03-06-12 entire issue

INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 103

TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2012

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ITHACA, NEW YORK

New Humanities Bldg Debated as Cause of Delay to McGraw Fixes

News Testimony

Michelle Huang ’14 spoke Monday at the trial of a former Rutgers student who is accused of inappropriately spying on his roommate. | Page 3

Opinion Post Grad

By MARGARET YODER

David Murdter ’12 discusses his fears and hopes for the direction his life will take after Cornell.

Sun Staff Writer

| Page 9

Arts Magical Méliès

Zachary Zahos ’15 reviews Cornell Cinema’s classy showing of the French film A Trip to the Moon. | Page 10

Sports Gymnastic Success

The gymnastics team posted its second highest team score of the season in this weekend’s home meet. | Page 20

Weather Partly Sunny HIGH: 46 LOW: 28

20 Pages – Free

LEVI SCHOENFELD / SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Pillar of support | The University added metal rods to the exterior of McGraw

As the University’s plans to construct a $61 million new humanities building on the Arts Quad progress, renovations for the nearby, 140-year-old McGraw Hall have been halted indefinitely due to a lack of funding. While some administrators said that the new humanities building is depleting resources that could otherwise be used to complete the McGraw renovation, others argued that funding for the two projects are unrelated.

Plans to renovate McGraw Hall date to 1987, when the College of Arts and Sciences recognized the need for more classroom space on the Arts Quad, according to Peter Lepage, dean of the arts college. Work on the building began in April 2011 to perform “long overdue deferred maintenance and replace the leaking roof system,” according to the Department of Facilities Services.

Administrators and University officials offered differing explanations for the renovation’s holdup.

Erik Gray, the University’s facilities manager, said that the new humanities building may be a “competing need” with McGraw for the arts college’s limited financial resources.

“If we weren’t building a humanities building, obviously, there would be other millions of dollars that they could put towards other uses that might include McGraw or probably a hundred or a thousand other needs that the college wants to do,” Gray said. “It’s all just a matter of the amount of money that the University has in its resources.”

Hall to stabilize the building last year while it awaited further renovations.

C.U.Law School Responds To Grads’ Fears of Debt

See MCGRAW page 4

Sage of wisdom

By ERIKA HOOKER Sun Staff Writer

With the cost of attending Cornell Law School for six semesters at more than $200,000, many students say they are concerned about their job prospects, especially as they grapple with the possibility of graduating with large debts.

Prof. Stewart Schwab, dean of the law school, said, however, that Cornell students are faring better than many other graduates in the job market. Cornell alumni are performing especially well in comparison to its peer institutions in the private sector job market, Schwab said.

Schwab added that the University is making strides to help students with job placement after graduation, including matching stuSee LAW page 4

Skorton Receives Award From Higher Ed. Council

By UTSAV RAI Sun Staff Writer

After more than two decades of advocacy on behalf of institutions of higher education, President David Skorton was honored Thursday with a national award for improving relations between government officials and state and land-grant universities.

The Association of Public and Land Grant Universities’ Council on Governmental Affairs awarded Skorton the Exemplary President in Governmental Relations Award on Thursday, citing his “sustained excellence” and “unparalleled passion, energy, sincerity and sense of purpose.”

See SKORTON page 5

OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Prof. Ted Sider, philosophy, presents his book, Writing the Book of the World, at the Cornell Store on Monday. Sider’s work explores metaphysics and the fundamental structure of reality.

Morning Fire on West Buffalo Street Damages Several Local Businesses A fire reported Monday around 8 a.m. at 704 W. Buffalo Street damaged several businesses, according to Dan Tier, assistant fire chief of the Ithaca Fire Department.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Tier said. No injuries were reported.

“I wasn’t able to get in today because they took the power off. It appears my office was smokedamaged,” said Richard Carlton, owner of Ridley

Printing Company, one of the businesses affected by the fire.

According to Carlton, the fire seems to have started in Kalzonies, a pizza restaurant at the location of the fire.

Representatives from the restaurant could not be reached for comment Monday.

— Compiled by Dennis Liu

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Today

DAYBOOK

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Daybook

Today

“Double Words”

Out in the World Coffee Hour 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., International Lounge, Williard Straight Revolution: Neutrino Oscillation and Beyond 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., 401 Physical Sciences Building

Fish sandwich filling

Lacrosse vs. Canisius 4 p.m., Schoellkopf Field

up above ground floor mop up

A People 4:30 p.m., Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Rights, Racism and “A Very Radical Proposition” 4:30 - 6 p.m., Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

close to code red Fish.

Tomorrow 10th Annual BioExpo 11 a.m. - 8:30 p.m., Duffield Hall

— A girl ʼ13

Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker: Peter Bergen 4:30 p.m., Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall Against the Wind: Growing in Turbulent Times with Dr. Irene Rosenfeld 5 p.m., Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall “The Psychology of Money” with Professor Jeff Hancock 7:15 - 8:15 p.m., 125 Hans Bethe House

PUPIL POETRY cornellians write verse Students may send poetry submissions to news@cornellsun.com.

HEART OF COLLEGETOWN APARTMENTS: Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10

www. cornell sun .com

HOUSES:

THE NEW

8 or 14 people

PARKING

Collegetown Center Collegetown Plaza Collegetown Court plus other properties

120 EAST STATE ST.

www.ithacarenting.com

A SEPARATION (PG13) 7:10 / 9:25

to see pictures, prices, lease, floor plans, tour schedules

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (R) 9:10

607-272-3000

PINA (PG) 7:00 THE ARTIST (PG13) 7:20 / 9:20 TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (R) 7:05 / 9:30 (No 7:05 show Monday 3/5) THE DESCENDANTS (R) 7:15 / 9:35 (No 7:15 show Thursday 3/8)

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RIDE THE DIVIDE (UR) 7:00 Thursday, March 8 only

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Lori Ginzberg Professor of History and Women’s Studies, Pennsylvania State University

“Rights, Racism, & ‘A Very Radical Proposition’: Grappling with the Complex Legacies of Elizabeth Cady Stanton” Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the founding philosopher of the American moveTuesday, March 6, 2012, 4:30 p.m., Kaufmann Aud., Goldwin Smith Reception to Follow

The Public is Invited

ment for women’s rights and one of her generation’s most charismatic and visible leaders. But her positions were not always on the side of the broadest possible conception of justice and social change. Lori Ginzberg will talk about the ways that elitism ran through Stanton’s life and thought, most often defined by class, frequently by race, and always by intellect, and how those attitudes limited the feminism of her era and, implicitly, our own.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 3

NEWS

Huang ’14 Testifies in Case Against Rutgers Student

By AKANE OTANI Sun News Editor

A Cornell student testified Monday that Dharun Ravi, a former Rutgers University student who was accused of spying on his roommate in an “intimate encounter” with another man, was hosting a “viewing party with a bottle of Bacardi and beer” during the liaison.

Tyler Clementi committed suicide on Sept. 22, 2010, while a freshman at Rutgers, after Ravi and another student watched him kiss another man through Ravi’s webcam. Michelle Huang’s ’14 testimony was given amid prosecutors’ attempts to prove that Ravi, driven by homophobic sentiments, intentionally tried to humiliate Clementi, The New York Times reported.

Though Ravi is charged with 15 criminal counts ––

including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy –– his actions have not been linked to Clementi’s death, The Huffington Post reported. Still, Huang’s testimony moved the prosecutor, Julia McClure, to say that she may call witnesses back to court to ask questions about conversations they had with Ravi about Clementi’s suicide.

Huang’s testimony, in which she said that Ravi urged her to view the footage of Clementi with him through video chat, was the first time a witness mentioned a planned party in the trial, according to the Associated Press.

“Do it for real. I have [the webcam] pointed at his bed,” Ravi wrote in a text message to Huang.

After Clementi’s death, Huang said to the court, Ravi told her through another text message that the “viewing

Tantalizing tastes

party” was a joke.

While the court has barred prosecutors from making connections between the allegations against Ravi and Clementi’s subsequent suicide, Judge Glenn Berman reportedly said that the court was allowed to question Huang because her testimony provided important context for understanding Ravi’s text messages, the A.P. reported.

Berman, however, was hesitant to discuss Clementi’s death in more detail, saying in court, “My preference is we don’t talk about it.”

Huang could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Akane Otani can be reached at aotani@cornellsun.com.

Yale Bans Fall Rush for Freshmen

By THE YALE DAILY NEWS

GINA HONG / SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Hospitality Students International holds its annual tasting event Monday in the Statler Hotel, featuring exotic snacks from eight countries.

Cayuga Heights Addresses Deer-Culling Concerns A panel of Cayuga Heights officials and wildlife experts including Prof. Paul Curtis, natural resources, answered questions on Wednesday about the village’s controversial plan to curb its deer population through culling, The Ithaca Journal reported.

Questions covered topics ranging from the donation of the culled deer meat to food banks and where the culling sites will be placed, according to The Journal.

Korean War Veteran Receives High School Diploma Ithaca resident Clyde Chilson received an honorary degree from Ithaca High School on Feb. 28, according to The Ithaca Journal.

Chilson, who would have been part of the class of ’51, left high school more than 60 years ago to serve in the Korean War, The Journal reported.

— Compiled by Dennis Liu

few months, he said he does not think this new policy will significantly impact the maturity level of freshmen students.

Avi Arfin, a sophomore and president of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity — the only fraternity registered with the Dean’s Office — said AEPi does not haze, and other organizations besides the Greek ones are often guilty of the hazing process.

“There are organizations on

istration does not realize the full extent to which his fraternity is a Jewish cultural organization as well as a fraternity. He said fall rush is important because during Jewish holidays that take place in the fall, many freshmen enjoy having a group of students going through a similar experience.

“Freshman who join in the fall can find it to be a huge comfort to go through this religious and cultural experience with a brotherhood supporting them,” said. that he Arfin added that the policy will also have implications for the larger Jewish community, as many of the freshmen who join AEPi in the fall end up becoming active in the Joseph Slifka Center.

The new restrictions will not affect sororities because they generally hold rush in the spring, said Caroline McCullough, a sophomore and president of the Panhellenic Council, which oversees the sororities Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma and Pi Beta Phi. Although sororities’ formal recruitment process is in the spring, she added, Kappa holds an informal recruitment process in the fall. But McCullough that most girls who rush Kappa in the fall are sophomores, which is allowed by the new policy.

McCullough said spring recruitment is beneficial to the process because it gives freshmen a chance to make friends outside of sororities, as well as the opportunity to “get a sense of what the sororities stand for.”

Still, Luke Hansen, a freshman who rushed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity last fall, said joining SAE early in his Yale career has been “amazing.” He said it gave him the chance to acquire a diverse group of friends from which he could branch out to other groups.

Hansen added that the spring pledge class will become larger to accommodate for the change, which he said detracts from the experience of bonding with a small group.

Gentry said DKE, which is serving a five-year ban from holding activities on campus, must also adhere to the new rule since Undergraduate Regulations apply to all Yale students, adding that DKE was represented at Thursday’s meeting of Greek leaders.

Fraternities and sororities will be prohibited from holding fall rush for freshmen beginning next year, Yale College Dean Mary Miller and Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry announced in a campus-wide email Thursday afternoon.

The change in the Undergraduate Regulations was first recommended in April by the Committee on Hazing and Initiations, which formed in response to the “There are organizations [at Yale] offensive chants of Delta have pretty serious hazing.”

Kappa Epsilon pledges in fall 2010. Gentry said the Avi Arfin rule only applies to Greek organizations and is intended to give new freshman campus that have pretty serious adequate time to evaluate their hazing,” he said. “If the adminisextracurricular opportunities and tration wants to address hazing to finish freshman orientation. they need to look at a broader, Gentry will chair an implementa- more cultural picture than just tion committee to draft the demonizing the frats and saying it specifics of the policy, he added, is a Greek problem.”

On Thursday afternoon before and five members from Greek organizations will sit on the com- the new policy was announced, administrators called mittee to provide input.

Greek leaders together to Silliman Master Judith inform them of the Krauss, who chaired the change and discuss the Committee on Hazing next step — forming a and Initiations, said the committee to determine committee found that in the guidelines of the the spring, freshmen are restriction. Gentry said able to make more educated decisions about the organi- this temporary implementation zations they join because they have committee will “make clear what been exposed to hazing education would be a violation.”

Silveira said serving on the programs and are more adjusted to implementation committee will be college life.

“A freshman is more likely in the first chance for fraternities to the spring term than in the fall provide input. Silveira said he term to know hazing when they applied to sit on the Committee on see or experience it and might be Hazing and Initiations but never better equipped to ‘say no,’” she received a response. He added that he remains hopeful that there may said.

Although most fraternities are still be room to “tailor this in a way not registered as student organiza- that it doesn’t completely throw our tions with the Yale College Dean’s plans out of whack.”

“It’s unfortunate because it Office, fraternity leaders are required to comply with the regu- seems like ideally, I would have lations as Yale undergraduates. been part of the decision commitTwo fraternity leaders interviewed tee,” he said. “A lot of the concerns said they do not think the new brought up today are the kinds of policy will be effective in address- things that would have made the administration rethink this policy, ing hazing issues on campus.

Jamey Silveira, a junior and and perhaps take a more friendly president of the Alpha Delta Phi stance.”

Silveira said the new policy will fraternity, said fraternities provide a platform for freshmen to get affect ADPhi because the fraternimore involved in the Yale commu- ty has only one rush period, which nity. Although he came to Yale not takes place in the fall. Rush occurs knowing anybody, Silveira said he in the fall, he said, because about “got over his homesickness” by half of the pledge class are memjoining his fraternity. He added bers of the varsity lacrosse team that he learned about academics who begin their season in the and other opportunities through spring. Silveira added that he has interactions with upperclassmen not yet come to a conclusion about how ADPhi will adjust its in the fraternity.

This story was originally published in Because the administration will rush process.

Arfin said he thinks the admin- The Yale Daily News on March. 2. be postponing the rush by only a

4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

NEWS

Students Say Job Prospects Grim McGraw Renovations May Be LAW

Continued from page 1

dents with alumni mentors who can “open multiple doors” for them.

“Even after students have graduated and moved into the work force, we continue to offer services to them throughout their careers,” Schwab said. “As our assistant dean for Career Services likes to say, you have a lifetime deal when it comes to career services at Cornell.”

According to data from the American Bar Association, law students in the United States spent $3.6 billion on tuition in 2010. This number takes into account discounts through both merit- and need-based aid.

For instance, Brandon Bodnar law said that if he does not have his G.I. Bill stipend — funding that he receives as a veteran for his first year and a half of law school — his debt would be “tremendously overwhelming after graduation.”

“Most students [at Cornell] have a ballpark debt of $220,000 after school,” Bodnar said.

“Luckily, I don’t approach that, but I still have a lot to pay off.”

Zachary Zuniga law, who said he is “fully dependent on student loans,” echoed Bodnar’s concerns about paying off loans after graduation.

“It’s a scary thought to contemplate paying off these loans,” Zuniga said. “A lot of my classmates are graduating and have no job prospects.

Paying off $3,000 a month in loans is just unrealistic in that case.”

Aggravating the issue, Zuniga said, was the fact that “the job market is shrinking, but law schools are spitting out more students than ever.”

Although 99 percent of students in the Class of 2010 reported in a post-graduation survey that they were employed, some students and graduates expressed concerns about finding jobs

that would allow them to pay off their debts.

Recent graduate Eduardo Bruera J.D. ’11 said that paying off debts can be difficult after graduating from law school. Bruera, who is currently employed as a law clerk for a federal appellate judge, said that the job hunt is essential for those with heavy debt.

“If you can’t secure a high enough paying position to service your loans, it will be extremely problematic,” Bruera said. “Law hiring is a bit of a weird beast. It’s based almost entirely on grades.”

Schwab, dean of the law school, also attributed some of the difficulties students face in finding jobs to the dismal economy.

“What we saw as a result of the 2008 crash was that law firms reduced hiring by half or more,” Schwab said in an email. “Hiring has improved since then, but still has not fully recovered. When the economy is not thriving, legal employers struggle too, and scale back their hiring plans.”

Still, some students, including Bodnar, stressed the importance of recognizing that sixfigure, “big law” jobs, are few and far between.

“When I decided to go to law school, I had to understand that there are few career options available that would be able to pay off my loans later,” Bodnar said.

He also said that he is unsure of whether or not to seek employment in the private or public sector after law school.

“I’m still debating working in the public or private sector, and part of that comes from paying off my debt,” Bodnar said. “If I went private, I could pay off my debt a lot sooner, but these positions are highly competitive.”

Bodnar, however, said many of the jobs available to law school graduates do not offer salaries that can chip away at the amount of debt that graduates are burdened with.

Erika Hooker can be reached at ehooker@cornellsun.com.

Delayed by Humanities Bldg MCGRAW

Continued from page 1

While clarifying that the new humanities building is “only one such competing need, and [that] there are many, many others,” Gray said that he believes it is difficult for McGraw to compete for funds with the new humanities building.

Lepage, however, said that neither the planned construction of the humanities building nor the development of the New York City tech campus has had an impact on the renovation of McGraw.

“The humanities building and the first phase of the tech campus are entirely funded by donor money,” Lepage said in an email.

“Renovating McGraw will require some donor money, but also University funds, which are difficult to come by right now, given our very tight budgets. Our budgets are tight because of the financial downturn, the need to maintain adequate financial aid for our students, and so on –– that is, for reasons that have nothing to do with the humanities building or the tech campus.”

The start date of McGraw’s renovation was also unclear.

Robertson said that the renovation project will resume upon completion of the new humanities building.

“We do know that it would happen after the new humanities building is complete … We need space for moving offices and programs around in the Arts Quad when the new building comes up,”

“Renovating McGraw will require some donor money, but also University funds, which are difficult to come by right now.”

Prof. Peter Lepage she said.

However, Lepage did not acknowledge that there was a connection between the construction of the humanities building and renovations on McGraw.

Additionally, in an official statement, the Department of Facilities Services said that “the approval of the new humanities building has not affected plans for McGraw Hall.”

While the University’s funding shorfall has delayed renovations on McGraw, the University has had to implement temporary measures to stabilize the building, according to Gray.

Gray said that when he evaluated McGraw before starting to work on its roof, he noticed that the building’s moulding had moved from its original position, causing “things to look askew, just like it would in an old house.”

He concluded that the building would need to have a brace added to it so it could successfully endure the stress of the roof replacement. The brace consists of metal rods that run horizontally through the entire building and enter the building through its windows. These horizontal rods, in turn, are connected to vertical rods that are attached to the outside of the building, creating a metal rod sandwich to support the building, Gray said.

One of these rods runs through the office of Prof. Frederic Gleach, anthropology.

“There was noise when we were trying to teach, or work in our offices, but it was less intrusive than I had expected,” he said in an email. “I now have a steel rod running through my office –– and two through the [Anthropology] Collections –– but again they’re not really that obtrusive, less than I had expected.”

While Gleach said that disruptions caused by ongoing construction in McGraw during the fall semester were minimal, Julia Sylvester ’15 voiced concerns about McGraw’s incomplete repair work.

“It makes me have less pride in the fact that I’m a history major,” Sylvester said. “Look at Statler and how they’re getting millions of dollars donated to renovate a space that is really nice.”

According to Gray, however, the brace sandwiching McGraw is just a temporary, preventative measure.

“The building was not about to fall down,” he said.

Although the University originally planned to complete renovation in three phases, it will no longer split the renovation into multiple stages. Doing so would be “too disruptive for the people who use the building for their offices, classes and other purposes,” according to Susan Robertson, director of communications for the arts college.

Margaret Yoder can be reached at myoder@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 5

NEWS

Obama Will Speak at Skorton’s Efforts Honored by National Org Barnard Graduation SKORTON

Continued from page 1

THE COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR

President Barack Obama, Columbia College ’83, will speak at Barnard College commencement on May 14, the college announced on Saturday.

“This is an extraordinary honor for Barnard and we are thrilled to welcome President Obama for this important moment in the lives of our graduates and their families,” Barnard President Debora Spar said in a statement. “His commitment to empowering women is so meaningful to our students, who aspire to lead and make their mark on the world.”

Having the president as commencement speaker is a coup for any school, though not one that Barnard actively pursued. Spar told Spectator that she received an unexpected call from the White House on Wednesday with the offer of Obama as commencement speaker.

Barnard had previously announced that New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson would be commencement speaker. According to the college’s statement, Abramson, the Times’ first female executive editor, is “happy to speak at Barnard at a later date.”

“Jill Abramson was our choice this year. We went with her, we were delighted to get her,” Spar said. “So this was really a surprise.”

Spar said in her statement that while students will no longer be able to receive unlimited tickets to commencement, every student will get at least six tickets. The ceremony will probably be held on South Lawn.

Barnard/Columbia Divide

Barnard students were elated to hear that Obama would be their commencement speaker, but the announcement left many Columbia College students in disbelief. Obama is a graduate of Columbia College, and Columbia students have tried for the last three years to convince him to speak at his alma mater.

“It’s going to be really exciting to see him live,” Eva Vaillancourt, BC ’12, said. “He’s kind of a rock star. I still consider myself a supporter, and I’ll be supporting him in the election.”

“I think it’s going to be a great way to end college,” Alexa Jaccarino, a senior at Barnard College, said, adding that she expects Obama to talk about “something hopeful, something inspiring ... I guess something with a minor feminist bent, because he does have a lot of platforms that have to do with women’s rights.”

Lauren Perrine, a senior at Barnard College, said she called her mother ecstatically when she heard that Obama would be speaking.

“Barnard has had a history of having great commencement speakers, and I think everyone in the class is really excited to have the president come and speak,” she said.

Barnard’s last four commencement speakers have been Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, actress Meryl Streep, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“All of us can be proud that President Obama, the first Columbia graduate to serve in the nation’s highest office, has chosen to honor the importance of women’s leadership by returning to campus at our historic sister liberal arts college for women in New York,” University President Lee Bollinger said in the Barnard statement.

But Obama’s decision to speak at Barnard has caused some heated reactions among Columbia students. Emilio Fajardo, CC ’15, said that the decision “seems like a slap in the face” to Columbia.

Over the last few years, there have been unsuccessful efforts to petition Obama to speak at Columbia. Sean Udell, CC ’11 and president of the class of 2011, spearheaded the POTUS Project, a campaign to convince Obama to speak at Columbia’s commencement ceremony last year.

“I’m shocked and happy that Barnard will get to have Obama speak at their commencement,” Udell said. “I’m quite disappointed, of course, that President Obama spoke to our sister school, instead of his alma mater.”

Donia Abdelaziz, a senior at Columbia College, said that women’s issues are as pertinent to Columbia students as they are to Barnard students.

“As a Columbia woman myself, I find it disappointing that he wouldn’t have thought to bring these issues to his alma mater,” Abdelaziz said.

Udell speculated that Obama has not spoken at Columbia either because he had a “poor experience” here or because “speaking at an Ivy League university is not a particularly politically advantageous thing to do.” But considerating that Obama is speaking at the country’s most selective women’s college, Udell said, it’s more likely that “he just really didn’t like Columbia.”

“It’s hard for students not to read this as an explicit rejection of the school that he went to,” Rui Yu, a sophomore at Columbia College, said.

This story was originally published in The Columbia Daily Spectator on March 31.

November. “There’s a lot of constraints, but we’re thinking very heavily about what can be done.”

Skorton was also praised for his interactions with members of Congress and the executive branch and for advising them on many universityrelated issues. He has testified before Congress on controversial topics, including academic freedom and the place of civil disobedience on campus.

The letter also extolled Skorton’s advocacy with members of Congress on issues of the affordability of an undergraduate education, an issue on which his commitment has received national attention.

“Vigorous cost containment must be pursued by all colleges and universities,” Skorton wrote in a Feb. 6 editorial published in The Huffington Post. “As a higher education community, we have not made sufficient changes in how we operate

In response, Skorton said in a University press release that he was “deeply honored to receive this award on behalf of the Cornell community.”

“I am pleased that the advocacy by APLU and other higher education associations to advance the National Endowment for the Humanities, student financial aid and other issues is being recognized,” Skorton said.

The APLU is a research and advocacy organization consisting of public research universities, land-grant institutions and state universities. It has member campuses in all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia, according to its website.

The council’s award letter commended Skorton for his commitment to working with government officials to improve public high- “I am pleased that the advocacy ... to er education. It also honored Skorton for his support of the humanities, despite his advance ... student financial aid and other background as a physician and a scientist. issues is being recognized.”

In his 2010 State of the University address, Skorton voiced his intent to bol- President David Skorton ster the humanities, which he said had been largely underfunded, nationally, over the last our institutions that could reduce the price of col16 years. lege.”

“At no time in this nation’s history has it been The letter also praised Skorton’s “frequent and more important to nurture, protect and put the effective” addressing of research issues –– includideas and provocations of the arts and humanities ing his insistence on ethics in research and the front and center,” the APLU’s letter stated, calling protection of human subjects –– before members his advocacy on behalf of the National of Congress.

Endowment for the Humanities “an inspiration to The letter concluded by emphasizing how the academic community and to the public.”

Skorton’s work has aided in representing “the The award also commended Skorton’s efforts importance of public higher education to governin support of legislation for immigration reform. ment and the public.”

Skorton, who has voiced his support for the “[Your] towering intellectual integrity, moral DREAM Act, pledged in November to look for courage, and unshakable respect for [others] … sources of funding for undocumented students at has brought great credit on yourself [and] your Cornell. institutions,” the letter said.

“I don’t have an answer, but I am committed to finding a way and I have contacts both inside and Utsav Rai can be reached at outside the University,” Skorton said to the S.A. in urai@cornellsun.com.

6 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

NEW YORK NEWS BRIEFS

Insurers to Cover Women’s Contraception Choice

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state on Monday warned health insurers they would lose state contracts if women on Medicaid are denied their choice of higher-cost, brand-name contraceptives unless cheaper, generic methods “fail first.”

The move comes after The Associated Press reported Monday that some New York Medicaid patients were told they had to switch to lowercost contraceptives unless the cheaper measures failed, resulting in pregnancy, bleeding or nausea.

The conflict stems from an apparently unintended consequence of a cost-cutting measure in effect since October. That state measure sought to substitute a cheaper, generic birth control pill for contraceptives such as the monthly NuvaRing or weekly patch.

“If a health plan is not attentive to the needs of its patients, they will no longer be a contracted health plan with New York’s Medicaid program,” said James Introne, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s deputy secretary for health. “If there is resulting patient discomfort with a health care plan or its policies, it is a situation that the state will remedy.”

Introne said that although he sees no “significant level of complaints,” it is critical for women to be comfortable with their birth control method.

“A woman’s ability to access birth control is a priority for New York’s Medicaid program,” Introne said.

Leslie Moran of the New York Health Plan Association, a statewide health insurance industry lobbying group, said companies are working to resolve disputes.

“Plans have worked with the state, and continue working with the Department of Health, to both assure access and to address any issues that might arise in a timely manner,” Moran said. “As previously indicated, all plans cover a variety of contraceptive methods — generics, brand name or both — because they are committed to ensuring women have access to this important coverage.”

The state, women’s health advocates and insurance companies had been working on the issue since shortly after Oct. 1 when the change took effect.

New York Suburban County Closes Precincts to Cut Budget MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban New York county has voted to realign its police precincts.

Under the plan approved Monday, four of Nassau County’s eight precincts will be turned into community policing centers. Four other precincts will remain open. Officials say while 100 officers will be trimmed from the payroll, no actual patrols will be eliminated.

The move is part of an effort to help reduce a $310 million budget deficit. County leaders say the change should save $20 million annually.

A state fiscal watchdog last year declared a fiscal emergency in Nassau.

The county currently has 177 patrol cars deployed during a given shift. Proponents say patrol cars are equipped with high-tech equipment that reduces the necessity for precincts.

Union officials and others dispute the savings claim and warn of crime increases.

Students, Occupiers Arrested Protesting New York Budget ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Protesters say 33 students and Occupy Albany activists have been released following their arrests at the Capitol in Albany.

Michael Kink of the Stronger Economy for All Coalition says the demonstrators and state police handled the violations without incident or injury.

Nearly 400 students from the State University of New York and the City University of New York arrived in cars and buses Monday to seek restored funding for public universities.

They protested loudly through the Legislature’s session from before noon thorough the afternoon.

Sean Collins of the University at Albany says state government should divert billions from its stock transfer tax to fund education.

SUNY and the CUNY have been cut up to 30 percent in the last three years.

New York City Madam Claimed Law-Enforcement Ties NEW YORK (AP) — Court records show Manhattan prosecutors who specialize in investigating police say a woman ran a multimilliondollar prostitution ring and bragged that she had contacts in law enforcement.

Court records show Anna Gristina is due in court Tuesday on a charge of promoting prostitution. She pleaded not guilty last month. Her lawyer, the Manhattan district attorney’s office and police declined to comment Monday.

The news site DNAInfo first reported on the case Monday. A transcript from a Feb. 23 arraignment shows the investigation was done by the DA’s Official Corruption Unit. It prosecutes cases involving police or other uniformed public servants.

A prosecutor told a judge Feb. 23 that the 44-year-old Gristina had been heard claiming “she has connections in law enforcement who are poised to help her out.”

U.S. NEWS BRIEFS

N.J. Governor: Surveillance Communication Offers Checks

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie, who suggested that a New York Police Department intelligence operation in Newark may have been “born out of arrogance,” on Monday said surveillance of people when there is no suspected wrong-doing should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

“These are complicated issues. I don’t think you can set out one hard and fast rule on this,” said Christie, who as the U.S attorney for New Jersey for seven years prosecuted several high-profile terrorism cases.

Christie, who was named U.S. attorney the day before Muslim extremists destroyed the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, has repeatedly said the NYPD should have notified the Joint Terrorism Task Force — created after the attacks — that it was monitoring Muslims in Newark. Besides ensuring that police weren’t duplicating efforts, Christie said, the coordination would have provided a way for police to keep a lawful eye on each other.

“My experience tells me you have to trust the people in the leadership of law enforcement to make the right decisions on this,” he said, “and a good check on that is for people to be coordinating with each other to make sure everyone is on the same page.”

The criticism of the NYPD follows a series of stories by The Associated Press that detailed how police officers had monitored Muslims around the New York metropolitan area and prepared a report cataloging the locations of Muslim-owned businesses and mosques in Newark. The tactics have prompted objections from civilrights groups and raised questions over whether the NYPD is inappropriately monitoring people who are not suspected of any links to terrorism.

The NYPD has said that it informed Newark officials about the intelligence operation and that Newark police were briefed before and after. New York officials said the NYPD officers were not making arrests or conducting searches in New Jersey and were thus acting within their authority.

The AP stories also revealed that the NYPD secretly monitored the daily activities of Muslim college student groups across the Northeast, including at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Christie, a Republican, has called the Newark report “disturbing” and asked state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa to look into it.

Hurricane Center Chief Predicts Longer Forecasts CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The director of the National Hurricane Center expects the agency soon will be able to project storm positions a week ahead of time.

Bill Read traveled to Charleston to attend a hurricane conference with officials from other federal agencies. The Miami center now projects storm positions five days out, although confidence in forecasts diminishes over time.

Read said Monday he expects scientific advances will improve forecast accuracy so a one-week forecast is possible within two to five years.

He says the memories of Hurricane Irene and extensive damage it caused last August along the East Coast will only remain with people for about five years. He says even as forecasting improves, the biggest challenge is to crack the feeling many in the public have that a storm won’t affect them.

FBI’s News Corporation Probe Heads to Russia NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI is investigating whether a Russian billboard company once owned by media giant News Corp. bribed local officials to get sign placements approved, part of a growing probe of Rupert Murdoch’s company that stems from a scandal in the U.K. The expanding investigation of News Corp. properties — besides the British tabloids accused of phone hacking and bribery of public officials — is typical of a U.S. probe of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 1977 act allows the Justice Department to levy hefty fines on U.S.-based companies for ill-gotten profits that come from bribing foreign officials.

Two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the FBI will examine operations at former News Corp. subsidiary News Outdoor Russia. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Investigators are trying to establish whether there is a pattern of bribery and corruption at News Corp. outlets abroad, they said.

A spokesman for News Corp. in New York declined to comment.

An FBI spokesman also declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal, a News Corp. newspaper, earlier reported on the FBI probe.

Michael Koehler, a law professor at Butler University, and former legal adviser to businesses on the FCPA, said such a probe could take years and cover many News Corp. properties around the world.

In past cases where it has found wrongdoing, the Justice Department has imposed fines of up to double the amount of illicitly gained revenue, he said.

“The breadth and scope of conduct is going to be one factor for the enforcement agencies in deciding how to resolve a case like this,” he said.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 7

OPINION

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 130TH EDITORIAL BOARD JUAN FORRER ’13 Editor in Chief

HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13

JEFF STEIN ’13 Managing Editor

Business Manager

JAMES CRITELLI ’13

RUBY PERLMUTTER ’13

Advertising Manager

Associate Editor

JOSEPH STAEHLE ’13

LAUREN A. RITTER ’13

PETER A. JACOBS ’13

ANN NEWCOMB ’13

Sports Editor

Web Editor

Associate Managing Editor

Design Editor

DAVEEN KOH ’14

ESTHER HOFFMAN ’13

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Photography Editor

ELIZABETH CAMUTI ’14

ZACHARY ZAHOS ’15

News Editor

Arts & Entertainment Editor

REBECCA HARRIS ’14

KATHARINE CLOSE ’14

News Editor

News Editor

DANIELLE B. ABADA ’14

AKANE OTANI ’12

Assistant Sports Editor

News Editor

HALEY VELASCO ’14

SCOTT CHIUSANO ’15

Assistant Sports Editor

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REBECCA COOMBES ’13

AMANDA STEFANIK ’13

Assistant Design Editor

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BRYAN CHAN ’15

HANNAH ZDRNJA ’15

Multimedia Editor

Associate Multimedia Editor

NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR ’13

ELIZA LaJOIE ’13

Science Editor

Dining Editor

JOSEPH VOKT ’14

The Stakes of the Modern Bandwagon I

f we’re currently living in the age of innovation, then we’re also living in the age of staying-in-the-loop. When Google debuted Google+ this past summer, we scrambled for those invitations to get on board with the next social wave. In fact, some obsessed users wanted an invitation so badly that they would even buy them off eBay. Nine months later, the service has surged to 90 million users.

But here’s the caveat: Each user spends only a meager three minutes on the social service every month, a flicker in time compared to the 8 hours that we commit to Facebook.

So what was the impetus behind the clamor to sign up for a redundant service

be checking into Foursquare, registering for Groupon deals and, in perhaps the most bizarre of the social fads, sharing things that we want but can’t have on Pinterest.

The once-celebrated values of individuality and uniqueness has been replaced by a pathological obsession with sticking closely to the pack. And it doesn’t just show in our Internet crazes.

These days, it seems we’ve been stricken by the inability to do even the simplest of chores alone, as if we possess social and productive value only when we go about our daily lives surrounded by others. Going to the grocery store? Surely, you have to text a few friends to meet you there.

Need to write an essay or study for an

MAGGIE HENRY ’14

Assistant Web Editor

Outreach Coordinator

HANK BAO ’14

SEOJIN LEE ’14

Online Advertising Manager

Marketing Manager

ERIKA G. WHITESTONE ’13

Steven Zhang

AUSTIN KANG ’15

Social Media Manager

Assistant Advertising Manager

JESSICA YANG ’14

Human Resources Manager

The Bigger Picture

WORKING ON TODAY ’S SUN DESIGN EDITOR Design Deskers PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKER NEWS NIGHT EDITORS

Ann Newcomb ’13 Jayant Mukhopadhaya ’15 Megan Zhou ’15 Oliver Kliewe ’14 Katharine Close ’14 Akane Otani ’14 Scott Chiusano ’15 Zachary Zahos ’15 Dennis Liu ’14 Utsave Rai ’15

Letters

The loss of activism in academia To the Editor: Re: “Professors Question Cornell-Technion Partnership” News, March 2 Last night I read “Professors Question Cornell-Technion Partnership” and then watched President Obama’s speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference. Both showed how twisted the American obsession with Israel has become. The story of Cornell’s secret scheming to combine with an Israeli institution in New York City was fully equaled by our President’s profession of unquestioning devotion and national subordination to the Jewish State.

As an old alumnus of the University I marvel at the current political apathy of the Cornell community. In 1968 students vigorously protested the apartheid government of South Africa and called upon the University to shed its investments in firms that did business with that state (cf. Cornell Daily Sun, LXXXIV, #122, 12 April 1968, “Cornell and South Africa”). Nowadays, if any Cornellian dares to point out that Israel is an apartheid state and egregious human rights offender, then he or she earns a quick condemnation as an anti-Semite, a dossier in the files of the AntiDefamation League and little chance of a political career in Zionist America. The ADL has a very long memory.

When I was an undergraduate we were horrified by the Berlin Wall, the symbol of an ideologically committed police state. Now the Israel West Bank barrier “fence” rings a Palestinian gulag, and nary a complaint is heard from Ithaca. Meanwhile Israel has trashed the phony peace process, relentlessly thieved Palestinian lands in the Occupied Territories and pressed our government into yet another aggression, this time against Iran.

If the Cornell Administration had to sweeten the NYC Technology Campus deal with a foreign partner, why did they not consider a European university from a nation without such reprehensible baggage?

H. William Fogle Jr. ’70

that ultimately turned out to be useless?

Surely it wasn’t to connect even more with social circles — we already had a well-established, functioning and vetted networking service for that purpose.

We signed up because we feared being left out. And in an era when an expansive network of friends, connections or followers translates into social validation, and hyperconnectivity provides us our greatest source of information, isolation from the herd would be social torment. So we obediently created Google+ profiles.

But it wasn’t the only case. In the past decade, not only has information technology become more innovative, with start-ups popping up across Silicon Valley, but the speed of innovation dramatically increased.

We’re not only seeing more creative — and more addicting — services, but we’re seeing them in greater numbers. And each time we come across one, we’re obligated to join — not because we believe it will make our lives dramatically easier or more enjoyable, but because everyone else joins. Otherwise, we’d miss the train.

Only a decade ago, being part of the herd simply meant you were trendy. Keeping up with the latest developments was merely a badge of trendiness and youth.

Nowadays, though, we’ve taken the herd membership a step further: Being part of the herd has become a necessity for social survival.

So even though we initially may have thought publicizing our resumes on LinkedIn was overdone, we still created an account once everyone else did. And, lo and behold, when one of our friends started Tweeting, we were coerced into creating our own accounts in order to become his follower.

And soon enough, many of us will also

exam? You’re obligated to invite some classmates to meet you in the library.

What about grabbing some dinner? Of course you will need to have a buddy to come along as well.

On the flipside, social isolation has become a stigma. The student who eats and studies on his own is assumed to be socially defunct, as if his isolation were forced upon him by his peers, not by his own choice.

And perhaps this pathology writ large could explain our country’s political and economic ailments these past few years.

In the mid 2000s, the craze was subprime lending. Investors and homeowners everywhere wanted to get in on the lucrative and cheap borrowing. No one wanted to be left behind as the chumps. In the end though, the herd mentality made all of us the chumps.

And in Washington, we see the slow erosion of the independent moderate. Rare is the Congress member who refuses to vote along party lines. Now, the trend for Congress members is to declare blind and whole-hearted allegiance to either the left or the right instead of thinking for themselves.

But there’s nothing shameful or embarrassing about being alone, just as there is nothing socially maladroit with not having a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. In fact, to be alone — free from the repetitive stream of texts, news headlines, Newsfeed updates and Tweets — is one of the few luxuries that our generation can afford these days.

Once upon a time, we lived by our own whims. Now, we live according to those around us.

Steven Zhang is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at szhang2@cornellsun.com. The Bigger Picture appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.

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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 9

OPINION

Life, Unstructured I

’ve now been a columnist for 25 months, having started in the spring semester of my sophomore year.

This will be my 34th column for The Cornell Sun. I’ve covered a fair number of topics in my time writing — the media, court cases, tax reform, etc. — but not once have I written about the only subject I can credibly claim to know better than anyone else: myself.

I’m not about to turn this column into a diary entry, mind you, but fair warning: I’m going to be a bit more reflective than usual. Perhaps it’s the second semester senior in me. That, and the remnants of last night’s gin and tonics.

The conversations I’ve had with many of my fellow classmates on the subject of their futures suggest widespread uneasiness and uncertainty — a condition undoubtedly made worse by our rapidly approaching graduation. Departing college is an experience riddled with contradiction: It is exciting, thrilling and momentous — yet perilous, disruptive and unsettling. Until now, our lives have been largely defined by our education; though we may have struggled to find meaning or inspiration in our studies, there was never any question as to what we’d be doing tomorrow, or the next day or the day after.

As college concludes, so too does that certainty.

Faced with entering the so-called “real world,” we’re compelled to reckon with the very core of our identity.

We ask ourselves: Who am I? What will I do? What makes me happy?

Think about it for a moment. Do you have a definite answer? I sure as hell don’t.

For a long time I couldn’t help but envy those who do — the ones who cemented post-graduation plans early, quickly extinguishing the existential angst that arises when one stands on the precipice of life outside the University. The ones who, at this young age, already feel a strong sense of purpose — a deep, intrinsic, unequivocal desire to work towards some end that inspires them. They, I figured, were the most fortunate.

At least, I assume they sleep well. How many countless nights have I been kept awake by the question of my

A

future? How many students, I wonder, at any given moment, on any given night, lay silently in their beds, poring over every option, playing out every permutation of every possibility, desperately searching for the one, perfect plan that stands out as superior to the rest?

Too many, to be sure. Plans are fine and well, don’t get me wrong, but I think the uncertainty of life can be as much a blessing as a curse. We live in a vast, complex, beautiful, mysterious world — why commit to walking through it on a single path?

Rather, let’s resist predictability. Let’s embrace the twists and turns of life. And most importantly, let’s accumulate a few good stories along the way. I think Professor Stephen Weeks (as reiterated by NPR host Peter Sagal) put it best: “Sometimes … the best way to live your life is to choose the experience that will have the most anecdotal value.”

That may strike you as rather vain advice; after all, it seems unwise to structure one’s life around collecting stories best suited for bar counters and dinner parties. There’s wisdom in that statement, though, that I think can be very instructive for us students.

The culture of our university places so much emphasis on neatly transitioning from one segment of life to the next. Graduate. Get a job (great firm!). Work for three years. Graduate School. Higher paying job (better firm!). Partner. Retirement. Sailboat? Die. But when I listen to the greatest stories — the ones that really have significance, the ones that strike at something fundamental to the human condition — I can’t help but notice that it’s in the scrappy unpredictability of life that living really happens. There in the unanticipated situations, chance encounters and quick decisions, we discover who we are and what we’re made

of. Inspiration and innovation are as much a product of serendipity as they are of intellect; so while the disruptions in our lives come with high risks, they can also potentially yield even greater rewards.

Am I suggesting that you drop out of school, turn down your job offer and hitchhike across the country?

Not at all (and for what it’s worth, that didn’t really work out for Chris McCandless). There’s nothing wrong with having plans, or following a career path.

Depending on what your goals are, doing so may be a necessity. By the same token, though, we shouldn’t be afraid of not having plans or of the consequences when

David Murdter Murphy’s Lawyer our plans fall through. There are so many possible things to do in this world — more than I or anyone else could ever fathom. The plans we make represent one infinitesimally small portion of those possibilities. So why fret when things don’t go according to plan?

Go on an adventure. Do something creative. Invent something. Play music. Learn a skill you otherwise wouldn’t have. Work odd jobs. Busk. By all means, be a productive member of society, but be productive on your own terms. Take time, take risks and take pictures.

If you fail, you’ll have a good story. If you succeed, you’ll have a great story. And at the end of the day, wouldn’t you at least like to have a few of those?

David Murdter is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at dmurdter@cornellsun.com. Murphy’s Lawyer appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.

The Life of Diversity at Cornell: A Response to the Reading Project

s a professor at Cornell University, who has been actively engaged in diversity issues since I was hired 10 years ago, I am writing to express my concerns about the choice for the coming year’s Cornell Reading Project, The Life Before Us by Romain Gary.

At a time when the Middle East is engaged in a set of complex issues to which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is crucial and a significant part of global conscious-

The narrator, who until the end of the novel is led to believe he is 10, indulges freely and usually without contradiction in both Arab and African stereotyping (“after all they were cannibals in Africa,” he says of his African neighbors in Paris). The reader learns, for example, that “Arabs always get a hard-on before anyone else.”

Comic relief? I imagine that’s its intent, for Momo is trying his best to be a kind of Huckleberry Finn, employing what I imag-

Eric Cheyfitz Guest Room ness as well, Cornell selects a book that mystifies these conflicts through constructing a sentimental relationship between a dying Jewish woman, Madame Rosa (Holocaust survivor and ex-prostitute), and her charge, Mohammed, or, more familiarly, Momo, a 14-year-old, deracinated Arab orphan, who, at the beginning of the novel, narrates “My country must have been Algeria or Morocco or some such place” (my italics). What we have here is the generic Arab, who when asked “Are you an Arab?” can say, “Hell, I don’t let anybody call me an Arab.” The message seems to be: What does it matter where Mohammed is from — an Arab is an Arab is an Arab or not — though by the end of the novel, once he discovers who his parents are, Momo identifies himself as Algerian but to no apparent purpose.

ine Gary takes to be Huck’s style, folksy and endearing, with a litany of grassroots homilies about life and death and the condition humaine. But whatever one can say about the racism in Twain, and much has justly been said, Twain immerses his novel in the race issues of the United States and constructs a white boy (an ironic extension of himself ) to tell the tale, whereas Gary, Jewish himself, fabricates an Arab boy as narrator who completely avoids the race issues in France in 1970 (the time of the narrative).

In this vein, Momo, commenting on racism in Niger from information gleaned from one of the African characters, proclaims: “I haven’t had any trouble with racism myself ….” And, indeed, throughout the novel he encounters none, going to live finally with a perfectly liberal, bour-

geois, white French family, after Madame Rosa dies. These folks adore Momo, perhaps because, as Momo states, “I have brown hair and blue eyes and my nose isn’t Jewish like an Arab; I could have been anything at all without changing my face.” But make no mistake. The Life Before Us is not the critical study of an identity crisis.

Rather, Momo seems to delight in his identity slippage, which appears throughout the novel as an unadulterated advantage or simply as a platform for Gary’s aesthetic play and the reader’s amusement. But who, we might ask, is going to be amused at this kind of play?

Momo’s identity is inextricable from Madame Rosa’s and the already sentimentalized politics of the novel is distorted by that identification. Threatening the landlord, who is demanding back-payment of rent, Momo tells the reader: “… I promised him that he’d wake up one morning with his khlawi in his mouth because that’s what the Jewish terrorists always do, and they’re the worst devils going except for my Arab brothers who are fighting to self-determine themselves and go back home, and between me and Madame Rosa he’d have the sum total of Jewish and Arab terrorists on his ass and he’d better start counting his balls.”

It would appear Jewish terrorism equals Arab terrorism (and in that equation they seem to cancel each other out); in the end, the novel suggests, Jewish and Arab terrorists band together to fight in a common cause represented in this case by the landlord. Where these Arab terrorists “are fighting to self-determine themselves” is never mentioned nor is the location of “home.”

In the novel, Israel only figures in Momo’s reveries as a place that welcomes both

Arabs and Jews, where he and Madame Rosa will live together happily ever after in this fairy tale of Jewish-Arab bonding.

At a time when Cornell is forging a controversial partnership with Technion in Israel and proudly issuing its diversity statement, the selection of The Life Before Us seems particularly out of place precisely because its force is to deflect rather than engage the central issues of the Arab/Israeli and Arab/Jewish conflicts. The choice of the novel also seems particularly insensitive vis-à-vis diversity issues on campus, which are centrally concerned with matters of representation. That is, what does it mean for a French Jewish novelist to be representing the consciousness of an Arab boy in the wake not only of the Algerian war for independence, which is only alluded to in passing, but the Six-Day War, which is never mentioned?

How are our Arab and Muslim students supposed to read this novel? Where is their representation in it? More broadly, what kind of a message does it send to underrepresented “minorities” about their representation on campus? That is, what kind of a critical inspection did it receive in terms of the diversity baggage it brings with it?

Finally, how will those leading the seminars on The Life Before Us deal with the problems of representation outlined in my brief summary?

For me, what the university endorsement of The Life Before Us means in terms of supporting diversity at Cornell is not good news.

Eric Cheyfitz is the Ernest I. White Professor of American Studies and Humane Letters. He may be reached at etc7@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears periodically this semester.

A&E

10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Loud Grins In a Silent Theater A Magical Méliès Evening At Cornell Cinema PHOTOS BY KYLE KULAS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

BY ZACHARY ZAHOS Arts and Entertainment Editor

This year’s Oscars proved an Academy of chatty celebrities and green-is-good Hollywood executives could all join together in one room and celebrate a little silence. The praise for Best Picture winner, silent film The Artist was anything but quiet, with critics and statuettes alike embracing a medium long thought dead. Cornell Cinema’s Elegant Winter Party this past Saturday assured me this was no passing fad, but a genuine love for all the romance and purity of the silent film format, a love that has persevered for over a century’s time.

Billed as a “Magical Méliès Evening,” the event was officially the winter fundraiser for the Cinema; at heart, it was the de facto annual summit for all Ithaca cinephiles. Men and women, young and old, found an excuse to dress up and chat among themselves over restaurant-catered hors d’oeuvres and the state’s finest ports. String lights dangled from the balconies and gold stars from the walls as silent Méliès films screened an ambient glow, with live piano accompaniment the likes of which most had never before seen. Willard Straight Hall’s relatively expansive theater shrunk to accommodate the hundreds of dapper cineastes and caterers bustling through the aisles, neither faction unwilling to dissect the poignant merits of George Clooney’s performance in last year’s The Descen da n ts.

Which they did. And all this was before the party even began.

The agenda for the evening centered on pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès and his immortal 1902 masterwork, Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon). That film contains a shot most should recognize, that of a rocket ship lodged into an anthropomorphized eye of the Moon. Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s ode to Méliès, markedly featured this image last year, popularizing the man many never thought they knew.

Director of Cornell Cinema Mary Fessenden explained that, “with all of this recent exposure, more people will rightly attribute that image to Méliès and know what an important figure he is in cinema history.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Those seated in the packed theater had no more excuses to ignore Mr. Méliès’ work with a double bill of A Trip to the Moon, in both black-and-white and color. Both formats had twists in their presentation. The black-and-white production featured the live accompaniment of eerie, Eno-esque electronic duo, The Electric Golem. James Spitznagel and Ithaca’s own Trevor Pinch took to the stage in wizard hats and grooved to the fantastical images on the screen.

Actually, labeling the images as fantastic is a relatively tame way of putting it: A congregation of bearded astronomers shoots a bullet-shaped rocket to the moon, implanting the ship in the moon’s eye, and the astronauts roam the terrain — with no concerns for insufficient oxygen or gravity — to find ornate mushrooms and reptilian humanoids. Those aliens apprehend the astronauts, but not for long, since they will explode into a puff of smoke if hit with enough force, a technique the astronauts — who look like the result of Thomas Nast modeling the Seven Dwarves after Dumbledore — employ to escape their captivity.

They then rush back to the spaceship, where it tips over a cliff and falls through space and into the Earth’s ocean. A parade celebrates their feat, ending with the townspeople and astronomers dancing around a statue that looks like the atrium fountain from the Ministry of Magic.

The whimsy of it all somehow matches the spacey touch of Electric Golem’s accompaniment. This film is, after all, the first science fiction film and really the most thorough artistic expression on celluloid up to its time. Electric Golem’s vision was fittingly earnest, as any proper film critic would agree.

Film preservationists also agree, spending almost 20 years restoring the damaged color print that was discovered in 1993 and premiering the remaster just last year, at Cannes Film Festival. Over a century before, Méliès and his team tinted each frame individually, adding bright colors to backgrounds and characters. With 14 minutes at 16 frames a second, the finished reel was a labor of love and triumph of

exhibition. Considering preservationists went through similar lengths to restore the original negative, Cornell Cinema showcased the ultimate version of the film, with a history as old as its age.

French electronic group AIR scored this restoration in a fashion very unlike that of The Electric Golem. Downtempo timpani marches, echoing guitar lines and pretty piano ballads filled the theater space as the painted images filled the screen.

The cross-generational approach of modern electronica and vivid color atop primitive effects and structure proved oddly effective. I cite the exuberant, vocal ovation once the credits rolled as my witness.

The night closed with a documentary, The Extraordinar y Voyage, chronicling the film’s production and revival, with comments from French directors like Michel Gondry and JeanPierre Jeunet as well as Tom Hanks, who credited the advent of the 60s space race to Méliès’ vision six decades prior.

Journey to the Moon, a short film by South African artist William Kentridge, was also thrown in the mix, for good measure. It featured stop-motion animation of telescopic teacups and pencil-scrawled moons, not taking itself too seriously but similarily beautiful in its dreamy flow.

The bevy of auction items and door prizes — ranging from Cinema t-shirts to a Hugo companion book signed by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker ’61 — let a few lucky ticketholders walk away with a special something. But all attendies left not just with a little added knowledge of cinema’s first artist but a firsthand account on the emotions he stirred.

Zachary Zahos is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at arts-and-entertainment-editor@cornellsun.com.

A&E

Tuesday, March 6, 2012 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11

Art Symposium Stirs the Pot

BY SAMANTHA MYERS Sun Contributor

The Johnson Museum of Art’s featured exhibition, “Lines of Control: Partition as a Productive Space,” opened Jan. 21, but, this past weekend, curators and some of the 33 participating artists expressed their intent and goals in a comprehensive symposium. Nestled in a lecture hall within the new wing of the museum, the event began with an opening greeting from chief curator and curator of Asian art, Ellen Avril, who gave the nutsand-bolts of the exhibition. She explained that Green Cardamom, a nonprofit London-based arts organization, has assembled “Lines of Control” since 2005. The process required much effort and cooperation, as the 250-page catalogue accompanying the exhibition shows.

Curator Hammad Nasar followed, addressing the core intentions of the exhibit as well as its early stages. “Lines of Control” began as an investigation of the visual legacy of the Partition of India, as Nasar believed that, despite its historical significance, the era has not left that large of an imprint on the visual memory of the world. Nasar offered insight into the exposition, even sharing that a piece was forbidden to be displayed at galleries in Asia. The piece stated, “Hindu + Muslim = Us,” and was not allowed to be displayed because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Though originally conceived as an expansive, single exhibit, the production instead turned into a series of small parts. Nasar made the analogy of “eating an ele-

phant in small bites” — soon enough the project becomes unexpectedly large, as it currently is in the Johnson Museum in 2012.

Nasar’s verbal address on the early development of the exhibition soon turned into an examination of the transformation of the exhibition over time. “Lines of Control” has shifted its focus from the 1947 partition of India that created the nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh towards all partitions throughout the world. It also has changed from a historical perspective, understanding contemporary events with history always in the rear-view mirror.

He also explained that the show has become more openended and an apparatus of inquiry on the flexible meaning of partition.

Prof. Iftikhar Dadi, Chair of the Art Department and another curator for the exhibit, presented a slide show of some of the works shown at the museum in an effort to make sure pieces were not overlooked. The expansive exhibition, which contained more than 40 works of art, offered much to gloss over.

Next, Prof. Jolene Rickard provided more insight into her piece of art for the show, called “Fight for the Line.”

The title was inspired by her own grandfather’s autobiography, which fixated on the authority, or lack thereof, of the indigenous people of the Ithaca area. Rickard explained that in order to have a discussion of borders, indigenous space should be recognized and ethical issues should be brought to attention. The discussion prompted a comparison to the “Occupy” movements and the motives of any displaced person to re-settle and tradi-

COURTESY OF THE JOHNSON MUSEUM

tionalize the space of which they were displaced.

The symposium concluded with a conversation with artist Amar Kanwar, who contributed his video “Trilogy: A Season Outside” (1997). His films often combine documentary with visual thesis, explore traditions in relationship to the contemporary and examine political practices and cultural customs.

The exhibition is complex and visually challenging, yet nonetheless worth the inquiry into its cohesiveness and individualistic qualities.

“Lines of Control” will be on view at the Johnson Museum until April 1.

Samantha Myers is a freshman in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She can be contacted at sam479@cornell.edu.

Oscar Shark in Shallow Waters I

admired the man for maintaining a smile, but the breaking of his voice betrayed his true disappointment. The man, Ithaca native John Dennis, had just seen his son get passed over for an Oscar on ABC. The son, Danfung Dennis ’05, had directed Hell and Back Again, a film that examined the psychological toll of the Afghan War through the eyes of an American soldier. I was sent by The Sun to cover the 60 or so friends and family of Danfung’s who packed Ithaca’s Cinemapolis Theater to watch him take home an Academy Award. Yet while his documentary garnered an Academy Award nomination and major buzz within the industry, Danfung remained a mere audience member in the Kodak Theater as the makers of Undefeated bounced onto the stage to receive the golden statue for Best Documentary from presenters Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. Those watching from Cinemapolis stared in silence as the three directors of Undefeated began their acceptance speech from the podium. The first director gave a fist-pump. The second dropped an “F-bomb.” And then, nearing the end of their speech, the third director revealed the main reason why their film had just won an Oscar. He thanked Harvey Weinstein.

Harvey Weinstein is the titan of all Hollywood producers. He is depicted in Season Four of Entourage as an overweight foulmouthed maniac who pesters E about financing Vince’s upcoming film. However, this characterization is rather inaccurate, for while Weinstein is indeed overweight, foulmouthed and maniacal, he rarely finances films that are as bad as Medellin.

Instead, the founder of Miramax backs gems like Pulp Fiction, Chicago, The English Patient and Good Will Hunting. And it is a well-known fact that Weinstein doesn’t simply pick award-winning films to produce; he makes the films he produces award winning. With more influence in Hollywood than Scientology, Weinstein campaigns, bullies and sweet-talks

Academy voters into selecting his films for the major awards. He is a relentless advocate for his movies, going so far as pressing an ailing Sydney Pollack to release a favorable statement regarding The Reader.

Pollack, perhaps coincidentally, died soon after.

This Weinsteining pays off come late February. In 1998, he earned Shakespeare in Love a Best Picture Oscar over Saving Private Ryan, and in the past two years, the makers of The King’s Speech and The Artist have thanked the Weinstein Company while accepting the most prestigious award at the world’s most prestigious film ceremony.

And there is a unjust downside to the Weinstein machine. Now I wouldn’t cry foul that The Artist won best picture last week, for the silent French flick was probably the least flawed candidate in a year where all the nominated films kind of sucked in their own way. And though The

Brian Gordon Get Off My Lawn King’s Speech should not have won over The Social Network last year, it is understandable that the Academy’s notoriously old voters would choose the charming British 1930s period piece over what they probably remember as “that computing machinery movie featuring that whippersnapper Justin Timberlock.”

And even if films like Saving Private Ryan, The Social Network or The Descendants got unjustly left off the Best Picture podium because of the Weinstein machine, these are big budget films acted and directed by big budget people. They will get over it just fine.

But what about the little guys? What about the Danfung Dennises of the world whose critically acclaimed films fail to earn an Oscar because Harvey Weinstein decid-

ed to drop a couple dollars and a few phone calls in support of a competing documentary? I do not know if Hell and Back Again should have won the Oscar, but the film does deal with an incredibly relevant, under-examined issue, and it does have a 100% “freshness” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So on the surface, Hell and Back Again looks like it could have won the award. Undefeated, judging by its trailer and Rotten Tomatoes rating, looks to be a good but very generic movie about poor inner city high schoolers dealing with all the obstacles that unfortunately come with being a poor high school student in the inner city.

One player’s father was shot. The team linebacker keeps getting suspended for fighting. The coach makes an inspirational speech. It is all really emotion stuff. I mean that sincerely. But I have already seen this story in the movie Coach Carter. I have read this story in books and heard this story through rap songs. Undefeated is not even the best documentary profiling inner city strife that came this year. Released last March, The Interrupters, profiling neighborhood violence in Chicago, was considered to be one of the biggest Oscar nomination stubs in years.

And while many cry foul to the clout Weinstein has on the Best Picture race each year, think about how much impact a mega-producer like Weinstein has on a less scrutinized category like Best Documentary. The nominees in these categories have less money and fewer networks to promote their films to the

CARTOON BY ZANDER ABRANOWICZ ’14

Academy voters. Thus Weinstein competing in the Best Documentary category is like a shark hunting in a fish bowl or like Barack Obama running for Mayor of Ithaca. It isn’t fair to the American moviegoer who trusts the Academy to inform them which films truly are the best in each category. It isn’t fair to the filmmakers who dedicate years of their lives to their projects. And it isn’t fair to the fathers of the nominees whose sons or daughters never had a chance to take the Oscar from Harvey Weinstein.

Brian Gordon is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at bgordon@cornellsun.com. Get Off My Lawn runs alternate Tuesdays this semester.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

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COMICS AND PUZZLES

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

ACROSS 1 Picket line crosser 5 Arrange, as a vacation 9 Washington neighbor 14 “Splendor in the Grass” director Kazan 15 Gutter site 16 La Scala’s city 17 Top banana 19 Mayan corn crop 20 Observation after too many wrong turns 21 “Dirty Harry” composer Schifrin 23 “Don’t __ stranger” 24 Like a dog’s hind leg 25 A low-flow showerhead will help lower it 27 Enzyme ending 29 Online auction site 30 50 cents, in slang 35 After “get,” gain an advantage 39 Attending a Lakers game, say 40 Ski resort named for a tree 42 Longest river entirely in Switzerland 43 Inning half 45 Baker’s container 47 Dedicated works 49 Taylor of fashion 50 Hit generating four 71-Across 54 Horizontal punctuator 58 Hold up, as a bank 59 Yogi, for one 60 Wheel cover 62 HI hello 64 “The Iron Horse,” baseball’s all-time 50-Across recordholder 66 Jeopardy 67 Hops kiln 68 Took __ loan 69 It has reservations 70 G.I. fare 71 One of them is hidden in 17-, 25-, 30- and 45Across

DOWN 1 Event before finals 2 Ascend 3 Path between rows 4 Conductor’s wand 5 Cheeky 6 Research site 7 St. Teresa’s city 8 Cancel out 9 Wicked 10 Lunes o martes 11 Perp’s story 12 Eye color 13 “Shaq Diesel” rapper 18 Founded: Abbr.

22 Beirut’s country 25 Licks, as a stamp 26 One way to play 28 Cat breed 30 White lie 31 Dedicatee of Lennon’s “Woman” 32 Final: Abbr.

33 Inform against 34 Sunblock letters 36 Gift of the garrulous?

37 Ocean State sch.

38 Pilot product

41 Jason with a record 63-yard field goal to his credit 44 Weirdo 46 Like inappropriate influence 48 Picabo Street race 50 It’s plotted in math class 51 Loggers’ game 52 Scrub the launch

53 Like a cheering crowd 55 Can’t stand 56 Use elbow grease on 57 Part of Hispaniola 60 5’2”, 6’3”, etc.: Abbr.

61 Some major golf tournaments, informally 63 Move it 65 Employ

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Sun Sudoku

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 13

Puzzle # 10 days ’til spring break

Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once.

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)

I Am Going to Be Small xwordeditor@aol.com

By Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Doonesbury

Mr. Gnu

Up to My Nipples

by Jeffrey Brown

03/06/12

03/06/12

by Garry Trudeau

Travis Dandro

by William Moore ’12 and Jesse Simons grad

only one sun shines every day.

14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

CLASSIFIED AD RATES Ads are accepted at The Sun‘s office at 139 W. State Street downtown, by phone or e-mail.

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The Corne¬ Daily Sun

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 15

Two pages of Arts & Entertainment coverage in every issue of

The CorneÂŹ Daily Sun

16 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

SPORTS

Schupp Excels on Vault and Bars Possible Violations of GYMNASTICS

Continued from page 20

where everything came together.

Some people have those days and some don’t. This week was mine.”

“Lexi had a great meet — the best of her career,” Beckwith added. “This was only the second time she vaulted for us this year.

The first time was at Towson [on Feb. 18] when we had some injuries and all of a sudden we put her in and she did okay there.

She’s been doing some different things at practice to break into the lineup and she has been vaulting up in the pit to work on some things. She wanted to know if she could warm up with us at this meet and in warm up she hit this great vault, so I put her in. As it turns out she was our highest scorer.”

Schupp may be a newcomer to vault, but she has been working hard on her own, according to Beckwith.

“Mostly for vault I’ve just been off doing my own thing and it finally just came together,” Schupp said. “We’ve been work-

ing a lot on what will work and we finally found out what works.

I just go off on my own and practice.”

Another gymnast who posted a high score for the Red was sophomore Mackenzie Sato, whose 9.725 earned her fourth overall on floor.

“Mackenzie’s floor was awesome,” Beckwith said. “Her start value is a 9.9 instead of a 10.0.

She’s just missing one big difficulty trick, so she’s hitting almost perfectly. They only took off less than two tenths. We’re really happy and if everybody could perform like that then we will be scoring 193.000.”

After this weekend, the Red will face Brown and Kent State before heading into its championship season.

“We’re going to have to do really well [in the next few weeks,]” Beckwith said. “If our championship were tomorrow, we wouldn’t qualify.”

Saturday’s performance was indicative of the growing depth of the team, according to Schupp.

“Saturday’s meet went really

well,” she said. “I thought that, as a whole, the team is doing consistently better, which is something we look forward to. I think we have a really good chance for the championships. We just need to keep up a lot of the hard work and be more consistent. But I really think that if the team can pull it together, we can pull it out.”

Besides sharpening up and focusing on the small details of the four events, the Red is looking for a breakthrough to conclude its season, according to Schupp.

“My personal goal is to keep having meets like I did last weekend, which was like a breakthrough for me,” she said. “It was rewarding and felt good, that’s what’s we’ve been doing as a team.

That’s what [the Ivy Classic] was for us and that’s what hopefully we will continue to do.”

Cornell returns to action on Sunday, traveling to Providence, R.I. to face the Brown Bears.

Lauren Ritter can be reached at lritter@cornellsun.com.

Drug Policy at Syracuse SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Syracuse University has selfreported possible violations of its internal drug policy and an NCAA inquiry is under way, according to school officials.

Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs for the university, says the inquiry does not involve any current student-athletes.

In a report Monday, Yahoo Sports said a three-month investigation it conducted showed that the Syracuse men's basketball program failed to adhere to the drug policy while playing ineligible players over the past decade.

The report, which citied anonymous sources, said at least 10 players since 2001 had tested positive for a banned recreational substance or substances. The sources said all 10 players were allowed to practice and play at times when they should have been suspended by the athletic department, including instances when some may not have known of their

own ineligibility.

The report did not identify who tested positive. Syracuse won its lone national championship in 2003.

Jim Boeheim, coach of the second-ranked Orange, was not available for comment.

Yahoo said it reviewed Syracuse's student-athlete drug policies dating to the 2000-01 school year. They detailed the athletic department's protocol for handling positive tests, including a penalty structure for a player's first, second and third offense.

The Yahoo report said Syracuse violated its drug policy by failing to properly count positive tests and playing ineligible players after they should have been subject to suspension. Two sources said that of the 10 players, at least one continued to play after failing four tests and another played after failing three.

If Syracuse is found to have knowingly violated its own drug policy, it could trigger the NCAA's so-called "willful violators" clause, used when there's a pattern of violations. That would allow the investigation to date back to when the infractions began.

The NCAA, when contacted Monday, issued a statement: "Syracuse University appropriately self-reported possible violations to the NCAA several months ago and we currently have an ongoing investigation."

Several Syracuse players have had legal or disciplinary issues since 2001, including Billy Edelin, Eric Devendorf, Jonny Flynn, Josh Wright, and DeShaun Williams.

Beyond statute-of-limitations issues, the Yahoo report says Syracuse could be charged with lack of institutional control for failing to adhere to its own drug policy, similar to sanctions recently levied against Baylor University.

Although the NCAA will be conducting random testing of every team at every game in the NCAA tournament that begins next week, schools are otherwise left to police themselves for drugs on their own terms.

The Yahoo report comes in the aftermath of the firing of former Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine. He was accused of sexual molestation by a former Orange ball boy and his stepbrother. While charges have yet to be filed against Fine, he was fired in late November.

Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament, which begins Tuesday in Madison Square Garden. The Orange won't play until Thursday at noon.

PLEASE RECYCLE PA P E R GLA SS PLA ST I C C A R D BO A RD AL U MI NUM

Freshmen Get Important Experience SQUASH

Continued from page 20

“I think that … no one played really badly. I think I could have played a little bit better, but I wasn’t terribly disappointed,” Domenick said.

Although this weekend did not fall in favor of the Red, he added that “this was the best team that I’ve played on in my four years here. We finished with the best ranking that Cornell ever had, so that was a testament to how hard we worked.”

The women similarly saw a number of first round defeats, with freshman Danielle Letourneau, sophomore Jesse Pacheco and junior co-captain Jamie Laird all falling in the Ramsey (A) Division.

In the Holleran (B) Division, freshman Rachel Au won her first match, lost her second, and made it to the finals of the second round consolation before losing in four.

According to head coach Julee Devoy, the talent within the college squash circuit played a large role in the weekend’s results.

“Often when you see [the women] not winning, you think they didn’t play well,” she said. “I feel that the depth of the women’s collegiate players has definitely improved. There are a lot of players that are very, very close to each other and anyone can win on any given day.”

Devoy emphasized that in spite of the losses, this weekend served as a testament to the skills of her players. “[Jesse Pacheco’s] first round match was the best

match I have ever seen [her] play,” Devoy said. “I’ve always known what Jesse’s capable of playing and I think she proved to herself in that match that she’s as good as these girls and right there with them. I can tell you [the loss] wasn’t for lack of trying or for putting her best game out there, because man did she do that.”

Devoy also had high praise for the two freshmen that qualified for the tournament. “[Freshmen] have got a lot to learn in their first season,” she said. “I think Rachel [Au] gained a lot of confidence, and has realized that she too is very competitive with a lot of these girls. I can only see her getting stronger and stronger … Danielle [Letourneau] has had a great season and she’s definitely competitive with all those players. She clearly loves the game and is always trying to do her best.”

“It was good to get Danielle and Rachel out there,” added Laird. “Rachel had a really good tournament – she was in all the way through Sunday, so we were happy with that.”

Despite feeling like she did not play her personal best, Laird echoed Domenick’s pride in the results of Cornell squash this season.

“We improved our national ranking, which is always a goal for us,” Laird said. “It wasn’t my best performance at the individuals, but … it was a really great season, for both guys and girls.”

Olivia Wittels can be reached at owittels@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 17

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SPORTS

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18 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012

ORDER OF OMEGA

Are you an athlete who would like to be interviewed for Ten Questions?

The Greek Honor Society of Cornell University welcomes the new initiates of its sixty-fifth tapping class: Amelia Adams ΑΦ

Nicholas Gordon ΑΣΦ

Kristen Askin ΔΓ

Benjamin Hennessy ΖΨ

Jesse Bendit ΨΥ

Ali Hoffman ΑΦ

Colleen Benko ΑΧΩ

Mickey Katz ΑΕΠ

Morgan Bookheimer ΔΔΔ

Daniel Krenitsyn ΨΥ

Alexander Bores ΔΥ Lauren Celentano ΑΞΔ Jeff Choi ΣΦΕ

Zoe Luscher ΚΔ Gabriel Mahan ΛΧΑ Jonathan Mohr ΧΨ

Nicole Collins ΚΔ

Kim Schlossberg ΠΒΦ

James Deck ΣΦ

Katie Schubauer ΚΚΓ

Sam Dix ΠΚΦ Rob Edell ΦΚΨ Kathryn Flannigan ΑΕΦ

James Sparkman ΙΦΘ

Do you have a teammate who might be interested?

Brandon Taylor ΑΦΑ Bradley Yosaitis ΧΦ

The Order also welcomes its newest honorary member:

Connor Bruns

ΧΨ Presented by Order of Omega President: Sean Donegan, ΑΓΡ Recognizing Fraternity Men and Women who have attained the highest standard of leadership within the Greek System

If so, e-mail akb@cornellsun.com.

Ten Questions runs every Thursday.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, March 6, 2012 19

SPORTS

WOMENS’S LACROSSE

Offense Leads Red to First Ivy League Win Against Harvard

By SHAYAN SALAM Sun Contributor

The Cornell women’s lacrosse team began Ivy League play with a 12-6 road victory against Harvard this weekend.

After a win against Rutgers two weeks ago, the Red (2-0, 1-0 Ivy League) went into Cambridge looking for its first conference victory. The team came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and took an early 5-1 lead over the Crimson (1-1, 0-1). Senior co-captain and midfielder Shannon McCugh scored two of those first five goals.

The Red was able to keep Harvard out of the net in large part because of the team’s solid defense. According to head coach Jenny Graap, senior co-captain and defender Cacki Helmer leads the defense.

“Cacki has just been outstanding in our first two games, handling tough mark-ups … I can’t say enough about her ability to lead and keep the back unit strong,” she said. “Around Cacki we have seniors Ali O’Neal and Beth Halayko. Those three senior line defenders are playing really well.”

When Harvard started to pick up momentum with three straight goals, Cornell immediately squelched the run by going on a 4-0 tear of its own.

The Red then kept the Crimson threat at bay for the rest of the game, and when the final whistle blew the scoreboard read 12-6. The Red out shot Harvard 33-18.

Spearheading the offensive attack this season is senior co-captain and attacker Jessi Steinberg who, according to Graap, “is a really strong player with great stick skills.

Her known presence in the Ivy League has allowed her to free up some of her teammates in good ways.”

“I think that this year more than ever, it’s really great that everyone coming into the attack is and has been a threat in the past few games,” Steinberg said. “It’s really helpful to know that everyone can put the ball into the net with skill.”

Adding to the offense on Saturday was sophomore

attacker Amanda D’Amico, who scored a hat-trick in the game, narrowly missing a fourth goal on a controversial call by the officials in which the ball bounced in and out of the net quickly with no goal called.

“She really exploded and played great,” Graap said.

“With the ability to play both midfield and line-attacker, she’s very flexible and just had some great shots.”

“Our team really bonds around the hard work we have put in.”

Jenny Graap On the defensive end, the Red caused 12 Harvard turnovers and snatched 15 groundballs, compared to Harvard’s 11.

“I think all of our defenders and midfielders did an awesome job with those hustle plays,” Steinberg said. “It just shows that everyone on the team has everyone else’s back which allows us to take those risks without worrying.”

“Our team really bonds around the hard work we have put in,” Graap added. “It is nice to see it come together against Harvard, and it is early in the season, and when we are fortunate enough to have those statistical advantages it is really nice. But it does not mean that we have played perfectly or we played the best lacrosse that we are going to play in 2012. I think it’s still early, we had a little bit of luck on our side.”

Senior goalie Kyla Dambach anchored the Red with 4 saves and 6 goals allowed. According to Steinberg, Dambach’s leadership role from the back line also proved to be important.

“Kyla played amazing. She really is very solid back [in net],” she said. “Not only does she come up with big saves when we need her to but she is a crucial part of the defense by communicating to everyone else.”

Off to a 2-0 start, the team looks to extend its winning streak when it travels to face Colgate on

OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Offensive attack | Senior attacker Olivia Knotts’ two goals helped lead the Red to a 12-6 road victory.

Wednesday. According to Graap, with a senior heavy team this year, the Red is poised for a successful season, but at the same time needs to provide the underclassmen with the benefit of the seniors’ experience.

“We want these nine seniors to be peaking and playing their best in their final seasons at Cornell, but we definitely need them to help carry on the Cornell tradition and mentor the younger players in the program,” Graap said.

Shayan Salam can be reached at sports@cornellsun.com.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis Both Record Wins at Home Both the men and women’s tennis teams found success this weekend at home. After dropping five straight matches over the past two weeks, the men rebounded with two wins over Illinois State and Temple. The women recorded their third straight win against Farleigh Dickinson.

The young Red men (7-8) were led by freshmen this weekend. Freshman Quoc-Daniel Nguyen recorded victories in both of his singles and doubles matches on Saturday. In the first win of the day over Illinois State, the freshmen duo of Danny Riggs and Alex Sidney played together for the first time all season and took the No. 1 singles match, 8-6. At the No. 3 doubles spot, sophomore Spencer Clark extended his unbeaten collegiate career in doubles to 8-0 with the help of freshman Sam Fleck. Against Temple, sophomore Venkat Iyer led the way with a doubles win in the No. 2 category and a singles win at the No. 1 spot.

Although the Owls battled back with a win at the No. 6 doubles spot, Nguyen clinched the overall victory

for the Red with his final singles win of the day at No. 5.

The women (7-2) came away with a 6-1 win over Farleigh Dickinson on Saturday. Similar to the men, underclassmen played a significant role in the victory. The combination of freshmen Sara Perelman and Rosemary Li came away with an 8-6 win at the No. 6 spot, improving their record to a perfect 9-0 on the season.

The Red won all three doubles matches, including junior Christine Ordway and sophomore Ryann Young’s victory at the No. 2 spot. In the singles category, senior Sarah O’Neil got the win in No. 1 and freshman Gabby Sullivan beat Egzona Morina in the No. 4 category.

Both teams have a two week break before resuming play again. The women will travel to North Carolina for a match with North Carolina Wilmington, while the men look to extend the win streak at home against Penn State.

— Compiled by Scott Chiusano

OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

That’s a first | Senior Rob Pannell’s 10-point game against Binghamton was the first by a Cornell player since 1995.

Pannell, Donovan, Tesoriero Receive Conference Honors After recording two straight home victories to start the season, three Cornell players received Ivy League men’s lacrosse honors. Senior attackman Rob Pannell was named the Ivy League Player of the Week, freshman linemate Matt Donovan received Rookie of the Week and sophomore midfielder Doug Tesoriero was given a spot on the honor roll.

Pannell, the reigning Ivy League and national Player of the Year, continued his dominance in the start of his final season playing for the Red. He scored six goals and tallied four assists in the team’s first win against Binghamton. Two of those goals were also the game-tying and go-ahead scores in the third quarter, as the Red came from behind for the 17-12 victory.

Pannell’s 10-point game was the first by a Cornell player since 1995. He also became the 34th

player in NCAA history to record 100 career goals and 100 assists. Adding to his record breaking start to the season, Pannell also had a goal and five assists in the Red’s 18-7 victory over Army on Saturday.

Donovan proved that he deserved his spot in the starting lineup by scoring five goals and racking up three assists in the first two games. Following in the footsteps of linemate Pannell, Donovan’s six points against Army were the most by a Cornell freshman in a game since Pannell put up seven points against Binghamton in 2008.

Tesoriero won 34 of 53 faceoffs in the first two games and also picked up a total of 20 ground balls.

The Red will host Canisius next weekend at Schoellkopf.

— Compiled by Scott Chiusano

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Sports

TUESDAY MARCH 6, 2012

20

MEN’S SWIMMING

Last Place Finish Does Not Faze Red

By SCOTT ECKL Sun Staff Writer

Despite a disappointing last place finish by the Cornell men’s swimming team (1-7, 0-7 Ivy League) in the Ivy League Championships this weekend at Princeton, there were some high points and standout performances that made for an interesting and exciting competition.

The Red swam its best all year as 15 out of the 19 swimmers recorded at least two all-time best individual times. 12 of the 19 posted top-10 times in Cornell’s swimming history. Sophomore diver Phillip Truong was the only swimmer to set a school record for his achievement in the 3-meter boards.

He finished fifth overall in the finals.

“I would have never suspected that if we swam as fast as we did that we would have gotten last place,” said head coach Joe Lucia. “I was really proud of the guys because it took a lot for these guys to hold it together this weekend.”

According to Lucia, sophomore Harry Harpham was probably the most accomplished swimmer at the three day event as he was the only Red swimmer to advance to a championship final. In the 200 butterfly, his time of 1:48.18 placed him sixth overall in the finals and was the third-fastest time in Cornell history.

Other standout swimmers that set personal bests were seniors Kevin Brazitis and Steven Kwartler, sophomores Ben Catanese and Henry Scott and freshman PJ Wickwire.

Catanese made the consolation bracket in the 400 IM, 200 back and 200 fly. Kwartler had his all-time best swims in the 50 free and the 100 breast. Scott swam a best 500 free and 100 fly. Wickwire excelled in the 200 and 500 free.

“I was not disappointed in how we performed,” said

senior swimmer Julian Chan. “The league just got really fast this year and it just showed the great depth in the Ivy League.”

Chan noted that the relay races are important in any meet because the points are doubled. He added how they can swing the momentum during a meet.

“It just did not go our way,” Chan said. “We got a little bit unlucky in some of the tight moments this year and last weekend, but overall I am proud of the team because we are always gritty and always fight to the end.”

Going into the meet there was a general consensus that the team could be competitive with some of the less talented teams in the Ivy League such as Brown, Penn or Dartmouth.

The Red finished with 575.5 points, behind Brown’s 596.5, Penn’s 756 and Dartmouth’s 764.5. As expected, Princeton and Harvard finished first and second with Princeton claiming the top spot, 1523.5-1446.

“We were fighting until the end against Brown,” Lucia said. “The key for Brown was their sophomore swimmer Tommy Glen, who is going to the NCAA’s. He really inspired their team. But, overall I think the guys on the team did a lot of fast swimming and I don’t have any negative things to say about any performance.”

The men wrapped up the season last weekend having not defeated an Ivy League opponent all year. The last time this happened was in the 1971-72 season. The Red’s only two wins this year came against Colgate and against other local area teams at the Ithaca Invitational. Its one regular season win is the fewest the team has had in a season since 1936-37.

GYMNASTICS

TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Down under | Sophomore diver Phillip Truong finished fifth

Scott Eckl can be reached at seckl@cornellsun.com.

overall in the finals of the 3-meter boards on Saturday.

SQUASH

Squad Happy With Results Men and Women Come Away Empty Despite Coming in Fourth From Individual Nationals at Amherst

By LAUREN RITTER Sun Sports Editor

Three-hundred people crowded into Teagle Gymnasium on Saturday

afternoon to see Cornell host Rutgers, Eastern Michigan and Temple for the Red’s Senior Day. Cornell posted its second highest team score of the

OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Raising the bar | Sohpomore Alexis Schupp had the second highest score of the day in bars.

season, 191.275. However, the finish landed the Red in fourth place, falling behind Temple by one tenth of a point. According to head coach Paul Beckwith, the meet was still a success for the Red. “[The meet] went well; we didn’t count any falls for only the second time this year,” he said. “[It was the] second highest score of the year. We had some really good routines and we had some that need some work.

We are still struggling, but we are getting there.”

The performance of the day for the Red went to sophomore Alexis Schupp, who recorded the Red’s highest scores on both vault and beam, as well as the second highest in bars. Schupp posted a 9.600 on vault, a personal best which earned her eighth overall. Her 9.675 was good enough for a fifth place finish on beam.

Sophomore Melanie Jorgensen placed highest for the Red on bars, posting a 9.700, which tied her for fourth place, while Schupp was close behind in fifth place with a 9.675.

“I had the team high on beam and vault and second on bars,” Schupp said. “It was just one of those days See GYMNASTICS page 16

By OLIVIA WITTELS

Sun Staff Writer

This weekend, Cornell squash entered four men and four women into the individual nationals held at Amherst College. Three of the men – junior Nick Sachvie, senior Thomas Spettigue and senior co-captain Alex Domenick – qualified for the Pool (A) Division. Junior Owen Butler competed in the Molloy (B) Division.

The Red did not earn the individual results it was hoping for, as the men in the Pool Division all lost their first-round matches. Princeton’s Kelly Shannon upset Sachvie – last year’s second place finisher – in three games, while Spettigue fell to Trinity’s Miled Zarazua in five and

Domenick to Yale’s Kenny Chan in four.

Butler had a first round bye before losing to Trinity’s Moustafa O. Hamada.

Domenick feels that a few demanding weeks at Cornell are partly responsible for the losses.

“I think that we didn’t have super high expectations for what we were going to do,” he said. “We went into the weekend [with the mindset of ] just playing and seeing what happens. Those two weeks before were … busy weeks for us – we had prelims and stuff, so we kind of went in under prepared.”

Nonetheless, the co-captain was not wholly unhappy with how he and his teammates performed.

See SQUASH page 17

TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Moving up in the ranks | Despite the disappointing results from this weekend, junior co-captain Jamie Laird said the Red was able to improve its national ranking.