Collegetown amenities, according to Johnson.

“We are building a relationship with Cornell, since we need them and they need us as neighbors,” said Annie Quach ’05, an alliance member and the owner of Hai Hong Chinese restaurant.

A d d i t i o n a l l y, Johnson said one of CSBA’s immediate

goals is to create a map of Collegetown businesses for students and local residents to use.

The CSBA is partnering with Pop Shop to create an interactive app along with the physical map of businesses, according to Natalie Sweeney, alliance member and owner of Natalia’s Boutique.

Sweeney added that a physical map would be available at the Ithaca Service Center downtown.

“We want to get the locals here all year long, instead of just

the students,” she said.

D e n i s e Thompson, administrative assistant in the Office for Fraternity, Sorority and Independent Living, said the Cornell offcampus housing website could add the map as a resource list for students.

Ashley Popp ’16, member of the Cornell Collegetown Student Council, said the map would be helpful for students.

“It’s really hard to See C-TOWN page 5

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014 5

NEWS

India Abroad Program Will Teach Sustainability, Rural Development INDIA

Continued from page 1

Unlike current study abroad programs in India, the NFLC program allows students to receive direct University credit, since classes are taught by both Cornell faculty and Keystone staff.

The partnership with Keystone offers several benefits for participants, according to Prof. Andrew Willford, anthropology, the cultural anthropologist on the core team for the program.

“Keystone has been the leading [nongovernmental organization] in this biosphere working on issues of sustainability ... and social empowerment for indigenous peoples,” Willford said.

According to Kudva, one of the

Collegetown Stores Hope to Plan Street Fair C-TOWN

Continued from page 4

mobilize students and get their attention, all the advertisement in the world doesn’t matter unless you have them in that area,” Popp said “An electronic and physical directory would be positive.”

The map would be created by walking down Collegetown streets, inputting information regarding local businesses and linking it to the businesses’ own content, according to Johnson.

“The resource would be allinclusive of Collegetown, even if the businesses are not a member of the alliance or are large businesses like Starbucks,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to leave anyone out.”

Alliance members have discussed creating a summer street fair, for students and local residents to sample products and services available in Collegetown, according to Quach.

“It would hopefully be a free event to bring in foot traffic, since there are less people in the area. It’s so [alliance members] can expose ourselves to the community, neighbors and summer students,” Quach said.

Planning for a street event would include permission from the city officials and police to redirect traffic, as well as involvement from a large number of vendors, according to Quach.

Other alliance plans include creating a Collegetown visitor center to house the list of resources, mirroring the Downtown area visitor center, adding more garbage cans on streets to keep Collegetown clean and placing signs on streets pointing to the direction of local businesses, according to Sweeney and Quach.

“I understand there will always be a red solo cup around but having a trash can would help making the streets a little cleaner,” Sweeney said. “These are just small simple improvements that we could make to make great improvements.”

Kevin Milian can be reached at kmilian@cornellsun.com.

strengths of the the program is that it enables Cornell students to study alongside community members from Kotagiri. “[Students will learn] together and from each other while situated in the very environment they wish to study and understand,” Kudva said.

Kudva, who is currently in Kotagari setting up the curriculum and identifying research sites for fieldwork, said the program is open to a large variety of Cornell students.

“We would like to have six to eight Cornell students join us at the NFLC in spring 2015, from various programs across the University,” she said.

According to Willford, 15 students is the program’s absolute maximum capacity.

The idea for the NFLC was formed a

few years ago when Dr. Pratim Roy, director of the Keystone Foundation, was a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at Cornell in 2011-12, according Willford.

“It was during [Roy’s] stay that the idea was born to create a field learning center in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, a complex and fragile ecosystem where both biological and cultural diversity is amazingly rich, yet also ... encounters many challenges,” Willford said.

Willford believes that the firsthand nature of the program will mold students into more aware global citizens.

“We believe Cornell students will emerge from this program not only as better global citizens aware of some of the challenges facing indigenous peoples within their fragile environments, but better

able to work collaboratively across cultural and disciplinary divides on practical solutions for various problems that are simultaneously desirable to local communities,” he said.

Prof. Steven Wolf, natural resources, one of the other core members of the NFLC team, said that the program was created due to a need for social and ecological change.

“Our approach — which is part of a learning challenge — is a response to what we perceive to be an urgent need for new models of how science and education can contribute to efforts to address social and ecological problems,” Wolf said.

Anika Sethy can be reached at asethy@cornellsun.com.

OPINION

Tyler Blackmon |

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

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Emma Court ’15 Noah Rankin ’16 Caroline Flax ’15 Michelle Feldman ’15 Dylan Clemens ’14 Sean Doolittle ’16 Anushka Mehrotra ’16 Dara Levy ’16 Scott Chiusano ’15 Sydney Altschuler ’16 Rebecca Coombes ’14

Editorial

Prioritizing International Student Mental Health

THE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ENROLLING at Cornell has been increasing annually. Despite a broad push during the past few years to expand mental health resources and to better publicize them, the mental health of Cornell’s international student community has been largely overlooked at the University level. International students — who compose nearly a fifth of the student body — face particular obstacles during their years of higher education that can put them at higher risk for mental health issues compared to their peers. Yet these increases have not been accompanied by mental health programming specifically targeted at international students. We believe it is time for this to change. We urge the University to proactively improve outreach to the international student community to help alleviate risk factors and prevent crises from occurring.

Stress is, of course, a problem for all students, but, for international students, culture shock, language barriers, lack of nearby family and an inability to travel home for short periods of time can make academically or socially difficult periods more strenuous. In an editorial last March, we questioned the proposal of an international student center because, despite the distinct challenges faced by international students, we do not think the answer is social segregation from the larger Cornell community. Rather, a more useful allocation of resources would be to increase mental health initiatives targeted at international students.

Though many students are well-informed about the variety of options available to them, such as the Counseling and Psychological Services offered by Gannett Health Services, cultural norms regarding mental health vary greatly by nation and can prevent international students from viewing therapy as a method of solving their problems. Studies have found that international students significantly underutilize mental health resources; even when they do seek help, they are more likely to end therapy early. While the ISSO does host weekly Let’s Talk sessions — aimed at destigmatizing therapy by offering informal, drop-in counseling sessions — additional steps could be taken to improve accessibility of mental health resources to international students.

During PREPARE, the international student pre-orientation week, programming could be devoted specifically to untangling misconceptions about therapy and educating students about where on campus they can seek help. Additionally, while the ISSO serves crucial functions for international students at Cornell — providing information about travel, visas, taxes, health insurance and more — a more coordinated University effort could be made to improve mental health-related outreach to the international community. The ISSO could coordinate an annual or biannual outreach effort to international students — something as simple as sending a friendly email. The ISSO could also offer workshops about mental health, or de-stressing activities, alongside current programming about obtaining internships and visa extensions.

A coordinated administrative response is necessary to target the multitude of factors contributing to international student mental health risks, including the particularly prevalent cultural aversion to counseling. As the international student community continues to grow — and the University continues to prioritize student mental health — Cornell must act to remedy this weak point in mental health resources.

L

ast Friday, I secretly wanted nothing more than the opening ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Games to collapse into a complete and utter disaster.

It’s a feeling that, at first, seemed difficult to place. I’ve always avidly followed the Olympics, evidenced by my insatiable appetite for everything from the gold medal hockey game to 3 a.m. curling matches, and I normally enjoy a spectacular showing for the opening ceremony. But the American narrative surrounding Sochi in the weeks prior had tainted my usual Olympic thrill.

From the country’s overt persecution of gay citizens to the mass slaughter of stray dogs in preparation for the Games, Russia’s string of abuses have prompted activists from around the world to question the International Olympic Committee’s selection of Sochi as the host of this year’s Winter Games. Joining that sentiment, I too balked at celebrating a country that had so aggressively mistreated its own citizens.

So in a key moment of the opening ceremonies, when five points of light were supposed to expand into five prominent Olympic rings as one of the most recognizable symbols of international cooperation, one ring unexpectedly malfunctioned. The result was a sad configuration of four interwoven rings and one wilted star off in the far right corner. In this moment meant to serve as a testament to the rebirth of Russia, the country had fallen short.

And as I watched the spectacle unfold, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of satisfaction: Russia had failed; President Vladimir Putin had failed; proponents of a viciously anti-gay society had failed.

Looking back, my initial reaction was nothing short of disgusting.

In my haste to feel secure in my own moral superiority, I had actively rooted for Russia’s failure on a highly publicized world stage. I delighted in mocking everything from their unorthodox toilets to the Russian Police Choir’s quirky rendition of “Get Lucky,” justifying my behavior with the moral outrage I expressed for the country’s political regime. And judging by the tide of anti-Russian sentiment on social media, I certainly wasn’t alone.

Americans nationwide, it seemed, loved to hate Russia in a way they simply hadn’t for Beijing, Vancouver or London. Even government officials like United States Senators Tammy Baldwin and Susan Collins (a rare bipartisan crew) criticized the IOC for selecting Sochi in the first place.

To be sure, there is an appropriate time to criticize certain actions taken by the Russian government. In fact, the human rights violations occurring in Russia under Putin’s watch are both reprehensible and inexcusable. No citizens in any country should have to live in fear of their own government.

But in the midst of our sardonic tweets and posts, many Americans crossed a line from criticizing the acts of a government to attacking an entire people. Such a reaction is particularly unfortunate because in focusing so narrowly on the country’s faults, we missed out on the opening ceremony’s rich display of Russian culture and history told through the lens of the Russian people.

Russians spent $51 billion in taxpayer money to cut through international politics for one moment and tell the international community a story, and America simply laughed.

If we’re not careful, we risk soiling the spirit of the Olympics in the name of our own political agenda — a tragically shortsighted strategy that forgets how easily the international community could flip the script on the United States in future years. After all, our own government seems to have no qualms about spying on both its own citizens and international leaders or using “enhanced interrogation techniques” in Guantanamo Bay. We should neither forgive nor forget the abuses carried out by the Russian government. But as painful as it may seem, we must put aside our politics for now and take the time to celebrate an age-old athletic tradition, and compete with one another unconditionally.

It’s a truly inspiring idea we had all those decades ago — every two years, no matter how much hate we harbor, the international community takes less than three weeks off from the constant deluge of negative news to highlight the best the world has to offer.

I almost let myself ruin that tradition, and for that, I apologize.

Tyler Blackmon is a sohphomore at Yale University. He may be reached at tyler.blackmon@yale.edu.

Letter

In defense of Collegetown leasing policy To the Editor: Re: “EDITORIAL: Prioritizing Collegetown Leasing Policy,” Opinion, Feb. 4 I read your editorial with interest about the 60-day waiting period ordinance in the City of Ithaca. As a landlord in Ithaca for 30 years, I am aware that there is a rush to rent apartments in Collegetown that has started earlier and earlier every year for a while. Why this is happening, however, is certainly a consumer's initiative. No one is forcing the prospective tenant to sign a lease. In a two-party contract the consumer agrees with his or her signature. Yes, I want to rent, or no, thank you. This Ordinance only fines one party of a contract signed before the 60-day waiting period. If the City had included the consumer who signs a lease too early, there would be no problem.

Common Council asked how they would be able to fine the tenant. The answer is on the line of the contract where the tenant signed her name and the address of the apartment is listed there as well.

Tenants and property owners are invited to come to the City of Ithaca Rental Housing Commission meetings held the third Wednesday of each month at 5:15 pm in the Third Floor Conference Room at City Hall, 108 E. Green Street.

Larry Beck, Co-Chair, Rental Housing Advisory Committee

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014 7

OPINION

Tom Hanna ’64 |

Guest Room

Throw Collegetown To the MoneyWolves?

B

elieve it or not, five years ago the City and Cornell ponied up a sixfigure pot of money to an outside consulting firm to re-think Collegetown. Our venerable stomping grounds are about to be rezoned “Gentrified” and student renters will pay the price. Will we get a better Collegetown out of it? Some of us don’t think so.

Guidelines were endorsed by the city legislature in 2009, and now, after a major legislative mishap in 2011, a Collegetown working group has put their own final touches on new zoning laws. People who live and work inside the proposed new “Collegetown Area Form Districts” need to speak up.

So far, the 4,000 students living in Collegetown have not spoken out on the draft CAFD. They will have one last shot at it at 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday in City Hall at 108 E. Green Street.

Walk through history: Collegetown in the 1940s and 50s. Almost every house on Linden and College Avenues was a family home. Some were boarding houses, and, yes, Cascadilla Hall was a dormitory, as was Sheldon Court. But most of the streets of Collegetown were lined with family homes. A diverse business district served every need of the neighborhood on a year-round basis. Students did not have cars. We had famous nightspots such as the Royal Palm and Joe’s Restaurant, and the drinking age was 18.

In the 1960s and 70s, Collegetown was crying out for revival. The housing stock was decaying. Suburban flight took faculty in Collegetown out of the city. Working class families were aging out; their children moving away. Landlords bought up much of the aging housing stock. Housing prices climbed. The remaining families struggled to get new families to buy homes to stem the tide of students.

In the 1980s and 90s, the age of the mega-apartment block transformed the core of Collegetown, a trend that continues to this day. Cornell increased its enrollment and the 400 block of College Ave was fully developed. More frame houses were converted into apartment buildings. Rents for students doubled despite the increase in the number of apartments.

Since 2000, we have seen 312 College Ave emerge as another megaapartment complex. The project’s builder stated, “The owner wanted an elegant, technologically advanced building to take advantage of the highend of the housing market.”

The builder says it all. Since the 1980s, Collegetown’s housing boom has catered to the high end of the market. Rents per bed increased from around $400 per month to over $1,000 per month. Some studio apartments are more than $1,500 a month.

What about Collegetown in 2035? If the plan that is now on the table is passed by the Common Council, the supply will marginally increase through consolidation of properties into more mega projects, but any new supply will be owned by the mega-builders. As the number of owners decreases, the competition in the marketplace will be reduced. With slightly more supply and fewer suppliers, the rents will climb higher and higher. Only the wealthy will afford to live in Collegetown.

But, wait: is that what the City has already approved for Collegetown’s future? No. Officially-approved guidelines call on the City to zone Collegetown with a goal of affordability. Yet affordability is not even mentioned in the plan.

Currently, there are 233 parcels on the new Collegetown map. Fortyfive parcels are either already built out as mega-apartments or are planned to be. Sixty-eight parcels are undeveloped but are intended to be re-developed into “medium density” multi-unit housing. Unfortunately, the proposed zoning works against this goal. Many property owners will keep old housing in place or sell out to big developers who will consolidate properties for profitability. The remaining 125-plus parcels, almost two-thirds of the properties, are zoned to be “preserved” rather than re-developed. Many houses were built more than 95 years ago, and have been student apartments for more than a generation. Though some were built as multi-family housing, under the zoning code, once it is naturally destroyed it will have to be replaced with smaller structures that hold fewer people.

Clearly, the new law needs to be amended. Students did not write it. It does not reflect a future that students would choose for Collegetown. If the goal is to slightly increase the supply of high-cost housing and reduce the number of competitors in the marketplace, this plan will be successful.

However, it will not ease the upward pressure on rents, and it will not improve the year-round viability of the businesses in Collegetown.

But it can succeed if students call for changes that are needed. For example, affordability, sustainability and technological innovation need to be built into the intent of the new law and then reflected in the zoning requirements. The 64 parcels intended for re-development in Collegetown Residential-4 need to be zoned to support 1,200 additional residents over the next 20 years. These parcels should be developed by current owners instead of being bought up for millions of dollars and consolidated by major developers and then put on the market at sky-high rents. Also, architectural and technological innovation need to replace overly-restrictive zoning requirements. More than 100 parcels with century-old frame houses should not be zoned out of redevelopment in the name of preservation. They should be re-built into safe new housing.

Collegetown will always be one of the most expensive areas for housing in Ithaca, but if we significantly increase the housing supply in the neighborhood and allow property owners to fill in their underutilized properties and replace obsolescent structures, we will get lower prices and better value. With more diverse owners and renters, future students will find a healthier and more varied business district as well. Maybe even a real grocery store. But not if students don’t tell the city what they want in Collegetown.

Tom Hanna ’64 graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences. Reactions can be sent to opinion@cornellsun.com. Guest Room appears periodically this semester.

Web

Comment of the day “This editorial states that while 70 percent of junior high school girls are interested in STEM fields, only 0.3 percent study computer science in college. Is CS not but one component of science, technology, engineering and mathematics? ... It would be helpful if the writer would include the complete picture in this article, instead of citing a statistic that seems shocking until the reader realizes how narrowly construed it truly is.” sojourner_truth Re: “EDITORIAL: Expanding STEM Fields to Women,” Opinion, published Feb. 11, 2014

Sam Ritholtz |

Sans Pants

A Liberal Person Takes Issue With Liberal Site; Read to Find Out Why I

have a confession. A confession that may surprise those who know me: I am not the biggest fan of the website Upworthy. Yes, as an unabashedly liberal person, I recognize that I should rejoice at the creation of a website that agrees with my political stance on most issues, brings to light many issues that are left out of the media and promotes my agenda with its viral videos that reach over 50 million people.

Upworthy’s mission is “to make important stuff as viral as a video of some idiot surfing off his roof.” The website is clear in its distinction that it’s “not a newspaper” and acknowledges its bias when it chooses “to speak truth rather than appear unbiased.”

The “truth” they promote is in line with liberal beliefs and is explicitly stated on their “About” page: “We’re pro-gay-marriage, and we’re antichild-poverty. We think the media is horrible to women, we think climate change is real, and we think the government has a lot to learn from the Internet about efficiency, disruption and effectiveness.”

To be fair, there is not much (if anything) there that I disagree with, but there is something about this website that disconcerts me.

Many people have criticized the websites ruthless use of click-bait techniques to get people to look at its content.

And while these aggressively tempting and non-descript titles are annoying when they

take up your entire newsfeed, there’s a deeper underlying issue here.

When I first tried to figure out the specific qualms I had with the website, I found myself thinking that my issue takes root with its selfrighteous nature. It bothered me to see that so many decisive, complicated issues were portrayed as black and white and framed in such a biased context.

For example, there is a featured video today that decries all development work as white men with hidden agendas and highlights the

Upworthy does not designate a space for comments on any of its pages. Videos must be taken for what they are and then distributed to the millions who see them without any ability to question their content, their argument, or their message. This selfrighteous air to the website’s videos stems from the lack of discussion surrounding them.

When there are no comments on the page, the video can only be taken at face value, accepted as true, and then shared with friends. It’s impossible to gauge how oth-

And then it hit me. I fundamentally disagree with the fact that Upworthy does not designate space for comments on any of its pages. need to protect tribal populations. Whether or not I agree with that statement, I believe the issue is more complex than what is presented in that 2-minute video, and it deserves a fair presentation. I realized, however, that I was still displeased with the even less polarizing videos, such as the video that demonstrates a magazine’s photoshopping of Jennifer Lawrence (an outrage, I say! She’s perfect!). So, if none of the videos on the website were agreeing with me — even though I agreed with (most) of their content — then there must be something else going on.

And then it hit me. I fundamentally disagree with the fact that

ers absorbed or reacted to it, which is such an integral part of the learning and processing process. In our classes on campus, we discuss our readings as a group in order to digest them and understand them better. With these videos, this option is not present. The content of these videos almost appears like an indisputable fact because there are no visible naysayers to question their sources, provide more context, or to call out any disagreements.

The Upworthy website acknowledges their lack of comments and cites their reasoning on their website: “Our goal is to foster a community of people

who are focused on spreading ideas within their existing groups of friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and wherever else. So if you’ve got something burning to say about one of the videos or graphics you see on Upworthy, share it on social media and start the conversation there.”

I find this explanation to be an absolute cop-out. Upworthy is essentially deferring any debate of its articles to … friend groups? What is the power behind that? One of the most incredible, and powerful, aspects of the Internet is that it connects people all over the world and sites like Upworthy that produce this thought-provoking content are the perfect forums for these important discussions.

Upworthy cheapens itself by shirking that responsibility and focusing all their energy on getting people to share their videos. Many people are not as comfortable engaging in these conversations with their friends on facebook or do not wish to be limited to 140 words on Twitter, but would willingly comment on the videos directly. If the purpose of Upworthy is to promote these important discourses, then why does the website deprive us of these powerful opportunities to engage with each other?

Sam Ritholtz is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He may be reached at sritholtz@gmail.com. Sans Pants appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | W Wednesday, February 12, 2014

SCIENCE Special Edition:O

By CAMILLE WANG Sun Staff Writer

When the rovers Opportunity and Spirit first landed on Mars, team leader Prof. Steve Squyres, astronomy, and his team approached the mission by acting like they had “an assassin out there looking over [their] shoulders,” according to Robert Sullivan, a senior research associate in astronomy. There were dozens of things that could have gone wrong, from the martian weather to the electronics and instruments of the rovers themselves.

“We should just pretend we’re in the crosshairs. And sooner or later we’re going to get picked off … believe it or not that was ten years ago,” Sullivan said.

On Jan. 17, the Mars Rover Opportunity celebrated its tenth anniversary. Originally expected to collect data for three months, the rover has lasted far past its original expiration date.

Much of this success can be credited to the engineers involved in the mission, according to Sullivan.

“Scientists are the lucky customers of great engineering on this mission – [the engineers] continue to do a fantastic job,”

Sullivan said.

According to Sullivan, the engineers have managed to make the best of situations that might have meant the end of the mission. In 2006, two years after it landed on Mars, the front right wheel of Spirit stopped moving. With creative thinking and troubleshooting, the team’s engineers managed to keep the rover moving until its last communication four years later, in 2010, according to Sullivan.

In the process of dragging the front wheel, the team obtained some of the “most amazing science” from the impaired rover.

According to Sullivan, the dead wheel uncovered carbonates, which are minerals that are indicative of steam vents, which signify the presence of water.

Another factor that contributed to the rovers’ longevity was the Martian winds. Although dangerously strong at times, the wind cleaned dust off the rovers’ solar panels so that they could continue to operate.

While Sullivan, a scientist himself, credits the engineers with the project’s success, it is the combined efforts of scientists and engineers that made these discoveries possible.

“A very interesting part of this team is that the scientists and engineers get along very well. Generally the scientists on other teams will see engineers as keeping them from getting the good data, and the engineers see scientists as doing things to harm the rover. But we see ourselves as one team,” Shoshanna Cole grad, who works on the project, said.

While Spirit is no longer in operation, Opportunity currently sits on the rim of Endeavor Crater, an extremely old martian crater that may hold sedimentary rock with clay components, as revealed by satellite images.

This is important to the team because clays are formed from water and the weathering of rocks, which would provide further proof for the previous existence of water on Mars, according to Sullivan.

In their latest discovery, the team discovered a jelly donut-like rock that mysteriously appeared in front of Opportunity. The rover was rotating in place when the wheel got stuck, according to Sullivan, and the team believes that the motion knocked a unique-looking stone out of a hole in the ground. “[The stone] is unusually bright, and the interior is this red-

COURTESY OF SHOSHANNA COLE GRAD / NASA / JPL-CALTECH

Say cheese | Mars rover Opportunity just reached the 10-year anniversary of its landing on Mars. The rover took this self portrait about three weeks before the 10th anniversary date, according to Shoshanna Cole grad.

COURTESY OF SHOSHANNA COLE GRAD / NASA / JPL-CALTECH

Mapping Mars | The line (here thickened and colored magenta) traces Opportunity’s route across the face of Mars since it landed on Jan. 17, 2004. The rover was only intended to last 90 days, according to Robert Sullivan, a senior research associate in astronomy.

Crater cam | Mars rover Opportunity is currently situated on the edge of the Endeavor Crater (pictured), according to Sullivan. The crater may contain evidence of water on Mars and provide insights into the geology of early Earth.

dish co A the tea signals next fe crater i M positio three b A ple pla Sulliva cated b ing cre W forget w “ decreas referen Webb S

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, W February 12, 2014 9

n:Opportunity Turns 10 and ther ood the rad, ntly tian s, as rom ther g to like The ding ed a red-

dish color that is very unfamiliar to us,” Sullivan said.

Assuming Opportunity survives the upcoming martian winter, the team plans to close in on an area with one of the strongest signals for clay and continue to explore Endeavor Crater for the next few years, as the preserved, ancient environment of the crater is similar to that of prehistoric Earth, Sullivan said.

Mars is especially well-suited for studying ancient rock composition, as the geology there has not changed much in the past three billion years, according to Sullivan.

Additionally, the rock composition on Mars provides a simple place to start and compare with Earth, according to Sullivan. Studying the geology of early Earth has been complicated by tectonic plate movements, water erosion, and large living creatures.

With Mars being millions of kilometers away, it can be easy to forget why the rovers’ discoveries are so important to humanity.

“There are two ways to make the world a better place–you can decrease the suck or you can increase the awesome,” Cole said, referencing YouTube celebrity Hank Green’s video on the James Webb Space Telescope. “If you think about what we spend feder-

al money on, a lot of that is to decrease the suck. But if you don’t also increase the awesome, the world isn’t the nicest place to live.”

Exploratory projects such as the rovers may not have an immediate obvious benefit to humanity, but according to Cole they are a big part of increasing the “awesome” in the world and could be extremely valuable in the future.

Besides following the research on ancient rock formations, the public should also be interested in the Mars rovers for the profound question of whether there is life on Mars, according to Sullivan.

“The first set of answers is that there’s no life other than us in the universe. That’s an extreme. That makes everything on this planet very, very special and worth taking care of. It highlights the preciousness of all kinds of life on this planet,” Sullivan said.

“The other extreme is that there is life everywhere in the universe, maybe even life on Mars. That’s profound for obvious reasons – we have kinship now with so much more of the universe.

Any answer to the question, ‘Is there life other than on Earth?’ has a fascinating answer with readily appreciated implications for anyone on this planet who has any curiosity.”

According to Cole news about Spirit and Opportunity has been valuable for science outreach, since people who are entering college this year have been hearing news about the rovers since they were eight or nine years old. “[The mission is] really inspirational. It can get people more interested in science and engineering,” Cole said.

Sullivan is also part of the team working with Mars Rover Curiosity, which landed in August 2012. According to Sullivan, Curiosity is equipped with much more capable technology than Spirit or Opportunity, including an instrument that can identify and measure the amount of certain minerals in martian soil.

NASA is also currently planning the technology to include on its Mars 2020 mission for the year 2020, according to Sullivan.

For now the team plans to continue to learn as much from Opportunity as it can while also continuing to analyze the immense amount of data that has been collected so far.

According to Cole, “there are many more Ph.D.s” to be earned based on data the rover has sent back to Earth.

Camille Wang can be reached at cwang@cornellsun.com.

COURTESY OF SHOSHANNA COLE GRAD / NASA / JPL-CALTECH

Spirit’s sights | The rover Spirit discovered carbonate minerals on the Comanche outcrop that are indicative of water, according to Sullivan.

COURTESY OF SHOSHANNA COLE GRAD / NASA /JPL-CALTECH

A&E

10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, February 12, 2014

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ThE CoLlegE droPoUT,10 yeArs LAteR:

A reTROspEctiVE On kaNYe JASON ECKER Sun Staff Writer

I can still remember first driving onto the Cornell campus on move-in day, my then-girlfriend in the passenger seat, and Kanye West’s The College Dropout blaring from my stereo. As the only member of my small Westchester prep school’s graduating class to attend an Ivy League college, I loved the rebellious irony of having that album soundtrack my first day at Cornell. Despite its title, which suggests a message of failed expectations, Kanye’s seminal debut album actually uses the “college dropout” concept to tell a story of self-confidence and determination leading to success. It has now been a decade and more than four million copies sold around the world since its release, and it is still considered to be one of the most influential hip-hop albums. To celebrate Kanye’s masterpiece and my personal all-time favorite album, we look back at the 10 reasons The College Dropout is great.

1. IT CHANGED THE GENRE. This album was released into a hip-hop scene in 2004 — a year dominated by gangster rap — where artists like 50 Cent reigned supreme. The content of such music centered on gangs, guns, drugs, women and partying. Then along came a pink-polo-wearing Steve Urkel-esque character who, through sheer testicular fortitude, was brazen enough to release an album that broke the mold of rap.

Kanye dropped the false bravado that had become a onesize-fits-all mask for most artists and centered his album on a real and identifiable struggle. He speaks on working at Gap, not fitting in at college, struggles with materialism and family dynamics. Even the opening track, “We Don’t Care” — which features a deceptively drug-filled chorus — is actually about the failures of the welfare and education systems. The honesty and transparency of this project paired with its undeniable commercial success paved the way for the genre to expand beyond the streets and into the artists’ minds.

2. IT WAS A CONCEPT ALBUM. Now I am aware that this might be viewed as heresy and cause quite a kerfuffle if you are one of those people who refuse to see Kanye West’s genius, but The College Dropout was the best-executed concept album since The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Rap is often referred to as poetry in motion, but the album’s story is even more coherent than that. West puts literature in motion, as each song speaks on a different aspect of his post-collegiate struggles and gradual rise to fame. The often satirical yet incredibly topical skits throughout the album prove to be that finishing touch which really makes it perfect.

3. IT IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY.

A 20-year-old Kanye West did in fact drop out of college, work at Gap, produce countless beats in his basement, scrounge his way to a deal with Roc-A-Fella records, nearly die in a car crash, finish recording his album with his mouth wired shut and, as they say, the rest is history.

4. IT DIDN’T SACRIFICE THE MUSIC FOR THE MESSAGE.

Something incredibly simple yet commonly forgotten on projects that are heralded for their content is that, at the end of the day, it is all about the music.

While I could riff for hours about how this album revolutionized the ethos of rap COURTESY OF ROC-A-FELLA RECORDS music, all you need to do is sit down and actually give it a listen. It is simply good music.

5. IT SAVED CHICAGO HIP-HOP. If you were to approach people on the street in 2004 and ask them where hip-hop comes from, they would most likely reply with New York, L.A., Atlanta, Houston and Detroit. Chicago had become a forgotten city thanks to Common’s work on an experimental project which failed to appeal to much of his base fan group and Twista’s disappearance into the woodwork without an album released in years. Kanye made sure to give the Windy City several shout-outs, keeping the city’s hip-hop culture alive and opening the doors for fellow Chi-town natives such as Lupe Fiasco, Young Berg, Chief Keef and Chance the Rapper.

6. IT FEATURES MANY GREAT ARTISTS. Jay-Z, Common, Talib Kweli, Twista, Jamie Foxx, Ludacris, Mos Def, Freeway: the features list literally reads like a who‘s-who of hipCOURTESY OF CLEAR CHANNEL hop for the time. DJ Khaled has wet dreams about getting so many Alist artists onto one album.

7. IT HAS SOME VERY INTERESTING DETAILS.

The chorus of “Jesus Walks” is sung by the Addicts Rehabilitation Center Choir. Kanye chose to have it sung by a group of former drug addicts to symbolize that Jesus forgives and walks with everyone. Whether you are religious or not, you cannot deny that that makes the song significantly cooler.

8. IT IS SPIT THROUGH THE WIRE.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

The man literally recorded a song with his jaw wired shut (“Through the Wire”), and it happens to be one of the best songs on the album. If you are a fan of baseball, this is like Kirk Gibson’s home run in the ’88 World Series.

The honesty and transparency of this project paired with its undeniable commercial success paved the way for the genre to expand beyond the streets and into the artists’ minds.

9. IT IS A WORK OF ART. I am going to assume that the vast majority of readers are not crazed Kanye fans like myself, and therefore have not watched every music video associated with the album.

You are all sorely missing out. Rather than the typical video of rapper in the club/at his mansion/on a boat with money and hoes, Kanye puts forth symbolic cinematic creations that often feel more like visual art than the accompaniment of a rap track. I mean for christ’s sake “Jesus Walks” has three separate videos to display the varying perspectives from which to interpret the song.

10. IT TEACHES LISTENERS TO BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES. The College Dropout took over four years to record because people did not think Kanye West could sell records. With 10 Grammy nominations, Kanye West has 10 more than most of the people who told him to quit.

Think about that, Cornell.

Jason Ecker is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at jecker@cornellsun.com.

Swinging Singles

A&E

Wednesday, February 12, 2014 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11

Future “Move That Dope”

Jennifer Hudson

Bombay Bicycle Club

“I Can’t Describe”

“Luna”

By Calvin Patten

By Euna Song

By Caitlan Sussman

And just like that, Future shows up with another earworm of a song. “Move that Dope,” off of Future’s interminably-delayed Honest, features Pusha T, Pharrell and Casino slinging their product in fine fashion. Future also gets assistance from the unstoppable Mike Will, who turns the synth way up, creating a sound that has been accurately compared to Hit-Boy’s earth-shaking “Clique” beat. Turn your volume up, because this sound should be shared.

Lyrically, all are able to make good use of Mike Will’s beat. Future autotunes “Young nigga move that dope” ad nauseum for the hook and it is as satisfying and catchy as “Bugatti” or “U.O.E.N.O.” King Push himself shows up to remind the kids that he still runs the game, growling “young enough to still sell dope/but old enough that I knows better.” It is Pharrell, however, that takes the cake with a goofy verse that ranges from his “Gandalf hat” to reminding everyone that “if you got two hoes/you need to let one go.” I am not sure what kind of dope Pharrell is moving, but if it includes Lord of the Rings references, I am buying.

Jennifer Hudson has finally found major chart-topping potential with her new single “I Can’t Describe,” featuring T.I. This is the first look at Hudson’s upcoming third studio album, which is set to be released in early 2014.

Hudson, who is mostly known for modern R&B, takes a step back to try a more retro, upbeat 70’s-style sound in her new single. Only a voice like Hudson’s can pull off such soul. The collaboration with T.I. may cause some to be wary, but surprisingly enough, T.I. raps out his lines smoothly and effortlessly.

The lyrics epitomize retro-glamour and stylish, sensual hedonism, as Hudson sings of the indescribable pleasure of dancing the night away and more. T.I.’s rap lyrics are expectedly full of references to wealth and luxury. While the lyrics aren’t particularly out of the ordinary, what makes “I Can’t Describe” work is the successful combination of an older style and beat with more modern rapping. This is a song about enjoying carefree pleasure, and Hudson and T.I. pull it off.

For years, British indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club has explored the frontier of genres as diverse as R&B, folk and ‘80s synth pop (think Vampire Weekend’s Contra), becoming well-known for pushing the envelope and evolving musically. Their fourth LP, So Long, See You Tomorrow, is no different. Though it shares several common features with their third album, So Long, See You Tomorrow is defined by experimentation with a more psychedelic, polished sound.

“Luna,” the second single to be released from the album, stays true to this description. Frontman Jack Steadman’s voice is complemented by sophisticated guitar riffs and light-but-driving drum rhythms, creating a vibrant and varied texture. Featuring the beautiful vocal talent of UK-based Rae Morris, “Luna” has a wonderful buoyancy that explodes in fresh and unexpected ways. Fitting the title, the track creates a lunar landscape that is at once foreign and familiar to the listener.

This playful, surprising quality can be felt throughout the track. The song marks a maturation in the band’s sound and solidifies their reputation as innovators in the indie rock genre.

Calvin Patten is a junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He can be reached at cpatten@cornellsun.com.

Euna Song is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at esong@cornellsun.com.

Caitlan Sussman is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at csussman@cornellsun.com.

To stream the entire Swinging Singles playlist online, visit our Soundcloud playlist at this link: http://ow.ly/oxgeO

It’s the End of Film as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)

I

s TV better than movies?’ is a worthless question. ‘How is TV better than movies?’ can be a fascinating one.”

That tweet, from Philadelphia-based film critic Samuel Adams, has stuck with me since I first read it last November. Adams poses a really potent hypothetical and passes it onto any Twitter-addicted writer willing to elaborate. I knew then that said elaboration would make for a good column, but I realize now that the more pressing argument lies on the other side: How are movies better than TV? Almost everyone I know spends more time watching, and arguing about, television than they do movies, and some general assumption has settled in that TV is, in fact, objectively better than film.

Like Adams, I do not believe that verdict, or its inverse, holds any water. Yet I do believe that many gloss over the beautiful qualities inherent to the film medium in exchange for the more addictive, long-form pleasures of television. Bearing witness to the carefully calibrated, 47-hour arc of Breaking Bad feels awesome and even transformative, but investing your time into dozens of films over that same span of time can provide even more mind-altering moments and, most crucially, a wider breadth of experience.

Nine times out of ten, movies look more interesting than television. Naturally, exceptions abound — Boardwalk Empire is stunning, while, say, Warm Bodies is not at all — but stick to the giant pool of quality films, old and new, out there and you will see not just tangible things but inner thoughts, biases, desires and so

forth. What TV show could scratch all dialogue for its first 30 minutes to deliver a lucid, aching portrait of loneliness and environmental issues, as Wall-E does? Or stay within a man or woman’s unstable mind and depict their psychoses on screen, as 8 ½ and Repulsion do? Or try to visualize the grace of God, as The Tree of Life does? I mean, does anything look prettier than In the Mood for Love or Pacific Rim? All these films look dazzling, and many demand attention be paid to their visuals even more than their story. Unlike most good TV, good movies teach you how to watch them as they go, and that is a fun, thrilling thing.

Because movies are single, one-unit experiences to be absorbed in one sitting, you can c o v e r decades of film history in the same time it takes Dexter to A Lover’s Quarrel disappoint you over With the World its last four seasons.

The abundance of time TV requires means that the focus remains relentlessly on the present, on catching up and binging on the hottest new thing. Acquainting yourself with the various Golden Ages of TV, as The AV Club’s TV critic-historian Todd VanDerWerff gratefully has, takes more time than covering the greatest hits of Tarkovsky, Murnau, Denis, Iranian cinema, queer cinema, ’60s counterculture documentaries or whatever niche you may take a liking to. In between your fourth and fifth time watching The Lego Movie, you can easily catch an old ’50s noir or some mid-’00s War on Terror doc serving a life sentence on your Netflix queue. If you are interested in World War II, ignore The Monuments Men and actual-

Zachary Zahos

ly watch a movie made during the war. You remember how your high school librarian always harped on and on about how primary sources are better than secondary sources? That.

The cost of television production means that some talented people, like Louis C.K., get handed a nice chunk of change to do anything with, but it also means that whole swaths of the population go unnoticed. The reason HBO’s Girls holds so much clout is because it is one of the only shows featuring a predominantly female ensemble. It must represent women, as a whole, in addition to letting these specific, affluent and meandering female characters do their thing. Half the time, I find Girls fresh and perceptive; the rest of the time I can’t stand it. Of course, I want to see female characters on TV: I want to see more, I want other options! Orange Is the New Black does it right, but look to independent film and from last year alone you will find Frances Ha, Mother of George, Enough Said, Stories We Tell, Gloria, Blue Is the Warmest Color and many more movies with strong female characters. No one of these shoulders the weight of half the population, which means fewer think pieces and a little more sanity in critical discourse.

Television draws us in because it builds slowly over time. The one lie we tell ourselves when opting for TV over movies is that this 30 or 60-minute episode is all I will watch, and a

COURTESY OF USA FILMS

movie, after all, is longer than that. Of course, you watch another episode, or two, or more, and the time argument becomes irrelevant. The scope of styles you can unravel, sights you can see, lives you can live in cinema is staggering, and each of these vessels takes but a couple hours to come and go. Watching movies, and lots of them, helps to discern personal taste — what you like or don’t like. But film’s greatest power has nothing to do with criticism; rather, it concerns empathy: For a brief fraction of your life, someone else’s pours forth from a brilliant screen, flows over the heads of friends and strangers alike and washes over you.

Zachary Zahos is a junior in the College of Arts and sciences. He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun.com. A Lover’s Quarrel With the World appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Scale on which diamond is assigned a “10” 5 Owl’s question?

8 “Music __ charms ...”

12 The Sego Lily is its state flower 13 Map out 15 Nymph rejected

by Narcissus 16 Actress Elisabeth 17 Deck opening 18 Work on jerky 19 WWII aircraft carrier plane 21 Iowa native 23 Tax-sheltered nest egg 25 Hippy dance 28 1963 Newman film 29 Ousted Iranian 33 Arctic “snowshoe” critters 34 Quizzical sounds 35 Bears owner/coach who won eight NFL titles in four different decades 37 Singer Piaf 38 Soup base 39 Luxury craft 40 Quiet “Quiet!”

43 “Ulysses” actor Milo 44 Quaint pronoun 45 “Isn’t __ bit like you and me?”: Beatles lyric 46 Solvers’ cries 47 Tremulous glow 50 Except 54 Beeline 59 “Hava Nagila” dance 60 Different 62 Worker welfare org.

63 Progress slowly 64 Organ with chambers 65 Son of Odin 66 Sinister chuckles

67 “Revenge is __ best served cold” 68 Seven: Pref.

DOWN 1 Soft stuff 2 Will-wisp link 3 Truck 4 Poet Silverstein 5 Words said with a double take 6 Fez, e.g.

7 Corsage flowers 8 “Consarn it!”

9 Motrin target 10 Those folks 11 Suffragette Julia Ward __ 13 Former Labor secretary Elaine 14 Where she blows 20 Vehicle safety measure 22 Jug band percussion instrument 24 “Say what?”

25 Tackled 26 “Vega$” actor 27 Mythical river of forgetfulness

30 Grating 31 “Hello, wahine!”

32 Can’t stand 33 “You, there!”

36 Doo-wop syllable 40 Went from first to second, say 41 Jeans bottom 42 Pounds 48 Ado 49 Mars neighbor 50 __ Tzu

51 Fine-tune 52 B’way seating area 53 Sounds from the stands 55 Shakespearean verb 56 1975 Wimbledon winner 57 Hit the mall 58 Antlered deer 61 Ginza agreement

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

02/12/14

Sun Sudoku

COMICS AND PUZZLES

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Deadline: 3:30 p.m. at The Sun‘s office on the day preceding publication. Monday’s deadline: Friday, 3:30 p.m. at The Sun office.

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Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name.

(Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki /Sudoku)

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14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014

SPORTS

TENNIS

Men Beat Rice;Women Go Winless in First Ivy Matches

By RYAN QUINN Sun Staff Writer

In their first competitive matches away from Ithaca this season, both the men and women suffered losses in their respective competitions. The No. 62 men’s team (4-2) traveled to Evanston, Il. where it earned a victory over Rice (2-6) before losing to host No. 30 Northwestern (7-2). The women’s team (2-2), competing against Ivy League opponents for the first time this season, was winless on the weekend after losing against both Brown (4-3) and Dartmouth (2-2).

In their first game of the weekend, the men bested Rice, 6-1.

Junior Alex Sidney and freshmen Bernardo Casares Rosa and Chris Vrabel all won their doubles and singles matches, while junior Quoc-Daniel Nguyen continued his dominance of the No. 6 singles spot, winning his fifth straight match. Senior captain Sam Fleck also returned from an injury he sustained in the first match of the season to team up with Vrabel.

The senior-freshman duo remains the No. 40 pairing in the nation.

“It was a good win against Rice,” Fleck said. “It was a tight match and we fought extremely well on every court against a good team.”

However, in the Red’s game against Northwestern, the script followed a very different narrative. The Red was shut out for the first time this season, including its preseason tournaments. The No. 30 Wildcats did not drop a single set against the Red, winning the doubles point as well as the No. 3, 5 and 6 singles matches. Nguyen suffered his first singles defeat of the season and both Sidney and Casares Rosa were trailing when Northwestern clinched the victory. Fleck and Vrabel were also trailing when the doubles point was decided.

“Northwestern was a tough loss,” Fleck said. “We played tentative tennis on the big points, whereas they stayed aggressive and took it to us.”

Meanwhile in New York City, the women struggled in their first contests against Ivy League competition at the ECAC Indoor Championships. Against Brown and Dartmouth, the Red was edged out by scores of 4-2 and 52, respectively. With senior captain Ryann Young out for the season with a torn ACL, the rest of the team has moved up in their respective singles spots, meaning all three of the top singles spots were played by underclassmen again.

Sophomore Dena Tanenbaum played the No. 1 spot in singles, and while she didn’t get the win, she took Dartmouth’s No. 1 to a tiebreak and very nearly turned the momentum around for the Red. “Both of the matches were really tight and could’ve really gone either way,” Tanenbaum said. “I thought for the most part our competitiveness was really good and obviously we want to come out on top, but I think everyone played really well.”

However, the Red excelled in doubles again, maintaining doubles as a consistent strength of this team so far this season. The pairings of freshmen Alexandra D’Ascenzo and Marika Cusick, as well as Tanenbaum and junior Lauren Frazier won all four matches they played in New York with both teams remaining undefeated thus far.

Cusick and D’Ascenzo have been excellent contributors for the Red, anchoring the No. 2 and 3 singles spots as well as dominating doubles.

As for this weekend, Tanenbaum emphasized the experience that this has given the whole team, and especially the first year players.

“It’s the beginning of the season and we’re kind of just getting into that dual match phase, because it’s different than in the fall,” she said.

“I think it was definitely a good warm-up and good practice, especially because we know we’re going to see them again in the Ivy season.”

To read the rest of this article, please visit cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 12, 2014 15

SPORTS

POLO

CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Women Take Virginia;Men Fall Short

By ELANI COHEN Sun Staff Writer

Saddle Up | Senior captain Nik Feldman returned from an injury to play for the first time this semester

Despite Defeats, Devoy Pleased With Red’s‘Fight’ SQUASH

Continued from page 16

Cornell wrapped up its regular season on Sunday afternoon in a tighter contest against Princeton, where it ultimately defeated the Tigers, 6-3. The men’s side now looks forward to the Potter Cup, the National Team Championship held for the top eight teams in the nation. Trinity has taken the last 14 of 15 championship victories.

“I think we’ve improved a spot in our season, which will most likely place us against Trinity, who ranks [at] number two. We had a reasonably close run with them and that was at Trinity…this will be at a neutral ground,” Devoy said. “The team has drawn a lot of confidence, beating Penn and Princeton. Its going to be a big ask, but it’s not impossible.”

On the women’s side, Cornell did not find the same good fortune as its male counterparts. The Red lost two of its three games, only defeating No. 26 William & Smith. Despite these losses, Cornell ends the season at No. 6, at eight-for-five and three-forfour in the Ivy. The Red fought hard against No. 3 ranked Penn, eventually losing, 6-3, with junior Danielle Letourneau getting the team off to a good start in an intensive five-match game.

“I wasn’t disappointed with the Penn match. It was a very good match for the girls, even though we were “They haven’t had a breakbeaten 6-3,” said head coach Julee Devoy. through yet to believe in “[Penn] is ranked themselves, and I think that’s third and we’re ranked sixth. [The why we don’t quite get there.” girls] put up a good fight and won many Julee Devoy matches.”

Cornell’s women squad also fell to the Princeton Tigers, 9-0, on Sunday at Jadwin Squash Courts.

Julee Devoy defended her players, suggesting that a mental block prevented them from playing to the best of their abilities.

“I don’t want to say they were flat, because they weren’t, they were motivated. … I hate to say it, but there is this thing that people think that Harvard, Yale and Princeton are so good and they need a breakthrough to win,” she said. “They haven’t had a breakthrough yet to believe in themselves, and I think that’s why we don’t quite get there. … Because they don’t quite think they can.”

Devoy was clearly proud of the effort her team had put in, in spite of the poor results.

“We got steamrolled on the scoreboard, but during the game there were some good matches,” she said, drawing positives from the defeat. “The top order played extremely well. They were so close with their opponents that anybody could have won.”

Despite the late loss to Princeton, the Red still ended the season in a strong position and will now look to shift its attention to nationals, where the squad will go head-to-head with Penn again.

“A rematch with Penn is definitely really, really good motivation for [the team], as it’s a team they did well against.” Devoy said. “[The team has] got to be able to go out there and do the same thing, if not improve on it. [Penn is] our immediate focus and no match is easy at nationals.”

Hamdan Al Yousefi can be reached at hyousefi@cornellsun.com.

The men’s and women’s polo teams saw contrasting results this weekend in their matchups against the University of Virginia at the Oxley Equestrian Center.

The women’s team defeated the Cavaliers, 25-7, while the men’s team endured a tough loss in a tight contest with a final score of 19-18.

The women’s team began its match against the defending champions with senior Kailey Eldredge and sophomores Anna Winslow and Devin Cox starting. The trio scored one goal each within the first few minutes of the match. The first chukker ended with Cornell in the lead, 7-3. Though UVA increased its defensive pressure during the second chukker, Cornell refused to relinquish the lead. The Red was ahead, 12-4, as the first half came to a close.

The squad continued to outscore the Cavaliers in the third chukker, and went into the fourth chukker with a lead of 18-5. The Red kept up the high intensity, scoring another seven goals in the final chukker.

The match ended in Cornell’s favor with a final score of 25-7.

Cox scored a total of 11 goals, while Eldredge posted seven and Winslow added six. With a boost of confidence from this

match, the team is looking forward to its next match against the West Shore Polo Club, which will be played in Ithaca.

Unfortunately, the men’s team did not have the same good fortune. Junior Hakan Karabey stepped in for freshman Ignacio Masias, who was out with an illness, as a starter alongside junior Nick Stieg and senior captain Nik Feldman.

Feldman entered play for the first time this semester after being out with an injury.

The match started out on a positive note as Cornell tallied two quick goals. The Red could not hold the lead for long, though, as the Cavaliers struck back with four goals in a row.

Determined to outscore one another, both squads began firing goals and the first chukker ended with a 7-7 tie. This back and forth play continued throughout the second chukker until the Red was finally able to net a few quick goals and take back the lead. The teams went into the second half with an overall score of 12-10 in Cornell’s favor.

As the second half began, the teams clashed with back and forth goals throughout the third chukker. Though the Cavaliers continued to put pressure on Cornell, the Red defended its lead and ended the third chukker ahead, 1514. Cornell went into the fourth chukker with confi-

dence, but after a few goals, the Cavaliers were able to break Cornell’s lead and tie up the score, 16-16. With a minute left on the clock, the Cavaliers netted two crucial goals, pushing its lead to 1917. Cornell rallied but was unable to find the equalizer.

The match ended in UVA’s favor with a final score of 1918.

According to Feldman, the Red is proud of its performance and is confident in its ability to turn the tide the next time the squad faces UVA. “We played a terrific game last night. It was really a battle from the beginning with very physical play. Goals were traded back-and-forth, and UVA just happened to get the right final bounce,” he said. “We are very happy with where we are currently. UVA is the only collegiate opponent we've lost to, and the past two games were only by one goal.”

Feldman added that the match was an important indicator that his team has the ability to compete with top competition.

“Most importantly, we planted seeds of doubt in their head; they'll be scared to face us again in Nationals because they know they’re due for a loss against us soon,” he said.”

Elani Cohen can be reached at ecohen@cornellsun.com.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Sports

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2014

16

TRACK & FIELD

Akpaete Breaks Her Own 400 Meter School Record

By JOHN MCGRORTY Sun Staff Writer

This past weekend the Cornell men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in multiple different meets across the east coast. The men’s team participated in the New York City Armory’s Collegiate Invitational, the Boston University Valentine Invitational and the Ithaca College Quad meet. The women’s team sent a majority of its athletes to the Valentine Invitational, where sophomore Udeme Akpaete broke her previous school record in the 400m.

At the Armory, junior Stephen Mozia placed first in shot put with a distance of 64’2.5”. The Red also displayed strong performances in the weight throw, with sophomore Bryan Rhodes placing fourth and freshman Rudy Winkler placing 11th with a new freshman record of 61’3.5”. Senior Dan Scott improved to No. 5 all-time in the triple-jump with a leap of 51’1.5” and senior Montez Blair placed third in the high jump.

The Red also performed well in its short-distance events, with senior Bruno Hortelano-Roig running the fastest prelim time in the 200m and senior Kinsley Ojukwu finishing in the Top-20 in that race.

“The team feels good about its performances. We had some big jumps from Dan Scott and a new freshman record from Rudy Winkler. It’s exciting to see people improving every weekend,” Mozia said.

“As a team, we want more though. We are looking for an amazing full team performance, especially with the championship season approaching.”

According to Blair, the team is not becoming overconfident after its recent successes.

CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Long strides | Sophomore Udeme Akpaete broke her previous school record in the 400m at the Valentine Inviational on Saturday.

“This weekend was not a bad weekend for us as a whole and very good for some, but we are taking this one step at a time,” he said. “We know it’s a process and we are taking steps to be where we want to be.”

Now the No. 14 team in the nation, the men’s team is not yet content with its national ranking, according to Mozia.

“Our team needs to continue to strive for more.

Complacency could hurt us a lot,” he said.

Although the team was scattered across the East coast this weekend, Mozia said it did not affect the team’s cohesion.

“I feel like it did not really affect us as much. We still kept track of each other from afar and it’s nice to feel support from your teammates from far away,” he said.

In Boston, freshman Grant Sisserson excelled once again, breaking the freshman pole vault record for the fourth week in a row with a jump of 16’6.75”, moving him into the No. 4 spot in Cornell history.

The women also came away from the weekend with some strong finishes in Boston. The Red had 14 runners with ECAC qualifications and 20 athletes with Top-20 finishes in their respective events.

The highlight of the Boston Invitational was Akpaete’s finish in the 400m. She broke her previous school record with an impressive time of 54.02, the fifth best time in Ivy League history.

This coming weekend, the Red will travel to Geneva, Oh. to compete in the SPIRE Invitational, hoping to move further up the national rankings.

John Mcgrorty can be reached at jmcgrorty@cornellsun.com.

SQUASH

Why Michael Sam Will Men Sweep, Women Lose Two of Three Be a Winner in the NFL

By HAMDAN AL YOUSEFI

Sun Staff Writer

O

n a weekend with sports fans mostly focusing on the winter fun of the Sochi Olympics, important

with himself, and he is not ashamed to be honest with the outside world either.

“I’m Michael Sam, and I’m a football play-

Ben Horowitz The Next Big Thing news for the uniquely American sport of football came to the forefront of the media.

Michael Sam, a first team All-American defensive end from the University of Missouri, announced to the world that he is gay.

He told his parents for the first time last week, then held interviews with ESPN and the New York Times over the weekend. He is absolutely comfortable

er. I want to be a football player in the NFL. I understand how big this is because this a big deal. No one has done this before. It’s kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be. I want to be playing snaps in the NFL,” he told ESPN.com.

To read the rest of this article, please visit cornellsun.com

The Cornell men’s and women’s squash teams saw contrasting results this past weekend as their regular seasons came to an end.

The men’s side completed a clean sweep of the competition over the three-day weekend, including an 81 defeat against Penn. In addition, the Red also triumphed over No. 28 Hobart, 9-0, and No. 9 Princeton, 6-3, to end the regular season 9-5 overall and 5-2 in the Ivy conference.

Cornell also moved up a spot in the rankings to No. 7, largely due to the squad’s impressive four-game winning streak.

Head coach Mark Devoy was pleased with the Red’s recent successful run, stating that he believed that the team had really come together to take on the challenge head-on.

“The team really came out and fought hard. I was a little bit worried during the game, because Penn has had a good run,” Devoy said. “I think they were a little bit confident in beating us, so I was concerned that the team didn’t have the right outlook. That wasn’t the case.”

Devoy also praised the home crowd support that the team received throughout the season, and

Keating and Rishi Jalan, as well as junior Aditya Jagtap won all their games in three matches.

Devoy hailed the collective effort of the team and individuals within it for achieving positive results this season.

“I have to give a little bit of credit to my senior co-captain Bryan Keating. He’s playing really, really well in his senior year. … There’s nothing better than leading by example and showing freshmen on the team what can be achieved by hard work.”

Devoy said. “It is a team effort, but it stems from leadership. Rishi Jalan, Nick Sachvie have all led CONNOR ARCHARD / well [also].”

SUN SENIOR The Red steamrolled PHOTOGRAPHER Hobart in its next game, as all teamWinning Strokes | mates won within Senior Rishi Jalan won all three matches.

attributed the unexpected win against Penn largely to home court advantage.

“There was a good turn out as friends came to watch and support the team. It definitely helped us to be in a place where we were supported and were comfortable playing in,” Devoy said.

Freshman Kevin Flannery, in the 3rd order, suffered the

only loss of the Penn game, but stayed in the game from start to finish, snatching two of his five match ups.

Seniors Nick Sachvie, Brya n

of his games in three matches against Penn, Hobart and Princeton.

See SQUASH page 15