03-06-13

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Cornell Establishes First Cultural Center For Muslim Students

By JINJOO LEE Sun News Editor

would contain a GreenStar grocery store, as well as housing for 103 occupants at 307 College Ave. “As it stands now, the project is dead in the water,” Lower said.

Lower –– who is working with GreenStar as a part of the project’s development team –– added that he is “open to any ideas that can move [the project] forward.”

“We’re just going to explore all options,” he said.

As a result of the city’s minimum parking require-

After spending about two years gaining University approval and securing a home, the Muslim community is celebrating the recent establishment of a Muslim cultural center — the first of its kind — at Cornell.

The center — which has been under consideration since 2010 — was established in January after “countless meetings” with several University administrators, according to Nayab Mahmood ’14, internal vice presi“We had to ... dent of the Committee for the convince them Advancement of Muslim Culture.

“We had to both convince them of the of the need for need for such a center and then convince such a center.” them that it is a priority so that the logistics could be worked out,” she said.

Nayab Mahmood ’14 Dean of Students Kent Hubbell ’67 said that although creating the center was “something [he] wanted to do from the outset,” it was difficult to find a space for the center. He added that “students who wanted to make this happen were wonderful. They were patient with us.”

Administrators and students said they began working on plans for the center at the beginning of the semester.

The space — which will be located in 208 Willard Straight Hall — will both “showcase [the] diversity of Muslim culture” and “provide support for anybody identifying with Muslim groups,” according to Ihsan Kabir ’14, president of CAMC, who took part in planning the center.

Kabir said the center will specifically be a cultural center, rather than a religious center.

See PARKING page 5

See CENTER page 4

KELLY YANG / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Get in the zone | The fate of the Collegetown Crossing project (inset above left) is discussed at a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting at the Ithaca City Hall Tuesday evening.

Major C-Town Development Stalled After Board Decision

By TYLER ALICIA Sun Staff Writer

A proposal to build a new housing complex on College Avenue may have hit a roadblock. The City of Ithaca’s Board of Zoning Appeals denied developer Josh Lower’s ’05 request for a variance — an exemption from the city’s parking laws — for his Collegetown project in an unanimous decision Tuesday.

Lower’s proposed “Collegetown Crossing” development project would create a six-story building that

News Afternoon Tea

Over tea, President David Skorton discussed his life, successes and failures with students in Willard Straight Hall Tuesday afternoon. | Page 3

Rhyme or Reason

Ashley Harrington ’13 argues that hip-hop offers poetic insights into gun violence and control. | Page 7

Sports Game, Set, Match

The Cornell women’s tennis team won its fifth consecutive match Saturday. | Page 16

Partly Cloudy HIGH: 36 LOW: 23

By EMMA JESCH Sun Staff Writer

Opinion

Weather

C.U. Responds to Renewal of Act Against Violence Members of the Cornell Democrats and Republicans expressed their support of Congress recently renewing the Violence Against Women Act — a move that they say will continue to mitigate domestic violence.

The act, which “transformed the way we treat victims of abuse,” will now extend protection to Native American women and members of the LGBT community, according to a White House press release.

Jessie Palmer ’14, president of the Cornell Democrats, said the Cornell Democrats strongly support the renewal of the act because she said everyone deserves to be protected against any kind of domestic violence.

“At the end of the day, it is the duty of the government to protect its people, and the inclusion of the new provisions … is absolutely necessary,” Palmer said. “Pursuing abuse charges should be both more affordable and more accessible for people.”

Jessica Reif ’13, chair of the Cornell Republicans, agreed, saying she supports any legislation that ensures safety against domes-

CHRISTOPHER GREGORY / THE NEW YORK TIMES

Women’s rights | Senators speak at a news conference on Capitol Hill after the Senate voted to renew the Violence Against Women Act on Feb. 12.

tic violence.

“I agree with this expanded protection,” Reif said. “Everyone should be protected against this violence regardless of their sexual orientation or immigration status.”

In mid-January the Georgetown Democrats approached the Cornell Democrats to help them gain support from the Ithaca community to petition Republican Rep. Tom Reed — 23rd District of New York — to support this bill, according to Palmer.

Palmer said the group worked in conjunction with the Georgetown Democrats on this initiative until Feb. 27.

“We gathered over 200 signatures from the Cornell community in support of this

bipartisan agenda,” Palmer said. “The petition not only encouraged Reed to support the bill but also urged him to get more Republicans on board and support other bipartisan initiatives during his tenure as House Representative."

According to Prof. Michael Jones-Correa, government, the act will become far more effective because of the increased inclusivity, especially among undocumented immigrants.

“Domestic violence is a significant issue among new immigrants,” Jones-Correa said.

“Underreporting this violence is a huge probSee VAWA page 4

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Weird News

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

Today

DAYBOOK

Daybook

of the Week

Today Perkins Prize Ceremony Information 4:30 - 6 p.m., Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall Saree Makdisi, “Making Eastern Western” 4:45 - 6:15 p.m., G64 Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall Mark Bittman on Conscious and Mindless Eating 7:15 - 8:45 p.m., Bethe House Common Room, Hans Bethe House

Tomorrow CU Music: Cornell Symphony Orchestra With Concerto Winner 8 p.m., Bailey Hall BOLD Leadership Seminar Series: “Use Your Business Skills to Make the World a Better Place” 1 p.m., 102 Mann Library 9th Annual Best Chili on Campus Cookoff 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall

106-Year-Old Mass. Man Gets High School Diploma

Thousands of Caterpillars Seized at U.K. Airport

BEVERLY, Mass. (AP) — Fred Butler was married for 65 years, raised five children, served in the Army during World War II and worked for years for the local water department, but the fact he never earned a high school diploma always bothered him.

Not anymore.

The 106-year-old was awarded his honorary diploma Monday during an emotional ceremony attended by school officials, state lawmakers and Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon.

“I thank everybody who is responsible for this,” he said, wearing a mortar board hat and tassel and holding the prized document in his hands. “I certainly appreciate it.”

Butler dropped out of school before the ninth-grade to accept a full-time job at a print shop to support his mother and five younger siblings.

Daughter-in-law Cathy Butler says he regretted dropping out and always emphasized the importance of education to his children and grandchildren.

Cathy Butler launched the effort to get her father-inlaw his diploma as a way to raise his spirits following the death of his wife, Ruth, last year.

Fred Butler’s only concern was that he hadn’t earned it.

Scanlon put that concern to rest. “It’s a long time to wait for your diploma,” Scanlon said, “but you’ve obviously earned it very well.”

LONDON (AP) — British customs agents made a creepy discovery when an airline passenger was found with 94 kilograms (207 pounds) of caterpillars in his luggage.

The man claimed they were intended as food for personal consumption.

The U.K. Border Force said Friday that inspectors at London’s Gatwick Airport found the dried caterpillars shrink-wrapped in cellophane and packed into hessian bags carried by a passenger travelling from Burkina Faso via Istanbul.

The caterpillars were seized by authorities after the Feb. 23 find because they breached restrictions on importing animal products. The 22-year-old passenger was let off with a warning.

Border Force spokeswoman Ingrid Smith said “the vigilance of our officers has stopped these dried insects from entering the U.K., and possibly posing a risk to our food chain.”

‘Batman’ Hands Suspect Over to U.K. Police LONDON (AP) — A man dressed as Batman has brought a suspected burglar into a police station in northern England.

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NEWS

Over Tea,Skorton Talks About His Life, Successes, Failures

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013 3

By KEVIN MILIAN Sun Staff Writer

President David Skorton joined more than 50 students for tea and cookies in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall to talk about successes and failures throughout his life Tuesday.

Skorton was introduced by Saadiya Mutawakil ’14, a member of Cornell Minds Matter, as a successful person who had overcome failure.

“When you think of President Skorton, you may think of a doctor or administrator, but today you get to hear a little bit more. He believes that even with failure, you can TIANZE PAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER become a doctor, a dancer or a president of an Ivy League institution,” Mutawakil said.

Chat with Skorton | President David Skorton conversed with a student during the “Tea With Skorton” event in Willard Straight Skorton began the talk with a joke about Billy Joel not Hall’s Memorial Room on Tuesday. calling him back to go on tour –– a reference to the artist’s performance last year, when Skorton joined him on stage to University of California at Los Angeles like his high school and emotional health. play the flute.

“CMM was created in 2004 [by] students who were classmates before transferring to Northwestern University.

Using his life as an example, Skorton stressed the “I really connect with transfer students, since I knew worried about mental illness, but now the organization has serendipity of life and said that failures do not determine how hard it was to start without a class X or Y at expanded to health management and student life, I considone’s life.

Northwestern, but I still made friends,” he said. “I did not er CMM to be a big part of the caring community at “Life is very hard to predict ... not impossible, but very have a super great GPA. I wasn’t premed in my heart. I was Cornell,” he said. “I think all of us are responsible for each hard. Setbacks, or things we call failure, should be looked at a [psychology] major, undecided until junior year.” other all the time. When we forget about interdependence as one more thing on a journey, and not your overall path,” His largest academic failure occurred in medical school, is when we fail as a society.”

Skorton said.

Angelica Cullo ’15, head event organizer of CMM, said he said, when he failed a microscope class.

Skorton spoke of his childhood “This was a pass-fail honors she thought the story of Skorton failing a course at medical as a first-generation American and “Life is very hard to predict, not school, and the faculty was very school was an especially relevant topic to introduce to stuhis immigrant family’s financial student-oriented, so they were dents. struggle. His family, originally impossible, but very hard. Setbacks, “It’s really important to encourage and reassure students concerned. The teacher took immigrants from Belarus, moved to or things we call failure, should be me to his lab and tutored me in to keep everything in perspective and keep balanced, even Cuba and later Milwaukee, Wi. the material I failed,” he said. if they don’t succeed at something,” Cullo said. looked at as one more thing on a “We had a profound amount of Emily Bastarache ’14, who helped organize the event, “He gave me the confidence to financial problems when I was a journey, and not on your overall path.” try again.” said she felt the talk was successful. kid, as [do] most of the Eastern “It gives a face to the [University] president,” she said. “I Skorton closed the event by President David Skorton Europeans there,” he said. Skorton’s answering questions from the had never met him, and it was a nice opportunity to have family later moved to Los Angeles public regarding his thoughts him voice his opinions. I identified with a lot of the strugand managed a shoe store, being comfortable in the about being a public figure, teaching at Cornell and deci- gles he felt through college, and it’s important for students Hispanic environment from their fluency in Spanish. “I sions he has regretted making. to know that and understand.” grew up in a multilingual home, with no one having finSkorton also emphasized the importance of mental ished or been to college,” he added. health resources at Cornell.

Originally dreaming of a career in music, but discourThe event was sponsored by Cornell Minds Matter, an Kevin Milian can be reached at aged by his father, Skorton said he decided to go to organization that seeks to promote overall student mental kmilian@cornellsun.com.

Record-Breaking RiceYield Prompts Prof to Promote Cultivation Technique

By GABRIELLA LEE Sun Contributor

Last year, a farmer in Bihar, India, claimed to have broken the world record of rice yield without the help of genetically modified seeds. The method the farmer used, System of Rice Intensification, is one that Prof.

Emeritus Norman Uphoff, government, is trying to promote around the world.

“What the System of Rice Intensification does is [it creates] ideal growing conditions for the rice plant, so that it brings out the potential that exists

within the rice genome [better],” Uphoff said.

Uphoff said he first learned about SRI in December 1993 on a visit to Madagascar, when he was the director of the Cornell International Institute of Food, Agriculture and Development.

He said the steps involved in the process include “changing the age of seedlings when transplanting, spacing between plants, soil aeration, using organic soil matter as fertilizer and carefully [reducing] application of water.”

According to Uphoff, while traditional approaches to improve rice pro-

International affairs

MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Mark Deets grad talks about political conflict in Mali and the effects of the conflict on the region in a panel discussion on Tuesday.

duction have focused mostly on altering the genetics of crops to maximize their yield, the SRI approach studies the entire system of a plant and manipulates the environment it grows in. “[The SRI method] is really a dramatic reorientation. In some ways, it’s a paradigm shift from what can be called a ‘genocentric’ conception to a more ‘biocentric’ framework,” Uphoff said. “We’re finding we can make even greater improvement in crops’ production [and] their resistance to pests, diseases [and] climactic stresses by simply changing the crops’ management.”

The SRI technique, which originated in Madagascar, was initially created in the 1980s by Henri de Laulanie, a French priest, according to Uphoff.

Uphoff said he became acquainted with the technique when he visited Madagascar with a Cornell colleague about 20 years ago as part of a project to help save the rainforest ecosystems in Madagascar’s Ramonafana National Park.

Uphoff said that the institute’s original goal was to find alternative, better ways for farmers to grow rice to curtail their “slash-and-burn” agriculture, which is harmful to the environment.

The institute teamed up with Association Tefy Saina — a local NGO in Madagascar — that was working to spread the use of SRI among farmers.

According to Uphoff, for three years in a row, small-scale, low-income farmers working with the institute and Tefy

Saina were able to raise their average yield of rice from two tons per hectare to eight tons per hectare through SRI. Still, Uphoff said it took him three years to be convinced that SRI is a reliable agricultural method.

Although the number of farmers practicing the SRI technique has increased all over the world, Uphoff said scientists pushed back against the SRI results, questioning the legitimacy of the institute’s findings.

Peter Hobbs, an adjunct professor of crop and soil sciences, said that he also has reservations about the SRI technique.

“My opinion is that [SRI] definitely will lead to good yields, because all of the practices are good agronomy. Where I have a problem is when there are claims of very high yields,” Hobbs said.

Uphoff has continued his work spreading SRI, helping to establish the SRI-International Rice Research Institute — which aims to create a network for the spread of SRI research and knowledge — at Cornell in 2010.

Uphoff said he has high hopes for the SRI method’s success in the future.

“My hope is that within 10 years, farmers all around the world will know about this option,” he said. “SRI doesn’t cost money to do it, because it’s about using your existing resources differently.”

Gabriella Lee can be reached at gdl39@cornell.edu.

4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013

C.U. Dems, GOP Support Renewal of Act VAWA

Continued from page 1

lem. Reasons underlying this underreporting include cultural expectations, fear of authority and fear of deportation.”

Jones-Correa said the extension of the act’s protection should not only increase reporting of domestic violence cases but should also demonstrate to law officials that the extensions of the law are important.

“Extending the categories covered sends a signal to the police officers and first responders that domestic violence against all people is something to be taken seriously,” Jones-Correa said.

Since the act was initially signed in 1994, it has made a difference in cases of reported domestic violence, according to Reif.

“I think that it has been a highly effective act because it provides support systems for women and their families, including psychological and physical recovery services,” Reif said.

Although Palmer and Reif both expressed their support for the act, their views differed from some politicians’ stances.

While many Republicans agreed that renewing the law was necessary, some conservatives objected to the inclusion of specific protections based on sexual orientation, according to USA Today.

During an appearance on MSNBC on Monday, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said she opposed the new provisions because it made the act less effective.

“I didn’t like the way it was expanded to

Recycle.

include other different groups,” Blackburn said.

“What you need is something that is focused specifically to help these shelters and to help our law enforcement, who is trying to work with the crimes that have been committed against women and helping them to stand up.”

The House passed a bipartisan version of the bill on Thursday after the GOP version of the bill — which was less inclusive than its Senate counterpart — was rejected on a 166-257 vote, according to the New York Times.

The expanded act also includes the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which will require colleges to report sexual violence — including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking — in their campus crime statistics.

According to Palmer, the act’s demonstrable impact is one reason that it has not been controversial in the past; however, it does not go far enough, she said.

“The act started gaining publicity only recently because of the trouble getting it through Congress,” Palmer said. “In the future, there should be more knowledge surrounding this act and more awareness of the ways in which domestic violence can occur and be prevented.”

The successful passing of the act was not only a success for the Democrats, but also a victory for bipartisanship, according to Palmer.

“Hopefully this show of bipartisanship will continue — I’m holding out for a bipartisan Congress,” she said.

Emma Jesch can be reached at ejesch@cornellsun.com.

NEWS

Students Hope That New Center Will ‘Humanize Image of Islam’ CENTER

Continued from page 1

“The group will provide support for students with any kind of a Muslim background, regardless of whether or not they are practicing,” Kabir said, adding that “there are many students that show up to CAMC that don’t show up during Friday prayers.”

Furthermore, the space will

“Getting the go-ahead for this center was huge. It means the administration really understands the needs of the Muslim community.”

Nayab Mahmood ’14 be used to reach out to nonMuslim communities, students said.

“The Muslim Cultural Center can become a hub for non-Muslims to reach out and meet Muslims, humanizing the image of Islam on campus,” Mahmood said.

Kabir said the CAMC has led outreach efforts to other communities on campus, holding dinner discussions with groups like Ga’avah — a Jewish LGBT group at Cornell — last semester and the Sigma Phi fra-

ternity two weeks ago.

“Those [events] didn’t actually take place in the cultural center, but we’re already doing outreach events with groups that traditionally don’t affiliate with Muslims,” he said.

Although the space is officially designated as a Muslim cultural center, it will not be fully available for use until next semester, because the space has been reserved by other student organizations for meetings, according to Kabir.

Mahmood said receiving the administration’s approval for the center was significant for the Muslim community.

“Getting the go-ahead for this center was huge. It means the administration really understands the needs of the Muslim community and is ready to work with us to make our community more diverse and inclusive,” she said.

Susan Murphy ’73 Ph.D. ’94, vice president for student and academic services, said the center plays a “symbolic role” for the Muslim community at Cornell.

“It makes it very clear that we have a vibrant Muslim student community and a leadership we value,” she said.

Jinjoo Lee can be reached at jinjoolee@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013 5

NEWS

Board Says C-Town Project Chavez Dies After Struggle With Cancer May Create Parking Spillover Anti-Chavez community says‘now there’s a sense of hope’ PARKING

Continued from page 1

ments — which stipulates that one parking space must be created for every two bedrooms built in central Collegetown — Lower’s project would be required to develop a total of 57 parking spaces within 500 feet of the site, which he described as financially infeasible in a previous interview with The Sun.

The board said the potential detriments outweigh the potential benefits of the Collegetown project.

Since the variance was denied, Lower will not receive an exemption from these parking requirements.

In a resolution, the board said the potential detriments outweighed the potential benefits of the Collegetown project. Some of the areas of concern the resolution addressed involved the spillover of parking into streets and other neighborhoods that could increase demand for parking in Collegetown.

In order to mitigate these possible effects, Lower planned to offer all occupants of the proposed building access to TCAT services and carshare services.

But the board, in its resolution, stated that Lower did not establish

A

how other alternative plans for parking, such as underground parking, would be infeasible.

Hearings on the case were held by the board in November and December, according to Steven Beer, chair of the board. Public hearings concluded on Dec. 20, after which, all five of the members of the board drafted a motion denying Lower his request for variances.

The drafted motion was presented and amended with what board member Moriah Tebor described as “corrections” at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We appreciate very much the case you have brought to us. The board is obviously obligated to decide cases of appeals on existing zoning ordinances,” Beer said.

Beer did stipulate, however, that if the city changes its zoning ordinances, Lower’s case could be revisited.

On Feb. 5, the Board of Public Works made a recommendation to the Common Council that the minimum parking requirements be abolished. If the Common Council were to remove these zoning requirements, Lower’s project would be able to move forward.

“Parking requirements make small scale infill developments impossible,” Lower said.

Tyler Alicea can be reached at talicea@cornellsun.com.

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DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Cheering Venezuelans in the U.S. waved their country’s flag and anxiously voiced hope that change would come to their homeland after the death Tuesday of long-ruling populist President Hugo Chavez.

“He’s gone!” dozens in a largely anti-Chavez community chanted after word spread swiftly of the death of the 58-year-old leftist. Many said they were rejoicing after nearly a decade and a half of socialist rule, heavily concentrated in Chavez’s hands.

“We are not celebrating death,” Ana San Jorge, 37, said amid a jubilant crowd in the Miami suburb of Doral. “We are celebrating the opening of a new door, of hope and change.”

Wearing caps and T-shirts in Venezuela’s colors of yellow, blue and red, many expressed cautious optimism and concern after the announcement of the death.

But some were anxious, too.

“Although we might all be united here celebrating today, we don’t know what the future holds,” said Francisco Gamez, 18, at El Arepazo, a popular Venezuelan restaurant in Doral.

In Caracas, Venezuela’s foreign minister announced late Tuesday that Vice President Nicolas Maduro would be interim president and run as the governing party candidate in elections to be called within 30 days. It wasn’t immediately clear when presidential elections would be held.

Chavez, though cancer-stricken in recent years, had led the oil-rich Latin American nation for years by espousing a fiery brand of socialism. All the while he bickered with a succession of U.S. governments over what he called Washington’s hegemony in the region.

Many in Florida’s large Venezuelan community and other such pockets around the U.S. are stridently anti-Chavez and had fled their home country in response to the policies his government instituted.

One of them is Marcel Mata, a 28-year-old

opponent of Chavez, who now lives in New Orleans. He moved to the U.S. from Caracas, Venezuela, during a turbulent period in 2002 and said the prospects of an election were dizzying for opposition forces long unable to defeat the seemingly larger-than-life Chavez.

After 14 years of Chavez, Mata said: “It’s hard to believe. There seemed to be no end in sight and now there’s a sense of hope.”

Mata said Maduro may not have the campaign allure of the charismatic Chavez, adding “there’s no way anyone in his party can fill his shoes.” But he said he is nervous about the transition no matter who wins, warning there could be trouble.

A large number of professionals and others left their country beginning after Chavez became president in 1999. Many did not agree with his socialist government, became frightened of soaring crime or sought better fortunes abroad.

Doral has the largest concentration of Venezuelans living in the U.S. They transformed what was a quiet suburb near Miami’s airport into a bustling city affectionately known as “Doralzuela.”

The restaurant El Arepazo is at the heart of the community and sells arepas, corn flour patties stuffed with fresh cheese and other fillings.

Hundreds of Venezuelans gathered at its tables with family and friends, riveted to the news broadcasts from their country Tuesday.

An estimated 189,219 Venezuelan immigrants live in the United States, according to U.S. Census figures. Besides Florida, there are sizable Venezuelan communities in Los Angeles and New York.

At Mil Jugos restaurant in downtown Santa Ana, in Southern California’s Orange County, the Briceno family rejoiced. Daughter Norah Briceno left her country 14 years ago after struggling economically under Chavez despite a master’s degree in finance and a popular restaurant.

She sold her business to a friend and opened an identical restaurant in California.

OPINION

Matt Hudson |

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

To Carpe the Diem

Independent Since 1880 131ST EDITORIAL BOARD REBECCA HARRIS ’14 Editor in Chief

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Red in the Face

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From the Editors

Reporting on Student Deaths

LAST WEEK, OUR CAMPUS was faced with the sudden and tragic death of Joe Quandt ’15. The loss of a Cornellian affects not only intimate friends of the deceased, but also every member of our community. In covering Quandt’s death, The Sun made every attempt to do so with sensitivity, professionalism and integrity.

As student journalists, our primary mission is to deliver news to the Cornell and Ithaca communities quickly, accurately and illustratively. In the course of doing our jobs, some of our coverage may upset or anger certain readers. The balance between news value and sensitivity is a difficult one to strike, and it is made all the more complicated by the nuanced relationship The Sun has with its readership, which includes many of our peers.

Our rationale for breaking the news Wednesday night that a body had been found at the Watermargin Cooperative was sound. The public has a right to be informed when a death occurs on Cornell’s campus. In investigating the incident, Sun reporters and editors were thorough, confirming all facts with official University and police sources before publishing them. As is our usual practice, The Sun withheld Quandt’s name from our coverage until we were certain that his next of kin had been notified of his death. The language in our articles, including “body found” and the use of “died” instead of “passed away,” are terms professional media outlets use to avoid being ambiguous or euphemistic.

Additionally, the decision to publish the photograph that accompanied our announcement of Quandt’s death was not made lightly. The image captures the magnitude of this tragedy in a way that the clinical, impersonal language required by a news article often cannot. When looking back on The Sun’s report of Quandt’s death, the photo of his grieving housemates will convey to a removed party the scope of this otherwise unimaginable tragedy.

We will not be reversing the decision made by The Sun’s previous leadership to publish the photograph, and the image will remain on our website as is. We express the deepest of condolences for the loss that many of you have suffered, and we regret any additional grief The Sun’s coverage may have caused. Although we stand by the careful and professional manner in which our reporters handled this particular situation, the concerns of our readers have moved us to reevaluate the way in which we cover campus tragedies.

All Sun editors and staff members will, from this point forward, follow The Sun’s “Protocol for Reporting on Student Deaths.” This new policy, which can be found in the online version of this letter, outlines our process for handling coverage of student deaths. Most of these practices are already in place. Some of the rules will, of course, evolve over time. We hope that codifying the protocol and making it available to our readership will shine light on how exactly The Sun strives to practice ethical journalism.

W

e find reality most terrifying in aged by hatred, egotism and insensitivity. moments of departure, when It is a wonderfully unexpected reminder thoughts and fears like roaring that we are a community, a culture unto winds are drawn up from the dark depths ourselves bound in commonality to comof our forgotten corners and we, cringing miserate and console, to shiver and and warm with the rush of anxious sweat, to mourn and laugh, to borrow blood, cling in vain to those leaving and and share with one another, no matter those left behind like fading wisps of how briefly. Distracting though the page candle smoke. When a friend passes may be, reading and offering thoughts is, away, memories eat away at our compo- thus, hardly a waste of time. sure like flecks of salt and stone, breaking When our minds are so occupied by down apathy and conjuring up hidden the drab banality of schedules and strucemotions as we reflect on what it means tures that we forget our own impermato “be.” Existence is strange: one minute nence, we lose bits of our humanity to a we’re here and the next we’re simply not; mechanized pseudo-existence. We fall time moves on regardless of the ripples into a state of being marked by callous left by our bangs and whimpers. Pictures indifference to the reality that we may surface and unspoken words gain voice cease to function at any moment. too late, poignantly reminding us how Tomorrow does not exist; not yet. It may quickly, how suddenly our narratives be true that we only live once, that when may find endings. We are sparks; some our final are struck to breaths are kindle great drawn we fires, some bid farewell provide flash- Please, stop today and the from es of light in watch the sunset; there is platform and deep darkboard the ness, some no telling how many we one-way burn skin and have left together. flight labeled leave stinging “Deparscars and ture,” withsome offer brief moments of warmth out so much as a backward glance. For before fading away. In remembering the the passing moments, then, let us not life and sudden departure of AAP stu- frivol away our time with fears and wordent Joe Quandt ’15, let us not neglect ries. Let us stop for sunsets and feel the the ephemerality of our own presence fading warmth as grass, acoustic guitars and the presence of those with whom we and windswept hair all glisten in the can flicker, transient embers lighting up sinking golden light. Those moments are the cold air like fireflies. sparks as well, glowing flares that steal Sometimes our thoughts are best away the blues and common greys as the expressed through the mask of anonymi- sky is set aflame with blazing oranges ty, which allows the tacit fears and dark torn by cirrus clouds of subdued violet. parts of our minds to be brought to light. Who can know if we will ever see the sun Appropriately, the “Cornell University set again? After all, tomorrow does not Confessions” page on Facebook has exist. served rather brilliantly to unify those We are fragile and blind, and having secret thoughts under a single, nameless lost our way in the world, we have so voice. Ignoring the worsening twinges of trusted our focus to structured time as a guilt at hours spent scrolling through hand railing, that our mortality has been sexual regrets, cries for love from beauti- unheeded and forgotten. Yet, tragedies ful Indian girls, apologies for defecating are impartial to our ignorance; they in public areas and complaints about lit- strike the earth like bolts of lightning, erally everything imaginable, my eyes and even to the blind the sound is terrihave caught on a few stray admissions of fying. Let us remember the beauty of utter despair. Some are haunted daily nightfall. Please, stop today and watch with thoughts of death, while others the sunset; there is no telling how many fight back burning tears brought on by we have left together. intense, aching loneliness. To the benefit of those unnamed sufferers, the confes- Matt Hudson is a sophomore in the College of Arts and sions page has doubled as an ersatz sup- Sciences. He can be reached at port network and a testament to the hon- mhudson@cornellsun.com. Red in the Face runs alterest glimmers of kindness in a world rav- nate Wednesdays this semester.

CORRECTIONS The Tuesday sports section featured two incorect photo captions. A sports caption, “Better, faster, stronger,” incorrectly stated that the picture was senior Bruno Hortleano ’13. In fact, the player pictured is Zinzan Fern ’15.

A sports caption, “Third time’s a charm,” incorrectly stated that guard Stephanie Long ’14 shot two-three pointers in the Red’s loss to Brown on Friday. In fact, Long shot two-three pointers in one minute in the game.

Letters to the editor may be sent to opinion@cornellsun.com.

Letters should be no longer than 250 words.

Please include an evening phone number and your graduating year if applicable.

All opinions welcome.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013 7

OPINION

Dan Rosen | Smell the Rosen

Coming Of Age M

y father was born in 1935, making him a few months shy of 78 — the average life expectancy in the United States. While he is almost entirely unchanged mentally, it is hard not to see the signs of his age. He works significantly less than he used to, leaves the house less frequently, sleeps more and is now essentially unable to drive despite, as a former mechanic of 20 years, being one of the best drivers I know. I have essentially resigned myself to the fact that he may not meet my wife and that my children, unlike my older brother’s kids, will not have a grandfather. My brothers and I have come to terms with the fact that at some point, most likely within the next 10 years, one of us will have to call the others to inform them about our father’s death. In fact, every time I get a text or a phone call from my mother, there is always a voice in the back of my head thinking that this might be it. My brother recently had to tell my mom that the phrase “EMERGENCY! Please call!!!” should not be used in a text for things like email problems when we have a 78-year-old father with diabetes and low blood sugar.

I rarely speak with my father about his getting older, apart from once or twice, asking if he has enjoyed his life or had any regrets. In retrospect, these questions seem utterly pointless and serve only to placate my own

He doesn’t have to see me turn out okay, he simply knows it will happen. fears of death rather than actually connect me to my father. I am honestly not sure how my father is handling his old age. He was never been the type of person who would open up about anything, let alone something as personal as his death.

I don’t have a particularly close relationship with my father — I remember distinctly every movie I’ve seen in theaters with him because of how important and rare an occasion it was. When I was younger, I held it against him, envious of my friend’s fathers who took them out to dinner, played sports with them and went on trips together. I was at times openly resentful. When I was in high school, I said things to him I now regret saying, despite the fact that I still feel the same way. What has changed, perhaps, is that I now accept that my father was from a different generation, several behind my friend’s fathers; and I have greater understanding of how he viewed his role as a father.

As an immigrant who left Iran on his own at age 13, my father had views on parenthood and fatherly responsibility that werec ompletely different than what I thought they ought to have been or what I wanted them to be. He provided for me, working hard for years at a job I was never sure he enjoyed and could not get away from after early financial mishaps. In his mind, I understand only now, that was his responsibility and it is hard for me to fault him for sacrificing the enjoyment and fulfillment in his life for the sake of me and my brothers.

However, this complicates my relationship to his old age and impending death. My fear comes less from “missing” him as somebody I relate to and more from a sense of wanting him to see that his hard work in life has paid off. I want my father to be proud and feel like his life, which did not turn out how he wanted, at least engendered opportunities for me that I took the most from. I want him to see me succeed in whatever field I choose to pursue — something which adds a particular gravity and urgency to my graduation and the next few years of my life. But perhaps this is all in my head.

Perhaps the fact that he works so hard for me to have all of the opportunities he did not, never complaining about his lot in life, means that he is proud of me already. He doesn’t have to see me turn out okay; he simply knows it will happen.

Dan Rosen is a senior in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

He may be reached at drosen@cornellsun.com. Smell the Rosen appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

Web

Comment of the day

“Coming from someone who is still involved on a Greek alumni board and was formerly a president of a Greek house, I can tell you that the biggest issue I think most people have with the University’s response to these types of incidents is that the definition of ‘hazing’ is so amorphous that it lops truly unlawful and dangerous conduct together with trivial rites of passage. Often, both get labeled as ‘hazing’ even though only one is. I’m not privy to the facts of these three incidents, and it may well be that all three are, in fact, hazing. However, as long as the University takes an ‘I know it when I see it’ approach to hazing, its credibility with the students and alumni will continue to be compromised.”

Cornell_07 Re: “Three Cornell Fraternities Suspended Due to Hazing Allegations” News, published March 4, 2013

Ashley Harrington |

Dancing in the Margins

Poetic Justice: Lessons to Be Learned From Hip-Hop R

ecently, gun reform has cata- isolated. The same biases that led to pulted to the forefront of Trayvon Martin’s murder and political discourse with countless others affect the way tragedies such as Newtown and police see certain bodies. This leads Aurora. The reality, however, is me to my next point. that guns have been massacring 2. You can’t talk about gun violence Americans for decades. Even with without talking about the police. some of the strictest gun laws in the Every 36 hours in this country, a U.S., Chicago recorded 506 homi- black person is killed by a police cides last year. In 2010, there were officer. Just last week, I attended a three times more children and teens vigil for Shawn Greenwood, an injured by guns than the number of Ithaca resident unjustly shot dead U.S. soldiers wounded in action by a police officer no more than two that year in the Afghanistan war. In miles from Cornell. How do you the words of our Slope Day head- talk about gun reform when the liner Kendrick Lamar, “What am I people that are supposed to “serve to do when every neighborhood is and protect” are actually killing and an obstacle / When two making it abusing entire classes of people? In out had never sounded logical / KRS-One’s classic track “Sound Of Three making it out, that’s mission Da Police,” they liken impossible.” However, in the countless political debates addressing gun There are consistently reform, there are consis- missing voices at the table tently missing voices at the table of so-called of so-called artists: experts; some of those some of those ... are missing voices are hip- hip-hop artists. hop artists. Situated in communities where violence is often seen as given, hip-hop police to slave masters as they rap, albums share life experience and “the overseer rode around the plancritical thoughts on gun and com- tation / The officer is off patrolling munity violence that must be heard all the nation … / The officer has by reformers. There is invaluable the right to arrest / And if you fight insight one can ascertain through back they put a hole in your chest!” hip-hop. Here are three key per- KRS-One draws parallels between spectives for anyone willing to lis- the ways in which both slave masten: ters’ and police officers’ primary job 1. You can’t talk about gun violence was, and is, to maintain the public without talking about race. order. However, if the public order In America, black teens ages 15 is unjust, that is precisely what they to 19 are 25 times more likely to be will maintain. There is a reason that injured by a gun than a white teen police don’t make drug arrests at of the same age. “Got your hoodie Cornell, where Ivy League students on / they wanna stare at ya / they are undoubtedly using drugs, but think you fully armed, black in raid poor communities of color America,” flows rapper, producer without hesitation. And it doesn’t and fellow Cornell student, take a genius to understand why.

Sammus, in a track titled “America.” 3. You can’t talk about gun violence As she points out, criminality has without talking about jobs, class been made synonymous with being and poverty. black. Just last week, we remem“When the average minimum bered the death of Trayvon Martin, wage is $5.15,” Yasiin Bey, formerly whose tragic shooting is in no way Mos Def, raps in his track

“Mathematics”, “You best believe you gotta’ find a new grind to get cream / The white unemployment rate? It’s nearly more than triple for black / So frontliners got they gun in your back / Bubblin’ crack, jewel theft and robbery to combat poverty / and end up in the global jail economy.” The reality is one of the best ways to stop a bullet is through job creation. If people don’t have jobs that provide living wages, then they must find alternate ways to survive. Often, this survival is criminalized and exploited for profit through the prison-industrial complex. However, many reformers fail to acknowledge that poverty is the root cause of many violent crimes.

In order to make a change, we must critically view the ways in which prisons function in this country and the unemployment rate in poor communities and communities of color.

These root causes of gun violence, audible in hiphop lyrics, are critical pieces missing in the gun debates and it is concerning that these perspectives are rarely discussed. Hip hop, in many ways, was one of the first entities that stood up against and shed light on the violence happening to poor, people of color in this country. In order to move forward, we must recognize the context of violence within poor, urban communities just as much as we recognize the context within places like Newtown. I hope this article encourages anyone interested in gun reform to listen to the forgotten poetic perspectives that are central to moving toward a world that, in the words of Kendrick Lamar, “sounds like poetic justice.”

Ashley Harrington is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at aharrington@cornellsun.com. Dancing in the Margins appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013

SCIENCE

Chemistry

Ornithology

Engineering Outreach

Prof. Kyle Lancaster: Molecular Interrogator

By BOB HACKETT Sun Senior Writer

Bob Hackett ’12 was a senior writer for The Sun’s science section who came to Ithaca on the weekend of Feb. 16 to write a story.

Prof. Kyle Lancaster, chemistry and chemical biology, named one of 30 “rising stars tansforming science” by Forbes’ magazine last December, interrogates molecules for a living. So far, aged only 29, he’s been prodigiously successful.

“To paraphrase the movie Taken, I’ve spent a career developing a very particular set of skills,” Lancaster said. “Skills that make me dangerous to molecules, so they can’t hide their secrets from me.”

He is not an ex-CIA agent. He is a chemist ... specifically, a spectroscopist: one who employs different types of light (“spectra”) to look at or observe (“-scopy”) matter.

“What we do is we probe these molecules with a whole bunch of different wavelengths of light,” Lancaster said, listing visible light, X-rays and microwaves. Each form of light can be used as a tool to reveal otherwise unseen or hidden molecular information. For instance, microwaves can help you see how many electrons are in different spin states, he said, and ultraviolet-visible photons may let you glimpse oxidation states, couplings and ligand field strengths.

“In our current efforts we’re using X-rays to see what types of atoms are bound to a transition metal,” Lancaster said. “We use a technique which is called K-BetaX-ray emission spectroscopy and, specifically, we look at what is referred to as the ‘Valence to Core’ transitions, or ‘V2C.’” The method is a violent one, he said. Essentially, his team bombards an atom with high-energy, high-intensity X-ray radiation until it rips an electron out of that atom’s lowest level orbital, where electrons are most tightly bound.

To further illuminate the technique, he drew an analogy to people.

If you are going to try to get information out of someone there are several routes you can take, he said. You can butter someone up, take them out for a nice dinner, get them on your side and have them give you the information willingly. Or you can take the alternative.

Basically, grilling them until “eventually [the person or molecule] will tell us everything that we wanted to know, and some things that we didn’t,” he said.

When it comes to chemistry, in the archetypal Good-cop/Bad-cop dichotomy, Lancaster assumes, by his own admission, the latter role.

Once the X-rays have stripped that critical electron from an atom, “[the atom] will do anything. It will sell out its own mother to get that electron hole refilled,” he said. Occasionally, the

atom will do so by stealing an electron from a neighboring atom. This process emits a photon of a certain energy level which, when measured, may reveal important information about the atoms.

“One of the first people to use this for chemical applications,” he said, was Prof. Serena DeBeer, chemistry and chemical biology, Lancaster’s post-doctoral research advisor, under whom he studied before she transitioned to the Max Planck Institute in Muelhiem, Germany two years ago.

“That’s why I came here to work with her, to learn the technique,” Lancaster said.

Cornell is home to one of the very few facilities in the world that can achieve the intense photon energies needed to perform the kind of chemical interrogation that is Lancaster’s specialty. That facility, where waves of X-ray light collide with molecular matter, is the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source, located beneath the Upper Alumni Athletic Field.

In a 2011 paper published in Science Magazine in which he was the lead author, Lancaster solved, along with DeBeer and various collaborators, what Forbes’ reporter Matt Herper has described as “an old chemical puzzle” — “sort of the great outstanding question of bioinorganic chemistry,” Lancaster said.

For a decade, scientists had been trying to figure out the identity of the central atom in a very important molecule, a catalyst that has been responsible for the flourishing of life on this planet: nitrogenase. Since nitrogenase splits nitrogen gas to make ammonia, it seemed to make sense that

the central atom, “Atom X,” might be nitrogen.

“That’s sort of the nice, feel good answer,” Lancaster said.

Others, however, believed Atom X to be oxygen, especially since, within nitrogenase, it is coordinated to iron, a metal that often pairs with oxygen. Still others argued that the mystery atom did not exist at all, that its apparent presence was an artifact of the crystal structure. And yet another sect thought it might be carbon.

“That seemed fairly preposterous to people,” Lancaster said, referring to the carbon camp.

“But it was still a possibility.”

The contest came to an end after his team published their results from the K-Beta-X-ray emission spectroscopy technique.

Nitrogenase had succumbed.

After rounds of brutal X-ray interrogation at CHESS, the obstinate atom squealed, releasing tell-tale photons at an energy level of 7,100 electron volts, characteristic of only one element. Atom X: carbon, after all.

“It sort of cemented my place in the bioinorganic community,” he said, noting that his previous graduate study work and papers in copper and iridium also contributed. “I think it was a nice way of showing that I am a pretty serious business spectroscopist.”

Ironically, Lancaster’s field, bioinorganic chemistry, is characteristically defined by the absence of carbon-metal bonds.

“The organometallic community — that is to say, the folks who bind carbon to metals with regularity — were very amused to find out that the arguably most important cofactor in bioinorganic chemistry, which has sort of got a little sibling rivalry to

COURTESY OF PROF. KYLE LANCASTER

Molecular mysteries | Prof. Kyle Lancaster uses spectroscopy to uncover hidden pieces of information in molecules.

organometallic chemistry, turned out to be an organometallic cofactor,” he said. “So now I guess I find myself as an organometallic chemist as a result.”

Having demonstrated that he and his team can solve difficult problems, Lancaster is gearing up to continue tackling and understanding fundamental questions in chemical catalysis, such as: How can we build a better catalyst? How can we build one that produces less waste? That doesn’t

COURTESY OF PROF. KYLE LANCASTER

X-ray experiments | From left, Shannon Sitler grad, Demetra Perry ’13 and Kait Schrote grad work at the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source to find information on molecules by bombarding them with X-rays.

rely on precious or toxic metals?

And, how can we draw inspiration from biology, which achieves very difficult chemical transformations, when designing catalytic processes?

“The bottom line is that we’re interested in solving or understanding systems and solving problems that are relevant to minimizing the burden we place on this planet,” he said. “Transition metals have granted humans immense power to transform matter. And the ability to rationally control how they do so is really the grand challenge of inorganic chemistry in the 21st century.”

In addition to science, Lancaster used to D.J. in his spare time back in Southern California, where he grew up and attended school. In his lab, which is currently being assembled, he claims to have the best sound-system in S.T. Olin. He also enjoys red wine — Malbec, in particular, after recently spending time in Argentina, a country known for that varietal — which he drinks at wine hours on Friday’s with some colleagues in the chemistry department.

His advice to students now studying at the University, regardless of major, is that if you are doing what you love, things are going to pan out. Worked for him, he said.

Regarding his naming on the Forbes’ list, Lancaster said he“feels honored.” “I hope I can continue to deliver good science,” he added.

Bob Hackett can be reached at bhackett@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013 9

SCIENCE

Macaulay Library Goes Public

By KATHLEEN BITTER Sun Staff Writer

The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is the largest and oldest scientific archive of audio and video recordings of wildlife in the world. Now, its collection of more than 150,000 recordings of everything from ivory-billed woodpeckers to humpback whales is available to the public online.

According to Greg Budney, audio curator at the library, this is the conclusion of a 12year project to digitize every record at the library. The collection began in 1929 with three recordings of songbirds taken using a film camera in Stewart Park, Ithaca and since then has expanded to include species from all over the world, submitted in a variety of audio formats.

“The very first recordings of wild birds made in North America were made in Ithaca,” Budney said.

The collection was originally launched as a comprehensive way to study animal behavior in a variety of species using a centralized database of audio and video recordings.

Today it serves the same purpose, as well as being an educational tool, a resource for musicians and mix artists, and much more, Budney said.

The complete digitization and online availability of the library means anyone from a biology student trying to learn bird calls to a Hollywood movie maker looking for sound effects can access and use the library. In fact, audio files from the library have been distorted and used as sound effects in movies such as Harry Potter and Jurassic Park.

The videos and sounds are also used by schoolteachers to show their students the variety of colors, sounds and movements in nature without having to travel to South America or the Arctic, Budney said.

“We’re at the Lab of Ornithology, but we

have recordings of birds, frogs, fish, insects, whales, you name it,” said Mike Webster, director of the Macaulay Library.

The library is not like Uris Library or Olin Library, however. At the Lab of Ornithology, the servers that allow anyone to access recordings are only one small room in a large space made up of offices, climate-controlled storage spaces and audio and video mastering studios.

There recordings that come in from researchers all over the world are converted to a standard digital format in order to be “as accurate a copy for science as possible,” Budney said.

But even with all the latest technology, the library has not forgotten its roots. Lining a shelf in the main area are over a dozen audio and video recorders dating back to the early era of movies with sound and analog recording equipment. The oldest camera on the shelf is crank-operated and doesn’t have a single electronic component, according to

Budney.

The library also has the paper records that were included with submissions of recordings, many of which are from prominent contributors to the field of ornithology. There are several dozen books filled with audio descriptions from such prominent ornithologists as Ted Parker, who could identify over four thousand species of birds by ear, and Linda Macaulay, the library’s benefactor and namesake.

Through the evolution of analog recorders and paper records to digital file formats and internet accessibility, the curator of the Macaulay Library said it has stayed on the cutting edge and maintained its status as the preeminent source of natural recordings in the world and a true asset to Cornell research and outreach.

Kathleen Bitter can be reached at kbitter@cornellsun.com.

ANDY JOHNSON / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER SHAILEE SHAH / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Researchers recording | Hilary Yu ’15 and Sophie Orzechowski ’12 record bird calls as a part of “Digital Ornithology” training.

Blue birds | Thousands of recordings of birds are now available to the public.

Engineering Outreach Program Builds Robots

By AMIT BLUMFIELD Sun Staff Writer

WATCH

THE VIDEO AT CORNELLSUN . COM

Giving young children hands-on engineering experience will get them hooked for life. Ben Finio, a post doctorate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Prof. Robert Shepherd, mechanical and aerospace engineering, live by that philosophy. In the hopes of creating an early love for technology and engineering in children, Finio and Shepherd, in collaboration with Prof. Hod Lipson, mechanical and aerospace engineering, hold workshops at the Ithaca Generator, where children can become involved in fun and engaging activities relating to STEM fields.

Activities vary, but include practical experiments involving 3-D printing, electricity and most recently, soft robots, which were initially developed at Harvard University.

Upon arriving, the children, aged between five and 12 years old, and their parents listen to a quick presentation by Finio, who briefly explains what they will be making.

Finio also shows video demonstrations of what the final products should look like and how they should behave. The children, with the assistance of their parents as well as Finio and Shepherd, then begin

their task of creating soft robots. As opposed to the rigid, metallic form of typical robots, soft robots are flexible, elastic and more easily maneuverable.

To make a soft robot, the kids combined a silicon rubber mix, a gel-like substance “often used in the film industry to make fake body parts or masks,” Finio said.

They then pour the mix into a mold of their choice. According to Finio, there are several kinds of molds, which are 3-D printed, each of which creates a soft robot with a different function. Some molds are designed to create moving robots, while others are designed to create robots which latch onto objects by wrapping around them.

Once the molds are filled with the rubber mixture, they are placed in an oven for ten minutes. The heat from the oven solidifies the rubber by cross linking bonds within the material, this connects the polymer chains that make up the rubber. Heating the mixture, however, is only half of the process, because the end goal is to insert a tube connected to an air bulb into the air ducts within the robot allowing the robot to be inflated. At this point, the air ducts are unsealed, said Finio.

To seal the air ducts in the robot, the children place their robots on a pre-made thin sheet of the rubber mix, seal the edges with more mix,

and then place the sheet back in the oven until the new mix solidifies, sealing the air ducts. Finally, an air tube is inserted into the air ducts, and then the ducts can be inflated or deflated with the connected bulb. According to Finio, the ultimate function of the soft robots, which is either to move or wrap around an object, is caused by the inflation and deflation of the sealed air ducts within the robots.

Shepherd and Finio hope that activities of this kind will make up for the lack of engineering activities provided for children during a typical school day.

It is a “physically engaging, yet

simple way of making robotic systems,” Shepherd said.

Finio added that “by middle school, most girls will lose interest in STEM fields.” Finio and Shepherd hope that by providing engaging engineering experience early on, young girls will be more motivated to study STEM fields later in life. About half of the children at the workshop were girls, who seemed to be just as fascinated by the experiment as the boys.

Ultimately, Finio and Shepherd said they want this type of STEM field experience to be included in a typical school day, and not just be a weekend activity. According to

Finio, since teachers are evaluated by how their students perform on standardized tests, nothing beyond standardized test material is being taught, which is a shame. He said that although standardized tests do have their benefits, it is important for children to also have experiences beyond them, such as hands-on activities in STEM fields.

Furthermore, Finio said, “children need to know that it is OK to be wrong, which is not something they learn through standardized testing.”

Amit Blumfield can be reached at ablumfield@cornellsun.com.

RYAN LARKIN / SUN VIDEOGRAPHER

Mini machine molding | Post-doctorate Ben Finio demonstrates how to make soft robots from molds.

A&E

10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, March 6, 2013

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

BY ZACHARY ZAHOS Sun Associate Managing Editor

The power of Michael Haneke’s Amour borders on paradox. On the one hand, this film imparts a quiet, rich message of how art, in all its forms, provides the ultimate respite from the harsh realities in life, like illness, attacks and aging.

However, the film so fully immerses the viewer into a suffocating depiction of these realities that the experience of watching it becomes its own struggle. It is not a film I recommend lightly, nor one everyone should see, but it grasps the human condition with such conviction and insight that anyone prepared for its brutality should explore its cavernous depths.

The first scene gets right to the point: Firefighters break through the locked door of a posh, worn Parisian apartment and find the wizened corpse of Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) on her bed, hands crossed and surrounded by flowers. From the start, writer-director Haneke shocks us with an image of absolute serenity and truth. Flashback several months back to octogenarians Anne and Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) attending a concert of one of her former piano students, Alexandre Amour (Alexandre Tharaud), and then returning to their apartment, where Directed by Michael Haneke the rest of the film remains. These day in the future. He also, however, Starring Jean-Louis opening shots are composed entireallows us to be frustrated with them, parTrintingant, Emmanuelle Riva ticularly the helpless Anne. As Anne ly of long shots, as if these two could be any elderly couple regresses into a more infantile state — strolling the city. As tempting it framed in unglamorous, laborious closemay be, however, it is wise not to ups — and Georges identify Anne and Georges with grows more irritable, kindly grandparents you have or Haneke leaves his had. Rathe, it is better to conceive of audience to just witthtem as young lovers still so enamored with each other that ness their acts, free of sentimental cues or the perils of age sneak up on them unawares. melodrama. It’s not forced but real, which This “attack” hits Anne the morning after the concert, is why it’s so tough. when she stares off at the breakfast table, not responding to There is a subtle undercurrent regardGeorges’ concerns. Her subsequent surgery (not depicted on- ing the ineffable, healing power of art screen) renders her right side paralyzed; coping with this throughout the film. As cultured, bourabrupt rearrangement of responsibility tests Georges, as well geois Parisians, Georges and Anne apprecias the boundaries and definition of love (amour). Cheery stuff. ate music, cinema, painting, photography There are moments of levity — Anne spinning donuts with and literature, and Haneke includes a her electric wheelchair, or Georges describing his friend’s scene with one or both of them interacting “bizarre” funeral — that never deign to “I’ve fallen and I can’t with each of these mediums and finding get up” levels of irreverence, but the mood only darkens as strength therein. The most touching, natAnne loses her facilities and, for George, his patience. urally, relates to cinema, when Georges recounts how he was Film students will likely study Amour for its restrained cam- overwhelmed by a film he saw when he was a young boy. “I era movement, long shots and varied compositions within a don’t remember the film … but I remember the feeling,” he single setting (which calls to mind the Japanese master Yasujiro tells Anne, who is enraptured by his story. And so the cycle Ozu). Amour could just be a clinical textbook example of how continues: She will cherish her feelings when hearing his story, to make a soulless and agonizing ‘art film,’ but Haneke’s direc- and he experiences them once again through the act of contion provokes real feeling. Haneke wants us to empathize with fiding to his love. When ailments and age impede on a devotAnne and Georges, two characters who may just be us some- ed relationship, Haneke reminds us that art can alleviate the

In the End, We Can Only Hope for Amour painful path to, well, you know, the end.

Amour recently won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and, back in May, the Palme d’Or, the prestigious honor bestowed at the artsy Cannes Film Festival. Any fears that this is a pretentious, boring film should go unfounded; instead, this is an emotionally draining, arduous two hours that will leave no one unscathed. I have not even mentioned the performances of Riva or Trintignant, though their eminence needs no description. But it is Haneke who deserves the utmost praise for his Oscarnominated screenplay (a Freudian can analyze the meaning of the pigeon and dream sequences to no end) and direction. He put his all into this honest and unflinching masterpiece — though you may just resent him for it.

Amour is now playing at Cinemapolis.

Zachary Zahos is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun.com.

At Cornell Cinema, an Elegant Trip to the Past On Saturday night, Cornell Cinema proved itself to be versatile and refined enough to host a Winter Formal Party. I have been to Cornell Cinema before, but I never imagined that it might lay out this sort of event. Yet as soon as I entered the doorway, I needed no longer to wonder. Four tables filled with food were the first sight to greet visitors. Having not eaten for two days prior (okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration), this was a welcome sight indeed. The food itself was exquisite. From crackers to fruit to mini sandwiches, Cornell Cinema had it down. I personally had to get two of the meat shish kebabs. The pita chips were especially good with the humus and all the different dips and sauces provided the finishing touch. Eating that night reminded me of the scene from Ratatouille when Remy, the main rat, explains the sensation he gets when he eats — fireworks in his mouth! Drinks ranged from water to Guinness; the most popular drink available for purchase was Cabornet. There was plenty of space to walk around, and everyone was well-dressed for the night. Though it was a slightly older crowd, it only made for a classier evening. Maxwell Jacob Murphy ‘16 found it incredible that Cornell Cinema could be “transformed into a room where a party could be held,” a triumph that “really made it a special night unlike any other.”

The silent auction items were on display at the back

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

end of the room, at the foot of the stage. There were a couple of movie posters, including one of Sean Connery as James Bond. There was a book that gave a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes world of the Life of Pi. There were also a couple of bottles of wine from local companies.

On the actual stage, there were tables of even more food. All the desserts were there, and it was difficult to walk off the stage. There were plates of chocolate pastries and macaroons, along with your good old-fashioned brownies and cookies — but better.

After nearly two hours of quiet conversation and passionate consumption of food, the silent auction and lottery prize winners were announced. There were about a dozen lottery prizes. Among them were movie posters and gift baskets. There was film poster signed by Robert Redford, and two liquor gift baskets from companies such as Ithaca Winery. I really wanted a gift basket.

At around 10 p.m., the movie finally started: 1973’s The Sting, featuring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

It was highly appropriate for the night, given its reminiscence of a former time when life was classier. In The Sting, Robert Redford’s character, Johnny Hooker, and his pal Luther Coleman portray con artists. After they unwittingly steal $11,000 from a man who ends being part of a mob, Coleman is killed and Hooker flees. He meets up with a man Coleman recommended prior to

COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

his death, Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), who, in his glory days, was a great con artist. The two of them collaborate with three other men to exact revenge for Luther’s death by conning the mob leader, Doyle Lonnegan, a really scary Irish guy. The stakes are high, and the film presents twists and turns that allows the audience to appreciate a quality ’70s film. But the greatest twist of the night was that Cornell was able to put on such a good show.

Danyoung Kim is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at dkim@cornellsun.com.

A&E

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11

Losing My Religion (But Not My Virginity) TERESA KIM Sun Staff Writer

Fourteen-year-old Laney Waters (Molly Stoller) is a selfdeclared lesbian. She is also a writer, a dreamer and a “humpback,” as her best friend, Maribel Purdy (Ally Poole), calls her. Her mom Elise (Erin Jerozal) is her daughter’s rationalist counterpart, fearful for her adolescent and fledgling motivations.

The second installment in the Kitchen Theatre’s 2013 run of Crooked is led by a three-woman cast that embarks on discomforting yet bold journeys, beginning with a monologue from a seemingly overconfident and outspoken Laney. She reads one of her latest short stories to Elise, her practical mother, who sits on the couch, concerned by the level of graphic detail in her writing. Laney places great pride in her works but her mother suggests that she should replace the violent stream of thoughts with COURTESY OF more pleasant imagery, THE KITCHEN THEATRE tossing aside her daughter’s creative outlet with joking remarks. Her mother’s hurtful comments, which seem more forced than voluntary, awaken Laney’s insecurities over the physical disorder she carries, dystonia, which contorts the body into abnormal positions. In Laney’s case, dystonia causes shoulder spasms.

At school, she meets Maribel, a fellow outcast who believes that Jesus can cast away all of the humiliations that Laney will face and redeem her from a life of sin. Maribel’s honesty comes through in her naïve view on sex. This provides a context for which the two girls can explore these sensitive issues even further within the secure zone they

create for themselves. Eager for “new experiences to help her writing,” Laney acquiesces to being converted into Maribel’s religion. Soon, she misjudges Maribel’s fervor for Jesus as a romantic longing for Laney herself — and as quick as she is to judge, she is just as fast to declare herself a lesbian.

When the three women are together, repressed pasts are revealed as the characters are collectively unmasked.

Maribel, who uses religion to disguise her own sexual inhibitions, clearly is more keen to learn about what sex than the healing power of Jesus. At one point, she declares, “I’m

going to be a celibate. And since I’m never going to have sex, I want to hear all about it.” Without hesitation — and against the will of her embarassed daughter — Laney’s mother proceeds to aid in Maribel’s quest for answers, though this response says much more about her personal experiences than about sex itself: “Sex is most meaningful 10 years later in your relationship when you can accept the body you’re in and your partner can too. And then you’re just thankful that he’s just next to you – that’s when it feels great.”

All of the characters carry the responsibility of portray-

Noncreative Fiction A

s I turned the corner onto Dryden Road and trudged through the Collegetown slush, hands in my pockets and cheeks huddled behind the neck of my jacket, the thought that materialized was not entirely my own: Hey, this reminds me of the cover for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

Adjusting to that image, I hunched my back even more and forced an apathetic scowl (it looks better than wincing at every gust of Hoth-like wind). I then probably rattled off movies defined by their snow-swept settings: Fargo, The Shining, The Thing, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind …

Artists do not create from a blank state, a tabula rasa — or do they? After taking “Intro to Creative Writing” last semester and “Screenwriting I” this spring, I have come to appreciate the creative process, because damn, it doesn’t come easy to me. As you might pick up, I associate many things with works of music or cinema. Since picking up movie criticism as a hobby in my sophomore year of high school, I have hammered in critical thinking as my approach to art. This devotion to watching a wide range of films and breaking them down makes for a fun education, but if this passion is not siphoned now and then to a more creative outlet, it sort of just stagnates. To me, brainstorming short stories or scripts takes much more effort than I believe it should, with intertextual references rather than original germs of thought dominating my thought processes.

This is a problem many must face, though, particularly those who try to phase out of the heavy academia they have entrusted in for so long in favor of making a mark of their own.

While creative genius may not be teachable, format, parameters and allusions certainly are, which is why I take these courses here at Cornell, and why anyone seeks out the masters of a craft and asks for advice and assistance.

Right now, I see screenplays as an easy entrance into this world. They are not the final artistic product but the catalyst to future collaboration with other talented actors, cinematographers, editors and directors (the latter two of which I am most interested in pursuing, more so than creative writing).

The question of creativity — How to harness it? Where to point it? Do I have it? —

Zachary Zahos A Lover’s Quarrel With the World intrigues me, as the answers, so far, have only peeked out of the shadows. According to Newtonian principles, pure creation is impossible, and this must apply to the creation of art as well. If there was any “pure” artist, working in a void without any precedent, it was Homer when he babbled or bard-ed or whatever about Patroclus and Odysseus. But even Homer found inspiration from historical events and allowed his genius to fill in the rest. The creative process takes in far more information and experience

ing a multitude of sides that conflict with many of their actions and words. The static set, which includes only a couch and a table, provides an incentive for the actors to accentuate their many personas. Jerozel and Poole skillfully bend their words and bodily movements.

Stoller has the harder task of doing this whilst carrying a hump. While she never fails to physically remind us that her hump is a distraction in her daily life, her overtly energetic movements across the stage are more reminiscent of a precocious five-year-old than an inspired 15-year-old.

Unlike the other two actresses, Stroller rarely distinguishes her character’s profound sentiments with her somewhat abrasive personality.

Like an unpeeled onion, we are left with the surface exterior of Laney, who exposes only her jejune passions and never brings the chilling satisfaction of convincing us that she is an actual damaged teenager than a character in a play.

Rachel Lampert, artistic director at Kitchen Theatre, described the play as an “eavesdrop on conversations not meant to be public.” The play does not adorn its language with flowery words. Instead, it presents conversations you would hear while sitting on the toilet of the girl’s bathroom in high school — scandalous, harsh and ultimately charming.

Crooked will be shown at the Kitchen Theatre through March 17.

Teresa Kim is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at tk359@cornell.edu.

NILS AXEN / SUN STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

than it puts out. An encyclopedic knowledge of some subsection of art assists greatly here; the filmmaker, painter or writer can amalgamate disparate past works, fuse them together and emerge with a “wholly original masterwork,” as some critic is likely to call it. (In The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco spoke of literature’s endlessly referential nature: “Books always speak of other books, and every story tells a story that has already been told.”) A keen, say, journalistic eye of the world around can provide that spark too, for, as Robert McKee harangues in the Charlie Kaufman-penned Adaptation, “People are murdered every day … People find love, people lose it … and if you can’t find that stuff in life, then you, my friend, don’t know crap about life!”

There is a reason why the Academy Awards present two separate writing awards, one for Best Adapted Screenplay and the other for Best Original Screenplay. I don’t know what that reason is, but I’m sure there is one and that it has more to do with credit-

ing logistics than quantifying creativity. The brilliant David Cronenberg has adapted William S. Burroughs and Don DeLillo into films that allow his directorial nuttiness to run amuck, while self-taught filmmakers like François Truffaut, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson sift through their expansive cinematic memories when writing and directing films that remain uniquely theirs. Even the most idiosyncratic movie makers like David Lynch or the Coen Brothers find inspiration in their own past (as the Coens do in A Serious Man) or through actively engaging with their subconscious (à la Lynch). Nobody pulls this stuff from thin air, basically. So, for now, I’ll continue to watch old movies while allotting time for other, more active outlets and perhaps a few more wintry strolls through Collegetown.

Zachary Zahos is a sophomore in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun.com. A Lover’s Quarrel With the World appears alternate Wednesdays.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013

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

ACROSS 1 __ polloi 4 Prom gown material 9 Jitter-free java 14 ShopNBC competitor 15 Gulf State native 16 Start of a historic B-29 name 17 __ Sam: 49ers mascot 19 Obie contender 20 It comes straight from the heart 21 Fate who spins the thread of life 22 Of main importance 24 Lake Geneva water fountain 25 Some Korean imports 26 Maker of Touch of Foam hand wash 28 Old-style “once” 29 Hipbone-related 31 Ape who rescues baby Tarzan 33 Filled (in), as a questionnaire box 34 Fun Factory clay 37 Back (out) 40 Unsteady gait 41 Debate 43 Caesar’s “Behold!”

47 Appearances 50 Napoleon’s exile isle 51 Mystery man 53 Jigger’s 11/2 55 High society types 56 Firth or fjord 57 Infant ailment 58 Olympic sport since 2000 62 Fool 63 S-shaped moldings 64 Slice of history 65 Boneheads 66 Hot, spicy drink 67 Where the wild things are DOWN 1 Command ctrs.

2 Egg head?

3 Post-op setting 4 Doomed city in Genesis

5 Indifferent to right 35 Long rides?

46 Inveigle and wrong 36 Jacques’s 48 “Thanks, already 6 How tense words significant other did it” are spoken 37 Look like a creep 49 Stewed 7 “Young 38 Guinness servers 52 Cruise ship levels Frankenstein” 39 Darjeeling, e.g.

54 Like long emails seductress 42 Right-hand page from old friends 8 Govt. medical 43 Volcanic 56 “I hate the Moor” research org. speaker spewings 9 Handed out 44 Black and tan 58 Playpen player hands 45 Restaurant chain 59 Pince-__ 10 Protect from a with a hot pepper 60 Scrappy-__ cyberattack, say in its logo 61 Beatle wife 11 Fastening pin 12 Lei Day ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: greetings 13 “Like, wow, man!”

18 __ Gorbachev, last first lady of the USSR 21 String quintet instrument 22 Stack 23 “Kills bugs dead!” spray 24 Family name in “The Grapes of Wrath” 25 Brooks of country music’s Brooks & Dunn 27 Video chat choice 30 Sgt.’s subordinate 32 Sound of a light 03/06/13 xwordeditor@aol.com bulb going on?

Sun Sudoku

COMICS AND PUZZLES

Puzzle #54 Scranton CLASSIFIED AD RATES Ads are accepted at The Sun‘s office at 139 W. State Street downtown, by phone or e-mail.

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

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)

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14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013

SPORTS

Red Looks to Improve for Southern Connecticut

Cornell prepares to improve upon the team’s beam performance heading into this weekend’s competition GYMNASTICS

Continued from page 16

face for the Red as Brown won the Ivy League Classic two weeks ago, finishing with a score of 193.925, .900 better than the Red’s second place score of 193.025.

West Chester is coming off of a first place finish in a quad meet that included Southern Connecticut, who has four first place finishes this season. Of the four teams competing next week, Brown averages the most points per meet with 191.550, the Red averages 191.125 and West Chester averages 186.781. Southern Connecticut’s season high is 188.975.

The Red will focus this week on improving its beam scores and continuing

“We counted two falls this weekend but plan to improve.”

Melanie Jorgensen improvements in the other three events.

“We need to be more consistent on beam. We counted two falls this weekend but plan to improve upon that for Southern Connecticut this weekend ... We

are practicing doing cold sets on beam this week. It mimics the setting we compete in, where we warm up between one and one and a half hours before we actually compete. This should help us hit beam and get back to the 193s,” Jorgensen said.

As the team approaches the final portion of the season, it is important that each athlete keeps focused and polish all four events for the upcoming meets. With the ECACs and potentially the USAG Nationals on the horizon, it is necessary for the Red to continue building on the successes that it has had this season. The Red is currently in a position that would send them to the USAG National

Championship in Shreveport, L.A. The top eight teams qualify for the USAG Nationals and the Red are currently in sixth and are 1.135 points ahead of the eighth place team Temple.

“We need to really focus on being consistent and confident as we go into the last four meets of our season. Towards the end of season, it is especially important to stay healthy and keep up our momentum so that we are in the best possible position for ECACs and USAG Nationals,” Archer said.

Tucker Maggio-Hucek can be reached at tmaggiohucek@cornellsun.com.

C.U. Heads To Face Pittsburgh TENNIS

Continued from page 16

-tion level up, play our best and we would be fine,” Tanebaum said.

The team has had a strong start to the semester, with victories against University Of Maryland Baltimore Country (6-1), St. Johns University (6-1), Army (70), Albany (6-1) and FDU (7-0).

“We’re going to be playing a few matches in Charleston over break, and that’s going to be more challenging because the matches are going to be outdoors, and we’ve been playing indoors,” she said.

The team will be travelling to Pittsburgh for its next two dual matches, the first on March 9 against University Of Pittsburgh and the second on March 10 against Duquesne University.

Deeya Bajaj can be reached at dbajaj@cornellsun.com.

Team Looks To Prepare for Next Season FENCING

Continued from page 15

The Red closes its season with a positive attitude looking into next season.

“We are satisfied with our results but we think we will do even better next year because our freshman know what to expect and we have already begun to truly make a dent in the Ivy League,” said freshman Ediona Sera.

Sydney Altschuler can be reached at saltschuler@cornellsun.com.

Need to send your love a peace offering?

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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, March 6, 2013 15

SPORTS

SOFTBALL

Red Heads to George Mason For Second Weekend Games

By ANNA FASMAN Sun Staff Writer

The Cornell women’s softball team heads into weekend two of the George Mason Patriot Classic after a strong start to the season and tournament last weekend.

Following the trend of last year’s overall 66 record at the classic, Cornell came away with two wins against Rider University and two losses against Rutgers and George Mason, respectively.

Cornell came out strong in its first game against Rider, posting a final score of 9-1. However, later that same day, The Red found itself struggling to score runs and pull out a win versus opponent and host of the classic, George Mason, losing 6-1.

Coming off its loss against the Patriots, Cornell faced fierce competition in its game against Rutgers, struggling to find a place on the scoreboard until the fifth inning. In the end, Rutgers was able to score an impressive five runs in the last two innings, leaving The Red trailing by eight through the games finish.

However, the women were able to come back and finish the weekend off strong once more against Rider.

“The first weekend down in Virginia is always a bit tough because our competition typically has at least a weekend’s, if not more, worth of games on us,” junior outfielder Christina Villalon said.

Heading into weekend number two of the classic, The Red is more confident after a week of play and practice. Cornell will start off Saturday against strong competitor Monmouth College, who head into the weekend with a record of 4-2. The women will continue the three-weekend classic with two games against the Longwood Lancers, who hold a striking 9-4 record for this season and one game against the host Patriots.

Although The Red is to face some very strong competition in the weekend to come, Villalon added that, “Coach Blood usually puts together a balanced practice plan over the course of the week that allows us to get in at least a little bit of work on everything.”

Additionally, the women will come into

TINA CHOU / SUN FILE PHOTO

Splitting down the middle | Junior outfielder Christina Villalon (above) helped the Red come away with two wins and two losses last weekend in the George Mason Patriot Classic.

this weekend not focusing on the team’s performance from last week, but rather concentrating on the current opponents and what Cornell has worked on in practice.

“You can’t get complacent with your performance on a week-to-week basis; sometimes you are going to have a good weekend and sometimes you are going to struggle,” Villalon said.

SQUASH

Although the women struggled against the Patriots last weekend, with another win and more practice under their belts, the team is sure to be aggressive competition for the tournaments host, as well as for the other teams the Red is to face during weekend number two of the classic.

Anna Fasman can be reached at afasman@cornellsun.com.

FENCING

Cornell Places Fifth at Ivy League Championship

By SYDNEY ALTSCHULER Sun Staff Writer

TINA CHOU / SUN FILE PHOTO

Au revoir | The Cornell squash season came to a close this past weekend at the Individual Championships at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Squash Finishes at Individual Championships

By KATIE SCHUBAEUR Sun Staff Writer

The 2013 squash season officially came to a close on Sunday upon the completion of the Individual Championships, which were held at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Representing the Cornell men’s team were senior co-captains Nick Sachvie and Owen Butler, as well as sophomores Michael Sunderland and Ryan Todd.

Senior co-captains Maggie Remsen and Jaime Laird, sophomores Lindsay Seginson and Danielle Letourneau and junior Jesse Pacheco represented the Cornell women’s team.

For both the men and women, the tournament is divided into two separate draws: the first (called the Pool Division for men and the Ramsay Division for women) comprised of the top 32 players, the second (the men’s

Molloy Division and the women’s Holleran Division) with the next 48 players.

Both Sachvie and Letourneau advanced to the quarterfinals in the ‘A’ draw of the men and women’s brackets, respectively. With these top eight finishes, both players will qualify for first-team All-American.

Ryan Todd, playing in the Molloy Division, proved to be the final member of the Cornell team standing. Todd advanced to the finals of the second round consolation before falling in a four game loss to Trinity’s Zayed Elshorfy, seeded fourth in the overall bracket.

When asked about the results of this weekend’s tournaments, Sachvie said he was very pleased with how well the nine members of the Cornell teams competing at Individuals played.

“Coming to the end of the season, everyone is pretty

drained from such a heavy schedule, but everyone really stepped up and did well at Individuals. A few of us had some tough draws, but overall we did better at individuals this year than we did last year,” Sachvie said.

The Cornell squash teams will graduate seven players this year: Sydney Chirls, Lexi Glassman, Jaime Laird, and Maggie Remsen from the women’s team as well as Owen Butler, Arjun Gupta and Nick Sachvie from the men’s team.

“On behalf of all the seniors, I’d like to thank Coaches Mark and Julee Devoy for a great season and a great past few years with the program,” Sachvie said. “We owe a lot of our success to such supportive coaches and a great team environment.”

Katie Schubaeur can be reached at kschubaeur@cornellsun.com.

The Cornell women’s fencing team travelled to Harvard this past weekend to compete in the Ivy League Championship tournament at the Albert H. Gordon track in Cambridge, Mass. The results of the Round Robin had the Red in fifth place out of seven teams, with a total of two wins and four losses.

Although the numbers may not show it, the tournament was a victory for the Red, who came in last place last year. The squad not only snatched two wins this year but also fought hard in every match. The Red’s perseverance made each bout competitive; the squad battled from start to finish in each match, giving its rivals a run for their money and making them really earn their wins.

“Even though our results didn’t come out with us on top, we were still ecstatic because we felt we put up a fight with every school we faced. We fought hard for every touch and even the bouts we lost, we lost by a small margin,” freshman Ashley Muller said.

The Red wrapped up the first day with a disappointing three losses against Princeton (22-5), Harvard (16-11) and Brown (1512). The Red regrouped by coming back on day two determined to win.

The squad was successful in turning its stats around as it grabbed two wins on Sunday to slide into fifth place.

Highlights included taking down Penn for the first time since the 1970s. The tight contest concluded with the Red stealing a 1413 win from the Quakers.

“Our win against Penn was

especially rewarding because we haven’t beaten them in many years and it felt great to finally achieve that goal,” Muller said.

The Red crushed Yale in a much less suspenseful match-up with wins in all three weapons.

“The energy in the crowd was infectious. Almost everybody’s parents came to cheer us on which made us feel really supported and gave us that much more determination to succeed,” Muller said.

This tournament is the most competitive of the Red’s season as the best of the best battle for the title of Ivy League Fencing Champions. The team has made huge strides since last year, as seen by the two win difference, and hopes to continue to improve and show a stronger performance against its Ivy League foes this time next year, according to members of the squad.

See FENCING page 14

OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Battle against the Ancient Eight | The Red finished fifth in Ivy competition.

Sports

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

WEDNESDAY MARCH 6, 2013

16

MEN’S LACROSSE

Cornell Wins Again, Advancing Record to 3-0

By MARISSA VELASQUEZ Sun Staff Writer

This past weekend, the No. 7 men’s Cornell lacrosse team took on No. 11 ranked Colgate, taking home a victory of 19-3 over the Raiders on Saturday

afternoon. It was the most lopsided victory for Cornell since the team defeated Canisius, 23-2, during the 1998 season.

For the season, the Red moved to 3-0, while the Raiders’ record fell to 3-1 thus far.

At the start, the Red came out strong,

TINA CHOU / SUN FILE PHOTO

Starting off on the right foot | Senior attackmen Steve Mock (above) along with the rest of the defense, helped the Red take down Colgate this past Saturday.

scoring two goals early in the first quarter before Colgate could even get the ball in the offensive zone. Senior attackman Rob Pannell ended the day with two goals and five assists against a supposedly tough opponent Peter Brown.

Throughout the entire bout, there was a collaboration of defensive efforts from senior goalkeeper A.J. Fiore, who had 15 saves and forfeited only two goals for the day, along with AllAmerican senior defenseman Jason Noble, who made many big defensive plays to help keep the Red out on top.

The squad also showed tough offense with the help of Pannell along with senior attackmen Steve Mock, senior midfielder Max Van Bourgondien, junior midfielder Mike O’Neil and junior attackmen/midfielder Dan Litner, who also scored for Cornell, leaving the Red with a 45-31 shot advantage over the Raiders.

Despite the slippery weather conditions, Cornell continued to dominate Colgate on the offensive end, making it a score of 8-0 at the end of the first.

Cornell came back fighting with three made goals in the second period, but the Raiders responded with back-to-back

goals at the end of the second and the beginning of the third.

The Red continued to push, scoring six more goals in the third, completely solidifying the lead. In the third, Colgate scored its final goal, following eight more goals scored by the Red, crushing the competition with a final score of 19-3.

In addition to the win on Saturday, Noble was also named the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week along with Princeton’s Jeff Froccaro. The honor for Noble is the first time that a defensemen has won since Brown’s Peter Fallon on April 26, 2010. Noble had a standout weekend when he shut down Colgate’s Peter Baum, which ended his 21-game scoring streak. Noble minimized Baum with his shots on goal, only allowing him three, none of which were on goal.

Cornell played Canisius College (02) last night on the road (more coverage to come) and will face off against No. 8 University of Virginia (4-1) on Saturday to try and keep the team’s undefeated record with more wins.

Marissa Velasquez can be reached at mvelasquez@cornellsun.com.

TENNIS

C.U.Wins Fifth Consecutive Match

By DEEYA BAJAJ Sun Staff Writer

On Saturday, the Cornell women’s tennis team had its fifth consecutive victory this semester.

The team defeated Albany 6-1 on Saturday morning and then beat Farleigh Dickson University (FDU) 7-0 later in the day at the Reis Tennis center in Ithaca.

“We had a lot of illnesses last semester, so it’s great to see the team geared up and a lot more confident this semester,” sophomore Lauren Fraizer said. “We’re also playing duel matches, which are a lot more fun as opposed to only playing tournaments, which are

long and strenuous. It was great playing Albany and FDU at the Reis center because it’s always fun playing on the home courts as people come out and cheer for us.”

The Red won all of its doubles matches on Saturday. Senior Sarah O’Neil and Frazier won their matches 8-5 against Albany and 82 against Farleigh Dickson while senior Christine Ordway and junior Ryann Young defeated Albany, 8-4 and FDU, 8-3. In the third doubles team, freshmen Christy Kung and Dena Tanebaum won their match against Albany 82, and Kung partnered with freshmen Laila Judeh for the match against FDU, where they won 8-6.

The team sustained only one loss through the day in the No. 1 singles match where Rocio Lopez (A) defeated O’Neil (C) 6-4, 3-6, (10-4). The Red won all of it’s other matches against both teams with No. 1 O’ Neil (C) winning her match against Anna Rapoport (F), 6-2, 6-2. No. 2 Ordway (C) wion, 6-2, 6-0 against Albany and 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 against FDU. In the match against Albany position No. 3 was played by Tanebaum (C) who won her match, 6-2, 7-5 and Young (C) won the No.3 match against FDU, 6-0, 6-0. Judeh (C) at No. 4 won her matches, 6-2, 61 and 7-6, 6-1 respectively. In the No. 5 matches Frazier (C) defeated Sarah Iannone (A), 6-2, 6-1 and Tanebaum

CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Top of the pack | Senior Sarah O’Neil (above) along with sophomore Lauren Frazier won their matches 8-5 against Albany adn 8-2 against FDU.

(C) won the match against FDU, 60, 6-0, Sophomore Sara Perelman (C) at No. 6 had a quick victory against Albany at 6-0, 6-0 and Frazier who played No. 6 against FDU won her match, 6-2, 6-0.

“We’ve been on a roll so far – working hard on and off the court, and we were pretty confident that we just had to keep our competiSee TENNIS page 14

GYMNASTICS

Red Places Second in Rutgers Quad Meet

By TUCKER MAGGIO-HUCEK Sun Staff Writer

KYLE KULAS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Building up | Junior Mackenzie Soto (above) along with the team struggled on beam.

The Cornell gymnastics team did not have its best score of the season on Saturday but still managed to remain competitive in the 2013 Rutgers Quad Meet. The Red’s overall team score of 191.325 was enough to edge out William and Mary (191.100) and Brockport (188.750), but not enough to top Rutgers who had a phenomenal meet and set multiple school records.

Rutgers finished with a 195.975 on Saturday, which set a school record for overall team score while also setting program high scores on the

vault and floor.

The 191.325 was not what the team hoped for, as it had improved its team score to over a 193 the previous week.

However, barring a 46.425 on the beam, the Red scored over a 48 in all of the events.

“It was a great meet in terms of keeping the team energy up and positive. It makes a difference when you’re out there and the energy is high, and I felt that it showed in most of our performances,” said junior Mackenzie Sato. “We had a tough beam rotation and had to count falls but we really picked it up on floor and vault to finish the meet strong.”

The Red had six gymnasts

finish in the top seven with two of them placing in the top five. The highest event score for the Red was on the floor (48.575); highlighting the floor performance was Sato, who scored a career high 9.800 which earned her fifth place.

The top finisher for the Red on Saturday was junior Melanie Jorgensen who scored a 9.800 on the bars and would earn herself third place in the event.

The Red have been consistently good on the bars all season with Junior Alexis Schupp also finishing sixth on bars with her routine earning her a 9.725.

“Bars in particular was outstanding, with each person in

lineup nailing their routines, although the scores did not necessarily show that,” said senior tri-captain McKenna Archer.

On the vault, Archer and freshmen Alicia Bair finished in sixth and seventh with a 9.750 and 9.675, respectively.

Sophomore Maia Vernacchia had the team’s highest individual score on the beam with a 9.600.

This week the Red will head to New Haven, Conn. for a quad meet with Southern Connecticut State, Brown and West Chester.

Brown will be a familiar See GYMNASTICS page 14