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English Major Shifts Course After a Week, Anuli Faculty agrees to implement global reading requirements

By MAYANKA DHINGRA

BORIS TSANG / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Sun Staff Writer

Following a name change to promote inclusivity, the Department of Literatures in English resolved to alter major requirements beginning fall 2022-23 to cover courses in a wider set of content areas.

Earlier this year, faculty announced the department’s new name as part of broader University efforts to promote anti-racist values and “decolonize” the discipline.

Currently, the major consists of three requirements, only one of which is content based — students must take twelve credits covering literature originally written in English before 1800.

They must also take eight credits at the 4000 level or above and twelve credits for a concentration they decide.

Following the changes, students will need to meet a new

Ononye to Become Next S.A. President

By SURITA BASU

held multiple hearings to address all challenges presented, and the Committee reviewed the With 1,521 votes, Anuli facts and reached a conclusion” Ononye ’22 won the election Mehler wrote in a statement for Student Assembly President. to The Sun. “The candidate The results came a week after then asked for a [Judicial Codes Counselor] the rest of the Review to S.A. seats were confirmed due “I am so thankful for the ensure that the to challenges amazing opportunity to C o m m i t t e e did not err in from candidates.

V a l e n t i n a serve as Cornell’s next its decision, to S.A. president.” which the review Xu ’22 received took place and 1,419 votes, and Anuli Ononye ’22 the Elections Zion Sherin ’23 Committee’s was disqualified decision to disfrom the race.

According to Patrick Mehler qualify the challenge candidate ’23, director of elections, all was upheld by the JCC.” Last fall’s S.A. elections saw disqualification materials will remain confidential.

See ELECTIONS page 4 “The Elections Committee Sun Assistant News Editor

New frontiers | Goldwin Smith will host a wider range of English classes. set of content requirements that represent a more global set of traditions. According to Prof. Caroline Levine, literatures in English, chair of the department, the faculty hopes students will find themselves engaging more often with texts dealing with experiences wider than the scope of European and

American writers.

Levine stated that this change breaks with a longstanding tradition of minimalism that has been characteric of the department at Cornell. Historically, the English department has fewer requirements than their See ENGLISH page 5

Cornell Mourns Selfless, Easy-Going Sophomore Transfer

By JOHN YOON and MADELINE ROSENBERG Sun City Editor and Sun Managing Editor

Known for his infectious laughter and sense of humor, Phillip Zukowski ’23, a Cornell sophomore who easily made people feel included and welcome, died on Saturday. He was 19.

Zukowski died after a fall through a six-foot gap in the Ithaca Falls Natural Area, according to his family; the Ithaca Police Department has not released findings regarding the investigation. In the days following his passing, communities across Cornell, Grinnell College and New York City have mourned the loss of the selfless and kind friend.

In the fall, Zukowski transferred to Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences from Grinnell. At Cornell, he

JING JIANG / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

found a community in his West Campus residence him that I haven’t been feeling too great because I hall and in his fraternity, typical of his easy-going went through a breakup, he pivoted the whole conand friendly nature, according to his friends and versation back to me.” family.

This characteristic of Zukowski was present through “He could go up to strangers and talk to them as if his relationships. Singh described him as someone who they were lifelong friends,” said Bibi Singh, Zukowski’s would never leave her side, the person who stayed on girlfriend of more than four years. “He got along with the phone with her all day and texted reminders that things will be alright. almost everybody in high This unwavering care school and he would play basketball with anybody “He could go up to strangers and talk to for others also extended that wanted to.” them as if they were lifelong friends. He to the decisions Zukowski made about his future.

Another high school got along with almost everybody.”

According to his brothfriend, Manjot Gill, wrote in Zukowski’s online triber Matt Zukowski, he Bibi Singh explored different career ute that just one day was choices throughout his enough for them to become childhood. friends.

Sherrie Tan ’22, a close friend who attended While he initially wanted to be a veterinarian, Queens High School for the Sciences in New York Zukowski found sick animals made him too sad to City with Zukowski, helped him adjust to Cornell. continue on that career path. For most of high school, She said Zukowski cared deeply about the emo- Zukowski thought about becoming a social worker, tional wellbeing of those around him, remembering See ZUKOWSKI page 5 one of their first dinners together at Becker House on West Campus, where he lived.

“The conversation was supposed to be Students in need of professional mental health about him, because he was the one who support can call Counseling and Psychological had j u s t transferred [to Services (CAPS) at 607-255-5155 and employees Cornell],” Tan can call the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program said. “But (FSAP) at 607-255-2673. Due to the COVID-19 when I pandemic, all CAPS and FSAP services are currenttold ly being delivered via telehealth. Whenever these services are closed, calls are answered by Cornell Health’s on-call mental health provider. The Ithacabased Crisisline is also available at 607-272-1616. A wide range of supportive resources is also available at caringcommunity.cornell.edu.

Remembrance | Cornell’s campus grieves the loss of the kind sophomore.

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021 3

News

Students Plan for Summer Jobs, Internships

Looking forward to another hybrid summer, Cornellians get creative with upcoming free time

By SOFIA RUBINSON Sun Staff Writer

For Cornellians, summer vacation will not provide much of a break with students across the country taking classes, participating in virtual internships and working within their local communities.

This summer, like the last, is unique for the number of opportunities that are virtual. There are seven times more remote internship opportunities during the summer of 2021 than in March 2019, before the onset of the pandemic.

Kevin Diaz ’24 has an online fellowship through the Industrial and Labor Relations Buffalo Co-Lab Program working with companies in Buffalo to revitalize the economy and spur economic growth in the community.

Diaz will be working with healthcare workers that want to unionize, studying their mental health and looking into collective bargaining and arbitration strategies.

While the fellowship was moved online, Diaz acknowledged some of the benefits. ”[Working remotely] gives me space and the opportunity to explore other areas and do other things this summer,” Diaz said. “For me, I will be trying to pursue a real estate license and do a summer class through Cornell HANNAH ROSENBERG / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR in conjunction with the fellowship.”

Macy Berryman ’23 is also taking advantage of remote work. This summer, she will work virtually Summer grind | After a long semester, students enjoy the warmer weather while they turn to new pursuits online and off. with the Animal Welfare Institute as a communications starting up after 2020 forced most internships online. don’t have to worry about housing or any other logisintern, exploring her passions for the environment and Melanie Marshall ’24 plans to live at a Zen Buddhist tics. I don’t know if I would have taken classes if they animal rights.

Temple in Ithaca with other scholars, teaching suburban were in-person,” Sherman said.

Berryman expressed that even though she will miss farming classes in Ithaca.

Others are working summer jobs to make money the opportunity to work in-person, she will be able to Leah Tilson ’22 will have an in-person intern- and expand their resumes. Alyssa Schwertfeger ‘24 enjoy time in her hometown. ship in Corning, NY with the will be working retail at a clothing boutique in Stone ”It is nice because I will human resources department Harbor, New Jersey. After a long year of Zoom classes, “I can’t imagine staying still. As have time to go places and Schwertfeger expressed her need to be around people of Corning Incorporated. hang out with my fami- Cornell students, we like to challenge “A lot of my friends weren’t working in-person. ly, so it’s a good balance,” ”This semester has been a very good semester, but lucky enough to be in-person, ourselves.”

Berryman said. so I feel fortunate to have this it has also been very long, and Zoom fatigue has really Myles Winkley ’22 will been settling in. I think this summer will be a good opportunity,” Tilson said.

Marlee Pincus ’24 work from his apartment in But not all Cornell stu- academic break,” Schwertfeger said.

Ithaca as a virtual research No matter what students plan on doing this sumdents will be interning this assistant at the Federal summer. Some, like Lauren mer, it can be assumed that they will be productive Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Sherman ’24, will be taking online courses at Cornell. with their time off.

Winkley expressed that while he wishes the position She is planning on fulfilling some distribution require“I can’t imagine staying still,” Marlee Pincus ‘24 was not moved online, he decided to still participate as ments so that she can focus more heavily on courses that said, who is taking summer classes. “As Cornell stuthe opportunity to conduct research at the federal level interest her during the school year. dents, we like to challenge ourselves.” was too good to pass up. He is making the best of the The remote setting also comes with increased versatilsituation by also taking summer classes through Cornell. ity, according to Sherman.

But for some students, in-person experiences are “Virtual classes are definitely more convenient; I Sofia Rubinson can be reached at srubinson@cornellsun.com.

Alumnus’ Startup Supports Asian Entrepreneurs

By ANTHONY CHEN

community as a whole in mourning, devastated Zhang and motivated him to bring about change In late March, Jeffrey Zhang in his field. ’20 launched SpeakUp Ventures, “Honestly, I felt so powerless a program that provides men- because I felt that my communitorship, workshops and a $300 ty was under attack,” Zhang said. stipend for Asian entrepreneurs “As an engineer, I’ve always been to develop their business ideas. taught that there’s no problem Aiming to empower aspiring stu- that’s unsolvable.” dent entrepreneurs, the program will In addition, Zhang believes be tailored to the needs of each stu- there is inequality in the workdent and their startup. Zhang plans force, citing the fact that Asians on hosting 10 teams with about two are the least likely minority to three students each to start. group to be promoted into management positions.

He “I really want to empower [my community] hopes that SpeakUp to speak up for their opinions and to be Ventures can help young heard.” entrepreneurs Jeffrey Zhang ’20 to overcome these inequities.

“I have decided to fund start“These barriers that serve ups that harness the power of to exclude Asians and Asian communities to address a partic- Americans from executive posiular need in the world or lever- tions cannot be explained by job age technology to empower the performance or qualifications,” Asian community,” Zhang said. Zhang said.

According to Zhang, his deciChendan Luo ’22, a project sion to start SpeakUp Ventures manager for SpeakUp Ventures came in response to the recent this summer, found that the prorise in anti-Asian violence. The gram mission aligns with her valAtlanta shooting, which left ues of inclusivity and diversity.

Asian students and the AAPI “I’m an international student.

Sun Staff Writer

I’m female and I’m Asian,” Luo said. “I’m kind of like a minority in [various] aspects.”

Luo believes that SpeakUp Ventures can empower minorities from these kinds of intersectional backgrounds.

Tiffany Yu, a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, expressed her hope to be selected by SpeakUp Ventures and develop her company Modem. The startup provides free telehealth services for Asian Americans.

“Our mission is to improve mental health and wellness in the Asian American community by creating engaging content on these topics and [increase] access to Asian American care providers,” Yu said.

Warren Wang, a student at the University of Kansas, hopes that applying for SpeakUp’s program will guide him to the successful creation and launch of a delivery-only food court project.

He aims to build an application that could handle the logistics and operations of running a restaurant for aspiring Asian immigrant cooks.

“What I look forward to most with SpeakUp Ventures is the community and network that will be formed,” Wang wrote to

The Sun. “I believe that finding a great community made up of mentors and peers that could relate to you and understand the problems you are facing is very important for long term success.”

Zhang is self-funding the first cohort of SpeakUp Ventures and plans on funding future cohorts by raising a venture fund and through a GoFundMe Campaign.

He hopes SpeakUp Ventures can serve to inspire future Asian leaders to speak out against inequality and spark change.

“I really want to empower [my community] to speak up for their opinions and to be heard,” Zhang said.

Anthony Chen can be reached at achen@cornellsun.com.

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4 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021

News

With 3,394 Votes, Election Turnout Up 33 Percent ELECTIONS

Continued from page 1

historically low turnout, with only 16.85 percent of eligible voters participating. This year, 3,394 of the 14,358 eligible voters, or 23.63 percent turned out to vote.

The increase in turnout marked a success for Mehler’s first stint as elections director, who introduced several new strategies for voter outreach.

“I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to run S.A.’s elections and extremely proud of the 33 percent increased voter turnout that we saw,” Mehler wrote.

Ononye had previously served on the S.A. as the Undergraduate Student Advocate. She ran a campaign on improving the S.A.’s transparency, increasing financial accessibility by establishing an SA committee for student financial support and expanding COVIDrelated accommodations like the S/U Option.

Xu has been on the S.A.

for three years and previously served as Vice President of Internal Operations. Her campaign emphasized issues of student mental health, improving accessibility to clubs and career resources and organizing more community events.

Before the Elections Committee confirmed the presidential results, Ononye expressed that campaigning was the most rewarding part of her Cornell experience.

“I am so thankful for the amazing opportunity to serve as Cornell’s next S.A. president,” Ononye wrote in a statement to The Sun. “Throughout this journey, I have had the amazing opportunity to meet with and engage with so many members of our campus community. I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve and amplify students’ voices on our campus in all the work that I do.”

Surita Basu can be reached at sbasu@cornellsun.com.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 Working on today’s sun ad layout opinion desker managing desker news deskers production desker design deskers photo desker dining desker

Pico Ross ’22 Odeya Rosenband ’22 Anil Oza ’22 Vee Cipperman ’23 Surita Basu ’23 Sabrina Xie ’21 Sofia van Mierlo ’24 Niko Nguyen ’24 Kristen D’Souza ’24 Hannah Rosenberg ’23 Benjamin Velani ’22

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021 5

News

New English Major Requirements to Come Fall 2022

The Department of Literatures in English continues with efforts to decolonize the discipline ENGLISH

Continued from page 1

peer institutions.

“While the freedom for students is nice,” Levine said, “It could also be a liability when it comes to the question of race. When students seek famous authors without realizing the rich literary tradition of places like Caribbean, for example, it compounds the status quo.”

Levine says the intention of the new requirements is not to limit students, but to offer them guidance in a wide variety of literary areas.

Following President Martha Pollack’s call to think about anti-racism in the wake of protests last summer,

“Are we learning for the sake of learning or are we learning for the sake of production and grades?”

Tomás Daniel Chávez Reuning ’21 Levine reported feeling great urgency to take action and convened a faculty committee.

Levine explained that while it is not common for departments to thoroughly overhaul a major, the committee was not working blindly. Levine herself has been through the process at two other institutions, including joining a similar project to update the English major at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Prof. Mukoma Wa Ngugi, literatures in English, was also an instrumental influence in transforming the major.

His father, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, spearheaded a similar movement of decolonization at Nairobi University in the 1960s, where he challenged the English department’s practice of teaching British literature within an African

country. hold those identities themselves and are already aware of In addition to being personal, the question of restruc- many of the issues discussed in those works.

“The people who need to take these classes aren’t in turing the major was also a matter of making the major them, meanwhile we are all required to take the pre-1800s relevant for modern scholars for Ngugi.

“There is the philosophical dimension of decoloni- courses,” he said.

To Reuning, decolonizing means asking, “Are we zation, and there is also the pragmatics of times we are learning for the sake of learning, or are living in and what they are demanding,” we learning for the sake of production Ngugi said. “We want students who are “There is also the and grades?” truly aware of their fields, ones that we Jenna Fields ’23 said the nature of ourselves would hire now.” pragmatics of times we class discussion often depends more on While faculty poses a large shift to are living in and what the professor than the purported subthe major, Ngugi expressed that it is not radical, but rather catching up to the ject matter. In her experience, students they are demanding.” world as it is. will often take courses that are “name Prof. Mukoma Wa Ngugi Prof. Kate McCoullugh, literatures brand” and deal with the works of in English, the department’s director already renowned writers. of undergraduate studies, expressed her Fields has taken classes on Virgina opinion that the change was long overdue. As someone Woolf, Beowulf and pre-1850s literature. She has found whose work already deals with multi-racial and multi-eth- that the professors have made a conscious effort within nic subject matter, she stated that this would help the each of these traditional courses to read critiques of the department produce more well-rounded students profi- author, discuss their controversies and unscore the ties to white supremacy evident in some of these texts. cient in a variety of literary customs.

As an English and Computer Science double major, “The requirements for a major send a symbolic message to the students about what’s important to know or Fields said she had a great appreciation for the flexibility who’s important to read,” McCoullugh said. “It was my of the major compared to the rigid track of computer opinion that the message we were sending was out of date science, though she, like Levine, feels that if the goal is to encourage a more diverse understanding of literature, the and was wrong.”

McCoullugh sees the requirement change as an change is constructive.

In the process of reworking the major, Levine has important step forward, allowing Cornell to highlight lesser known authors and avoid privileging a single group. already learned a lot from her colleagues, particularly as a Tomás Daniel Chávez Reuning ’21, an English major, white person who had a very traditional literary education. echoed McCullough’s sentiment that the changes should Levine was a comparative literature major at Princeton University, where she did not read a single writer of color. have taken place years ago.

“I’ve had a lot to unlearn and am still very much As a Latinx Studies minor, Reuning stated that the Black and Latinx focused courses he has taken are attend- unlearning it,” she said. ed primarily by students with concentrations in those fields. In Reuning’s experience these students also tend to Mayanka Dhingra can be reached at md753@cornell.edu.

Phillip Zukowski ’23 Remembered As ‘Always Smiling’ ZUKOWSKI

and was instantly there whenever I needed him,” he wrote to The Sun. “He truly exemplified the spirit of brotherhood and before switching to computer and information sciences connection, always taking the time to make sure everyone by the time he applied to college, following the footsteps was included and having fun,” Bodenman continued. of his brother.

“He was everything you could want in a friend, and I am Zukowski and Singh were planning to use Zukowski’s forever proud and honored to call him my brother.” computer science skills to create an app that would direct Bodenman spoke about how Zukowski made every mental health resources to people that needed them. effort to help other brothers feel cared for and looked “He knew he can have such an impact on the lives of after, from cooking for the brothers to making sure they other people. He is definitely the most caring and gentle got home safely from the fraternity house. person you’ll ever meet. He’s like a gentle giant,” Singh “Late at night, he’d spend hours in the kitchen making said, referencing how he, at 6 foot 2 inches, stood a foot quesadillas for anyone and everyone that wanted one,” taller than her.

Bodenman wrote. “Phillip cared deeply about each and “You will look at him and he might be a little bit terri- every one of us, evident in the unique compassion and fied. But the second he smiles and the second you see like selflessness that defined him.” his blue eyes twinkle and you will literally fall in love,” Luke Pichini ’22, a brother and Sun sports editor, Singh remembered. called him a “beacon of light”; Dominic Olah ’23, anothSingh also called him a quick learner, someone who er brother said Zukowski made him feel comfortable and could pick things up easily — but who maintained humil- open. ity through his successes.

“When it came to Phillip, his warm and caring nature “Even if Phillip was really good at something, he allowed me to instantly relax and feel so secure that I was would help the people around him with just genuine able to easily open up to him,” said Olah, who pledged empathy and kindness,” said Tess Kichuk, his brother’s with Zukowski. “Being able to confide in him was so girlfriend. comforting and made me feel like he helped to lift the Kichuk further spoke about weight of the world off my shoulders, and Zukowski’s ingenuity, calling back to I don’t think there are many people out “He would make sure there besides Phillip with a superpower when Zukowski, at the age of 12, told her that he was writing a book. like that.” others were “What 12 year old do I know who’s Prof. Neema Kudva, city and regional helped first.” actually writing a book?” Kichuk said. planning, the House Professor Dean at “That really shows what a creative and Becker, wrote to The Sun that in the spring, Matt Zukowski interesting person Phillip was to talk Zukowski had continued connecting with to — he just had a whole world in his his floormates and was excited about his brain, that if you chatted with him you time at Cornell. In a conversation with got glimpses of.” his graduate resident fellow, Kudva wrote, Zukowski carried his passion for helping others and his Zukowski talked about how happy he was to have gone wit to Cornell, even as he transitioned to campus during home for spring break and to declare his major. an online semester. According to Singh, Zukowski was A lover of puns and with an infectious laugh, Zukowski struggling to adjust to a new University through online knew how to bring joy to others — from Iowa to New clubs and classes as a sophomore transfer student.

York. His friends at Grinnell College specifically rememBut as Zukowski joined the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, ber his sense of humor and friendliness. he found fast friends and offered comfort to brothers “When I picture him in my mind, he is always smiling, who had arrived at a new campus in that same pandemic always laughing,” Julia Tlapa, a friend from Grinnell, isolation. wrote on his memorial. “He was so funny, too — even if William Bodenman ’23, a Phi Kappa Tau fraternity Phillip was making fun of you, you could tell by his eyes brother and a Sun assistant sports editor, said Zukowski that he was laughing with you, and never at you.” cared deeply about his brothers and gave him comfort as Eric Sauer, another Grinnell friend, described Phillip’s a fellow transfer student: “he made me feel a lot less alone selflessness, remembering a trip with Zukowski to the Continued from page 1

opera. Zukowski was skeptical of the experience, Sauer wrote, but he gave it a chance because it was one of Sauer’s favorite things.

Apart from his friends, Zukowski was close with his family, many of whom lived in Poland. But he was especially close with his brother even despite their nineyear age gap — bonding over the video game League of Legends, with Cloud9 being Phillip’s favorite team. (He was best at Diana.) Playing four or five nights a week for several hours at a time, the brothers got to bond over voice chat and the many “‘best brother’ mugs” Phillip bought Matt.

“He was everything you could want in a friend and I am forever proud and honored to call him my brother.”

William Bodenman ’23 Zukowski also adored his brother’s dog, Remus, wanting to decorate his dorm room with his favorite pictures of Remus. While the photos never made it on the wall, Matt created the collage to remember his brother..

According to Singh, Zukowski was not afraid to show his affection for his family and often put them first, even before himself.

“His mom is a teacher and sometimes she would have lesson plans. Phillip would just stop whatever he was doing, and just proofread them for his mom. He even did that for her master’s thesis,” Singh said. “He was that person that you can always come to.”

Zukowski also showed up for his loved ones in small gestures — making quesadillas and walking people home.

His brother recalled that one of the last things Zukowski said to him was out of concern for strange side-effects his brother was experiencing from the COVID vaccine.

“He texted me and he was like, ‘Hey, please let me know how your test results come back. Let me know you are OK,” his brother said. “I never once heard him complain … He would make sure others were helped first.”

In lieu of flowers, family and loved ones ask for people to bring a stuffed animal, something Zukowski loved, to his funeral or donate to the Teddy Bear Brigade.

John Yoon can be reached at johnyoon@cornellsun.com.

Madeline Rosenberg can be reached at mrosenberg@cornellsun.com.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021

Dining Guide

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Dining Guide

Your source for good food

Jump on the Trend, Take a Friend to Ren’s!

PHOTOS BY MARGARET CHAN / SUN STAFF WRITER

By MARGARET CHAN Sun Staff Writer

I

f you’ve ever been inside an Asian supermarket, you’ll recognize that distinct smell that hits your nose right as you walk in the doors. It’s the combination of freshly butchered fish laying on ice at the seafood counter, and the lingering smell of cleaning supplies on the linoleum floor. While slightly pungent, that smell brings a certain sense of familiarity to my mind. It reminds me of the days I used to run through the snack aisle of 99 Ranch Market (the West coast version of H Mart) with my brother when we were young. That was the exact smell

that hit my nose after walking into Ren’s Mart last winter.

Ren’s Mart is an Asian grocery store that opened in Ithaca last November. Located at the far end of Buffalo Street past the commons, Ren’s is a family business operated by father Rockey Ren and daughter Aneara Ren. The Ithaca location is the fourth store that owners Rockey Ren and partner Qing Li have opened in upstate New York, with other locations in Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo (under the name Asia Food Market).

There were a number of reasons the group decided to expand to Ithaca, but store manager and nephew of the owner Jian Li highlighted a customer WeChat

group advocating for this location. Li explained that Asia Food Market customers who lived in Ithaca had to travel to Rochester or Syracuse to find the specific items they were looking for, so they requested that a market be opened in Ithaca.

Ren’s Mart offers a selection of fresh produce, meats and other Asian foods that are hard to find elsewhere. The store also boasts a seafood counter with both live fish swimming in tanks and freshly butchered fish on ice which you can purchase whole.

In addition, the store owners are currently in the process of obtaining a cooked food licence to open a deli section where they would serve roast duck and other

ready-to-eat dishes.

Li is especially proud of the fish counter and said, “You don’t really see fresh fish in other markets.” In other nearby grocery stores, it’s uncommon to find whole fish to purchase.

Steamed whole fish with ginger, scallions and soy sauce is a popular Chinese dish peticularly during holidays, and in the week leading up to Lunar New Year I witnessed many people buying whole sea bass at Ren’s.

Ren’s Mart is a welcome addition to the Ithaca grocery scene because it provides accessibility to Asian ingredients that cannot be found at other grocery stores in the area. “Ren’s is great because it carries cuts that aren’t popular in American cuisine like pig trotters and pork blood,” said Ernest Li ’22.

Particularly for students of Asian descent, Ren’s allows them to cook the dishes they grew up eating but cannot make themselves in Ithaca. “Especially with COVID, when it’s harder to go back and visit, it’s nice to have somewhere where I can pretty much get all of the things I need to cook up stuff like my mom would make at home,” said Brad Phelps ’22.

Additionally, Ren’s gives Asian and Asian-American students, such as Robin Zheng ’22, the chance to introduce cultural foods to their friends. “Ren’s is cool since I can show people that didn’t grow up in Asian communities some of the things I grew up having,” Zheng said.

Emma Goldenthal ’22 was one of those people who was brought to Ren’s by a friend.

“I haven’t been to many Asian supermarkets before, and I was really blown away by all of the different choices,” said

Goldenthal. “Had I not been with my friend, I might have felt a bit out of place, but as we walked the aisles together

For students of Asian descent, Ren’s allows them to cook dishes they grew up on. in search of the perfect lo mein noodles, I felt like I was embarking on a wonderful culinary adventure.”

Hopefully, Ren’s Mart will be around for a long time to make Asian foods more accessible to all of Ithaca. Manager Jian Li added, “Thank you all for supporting us! We are still working on providing the best in all aspects for our customers.”

Margaret Chan is a junior in the College of Engineering. She can be reached at myc39@cornell.edu.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021 7

Opinion

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880

Money and Business Board

139th Editorial Board

Editor in Chief

ANUSHYA ALANDUR ’23

JOHNATHAN STIMPSON ’21

CATHERINE ST. HILAIRE ’22

PRANAV KENGERI ’24

MEGHNA MAHARISHI ’22 Assistant Managing Edito3

ANIL OZA ’22

Assistant Managing Editor

ODEYA ROSENBAND ’22

NIKO NGUYEN ’22

JYOTHSNA BOLLEDDULA ’24

OLIVIA CIPPERMAN ’23

AMBER KRISCH ’21

NOOREJEHAN UMAR ’23

WENDY WANG ’24

BENJAMIN VELANI ’22

KRISTEN D’SOUZA ’24

BENJAMIN VELANI ’22

CAROLINE JOHNSON ’22

LUKE PICHINI ’22

OMSALAMA AYOUB ’22

JASON HUANG ’21

PUJA OAK ’24

MARIA MENDOZA BLANCO ’24

CATALINA PEÑÉÑORY ’20

AMAYA ARANDA ’23

KATHERINE WANG ’24

LUKE PICHINI ’22

MIHIKA BADJATE ’23

SURITA BASU ’23

BRIAN LU ’23

KAYLA RIGGS ’24

JOHN COLIE ’23

LEI ANNE RABEJE ’22

AMELIA CLUTE ’22

JULIA NAGEL ’24

ARI DUBOW ’21

LIAM MONAHAN ’24

AARON SNYDER ’23

ANNABEL LI ’20

MEGHANA SRIVASTAVA ’23

Managing Editor

Advertising Manager Opinion Editor

News Editor

Dining Editor

Dining Editor

Multimedia Editor

Assistant News Editor

Assistant Sports Editor

Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor Layout Editor

Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor

Assistant Sports Editor

Assistant Money and Business Editor

Assistant Sports Editor

Compet Manager

NOAH ALPERS ’22

RAPHY GENDLER ’21

CAROLINE JOHNSON ’22

NIKO NGUYEN ’22

JEREMY MARKUS ’21

EMMA PLOWE ’24

Senior Editor

Social Media Manager

Senior Editor

Senior Editor

Senior Editor

Isabella Wu '23 Christopher Kim ’24 Jocelyn Park ’24

Board of Directors Sam Roberts ’68 Mark Underberg ’77 Brad Edmondson ’81 Michael Morisy ’07

Kathryn Stamm ’22 Anushya Alandur ’23 Madeline Rosenberg ’23

Catherine St. Hilaire ’22 Pranav Kengeri ’24 Naomi Koh ’23

Assistant News Editor

Assistant Dining Editor

City Editor

Assistant Photography Editor

Sadman Chowdhury ’23 Brian Chu ’23 Christian Donovan ’23

Lily MacCormick ’21 Eleanor Goh ’22 Alan Jiang '22 Radha Patel ’22

Layout Editor

Assistant News Editor

Assistant Business Manager

Web Board

Sports Editor

Web Editor

Graphics Editor

Zan Iqubal ’23 Andie Kim ’23

Design Editor

News Editor

Science Editor

Assistant News Editor

News Editor

Blogs Editor

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Lourdes Garcia ’22 Quianyue Yang ’22

Ashley Whitley ’21 Adam Wang ’22 Jenny Huang ’22

Associate Editor

Design Editor

News Editor

Emily Park ’23 Brendan Klein ’24

Multimedia Board

KATHRYN STAMM ’22 Business Manager

Joshua Herz ’22 Ruthie Covo ’22

Alessandro Marchesani ’21 Angela Demaral ’21 Emma DiGiovanni ’21

Current Cornell Sun & Sun Alumni Association Employees & Contractors Sun Business Office Sun Production Sun Delivery Sun Alumni Asso.

Senior Editor

NICOLE ZHU ’21

Amy Wilson, Office Manager S. K. List Robert Armstrong ’75 John Schroeder ’74, Alumni Advisor; Linda Holzbaur, Contractor

Senior Editor

Letter From the Editor News Board Amanda H. Cronin ’21 Ari Dubow ’21 Raphy Gendler ’21 Alec Giufurta ’21 Gabrielle Gonzalez ’21 Alex Hale ’21 Sean O’Connell ’21 Sarah Skinner ’21 Samantha Stern ’21 Johnathan Stimpson ’21

Esat Braveboy ’22 Catherine Chmiel ’22 Tal Dotan ’22 Onalee Duane ’22 Faith Fisher ’22 Milo Gringlas ’22 Hannah Kim ’22 Meghna Maharishi ’22 Cata Penenory ’22 Min Shin ’22

Robyn Bardmesser ’21 Michaela Bettez ’21 Peter Buonanno ’21 Canaan Delgado ’21 Darren Chang ’21

Paris Ghazi ’21 Pallavi Kenkare ’21 Kristi Lim ’21 AJ Stella ’21

Stephanie Tom ’22 Olivia Weinberg ’22 Tyler Wiesman ’22 Sydney Browne ’23 Anthony Chen ’23 Louis Chuang ’23 Sarika Kannan ’23 Roman Lahaye ’23 Sofia Loayza ’23

Giovanni Moreira ’23 Asha Patt ’23 Ainav Rabinowitz ’23 Maya Rader ’23 Simran Surtani ’23 Angela Bunay ’24 Katherine Esterl ’24 Ally Fertig ’24 Mira Harris ’24

Sara Javkhlan ’24 Charlie Mollin ’24 Spencer Nachman ’24 Eli Pallrand ’24 Andreas Psahos ’24 Sofia Rubinson ’24 Kelsey Xu ’24 Jiwon Estee Yi ’24 Sarah Young ’24

Emma Smith ’22 Daniel Bernstein ’23 Jonna Chen ’23 Roei Dery ’23

Joshua Dov Epstein ’23 Brendan Kempff ’23 Katherine Yao ’23 Weifang Yang grad

Maddy Remington ’23 Adesewa Carlton ’24 Ayesha Chari ’24 Lauren Douglass ’24 Nihar Hegde ’24

Matthew Kassorla ’24 Katie Lee ’24 Isabelle Pappas ’24 Max Roitman ’24 Amy Wang ’24

Mitch Hoy ’22 Monica Kim ’23

Alyson Wong ’23 Grayson Ruhl ’24

David Dayan ’23 Brooke Greenfield ’24

William Cox ’24 Kobi Rassnick ’24

Opinion Board Aminah Taariq-Sidibe ’21 Andrew Lorenzen ’22 Anuli Ononye ’22 Matthew Samilow ’22

Arts Board Zachary Lee ’20 Jessica Lussier ’21 Shriya Perati ’21 Ramya Yandava ’21 Kayla Bouazouni ’22 Tyler Brown ’22

Cecilia Lu ’22 Nkemdiim Obodo ’22 Stephen Yang ’22 Mira Kudva Driskell ’23 Julia Haberfield ’23

Aditi Hukerikar ’23 Charlotte Mandy ’23 Christina Ochoa ’23 Megan Pontin ’23 Ashley Ramynke ’23

Sports Board Christina Bulkeley ’21 Raphy Gendler ’21

Mike Seitz ’21 Faith Fisher ’22

Justin Suzzan ’22 Ken Choi ’22

Pressing Pause IT’S BEEN A SEMESTER. It’s hard to say much more, reflecting on the overwhelming grief our community has faced during this unrelenting time. These past few months, Sun staff have been hard at work — trying to preserve our mission of fair and accurate independent student journalism, to keep up with classes and to survive.

So, for the next two weeks, The Sun will begin a brief break in publication while we trudge through the home stretch of final exams, papers and projects at the edge of summer. Trading Slack notifications and reporting the news for plans home and packing our belongings for just a moment, we will allow ourselves to catch up on sleep and readings.

My personal hope — for both our staff and for you, our readers — is for pause. In a semester where breaks have been few and far between, I hope you take at least a moment to bask in the early summer sun, to congratulate yourself for making it through and to celebrate with yours.

Through uncertainty and looming futures, try to enjoy the last days of this semester — historic, unprecedented and ours.

Despite this finals period break, there’s no need to fret. The Sun will continue a reduced publication schedule starting May 26. We will continue to look into the unknown together with a promise to provide you the news through it. And we look forward to learning and growing along the way.

Keep in touch, don’t be a stranger and have a great summer. We’ll see you soon.

— K.S.

Science Board Aliva Das ’22 Feifei Hu ’21

Natalie Monticello ’21 Sydney Oraskovich ’21

Milena Bimpong ’22 Jessica Dai ’23

Photography Board Jing Jiang ’21 Boris Tsang ’21

Yisu Zheng ’21 Haonan Peng ’22

Harry Dang ’22 Michelle Yang ’22

Lev Katreczko ’23 Winnie Yi Chow ’23

Zoe Yang grad Michael Suguitan grad

Isabelle Pappas ’24

Lauren Aubert ’24

Rae Specht ’23 Yvie Cai ’24 Clare Della Valle ’24 Sadie Groberg ’24 Nick Hoge ’24

Grace Kim ’24 Ally Mark ’24 Andrea Miramontes Serrano ’24 Suzanna Moustafa ’24

Jenny Huang ’22 Mei Ou ’22 Lei Anne Rabeje ’22 Pico Ross ’22

Sophia van Mierlo ’23 Ella Benjamin ’24 Alexandra Kim ’24 Mariana Meriles ’24

Blogs Board Livia Caligor ’21 Ella Schwartz ’23

Katriana Galloway ’23 Dylan McIntyre ’24

Harry Ducrepin ’24

JULIA NAGEL / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Dining Board Brianna Johnson ’21 Ruth Park ’21 Katie Zhang ’21 Margaret Chan ’22 Peter Kaplinsky ’22 Dominic Law ’22

Meridien Mach ’22 Melanie Metz ’22 Sofia Siciliani ’22 Olivia Smith ’22 Isha Vaish ’22 Jack Waxman ’22

Sarah Austin ’23 Natasha Aysseh ’23 Brooke Jaffe ’23 Sanjana Kaicker ’23 Julia Lescht ’23 Gabe Schiffer ’23

Design Board Camilla Bacolod ’21 Dana Chan ’21 Yoo Jin Bae ’21 Elizabeth Klosky ’21

Priya Malla ’21 Ben Mayer ’21 Tanushri Shah ’21 Sarah Skinner ’21

Alicia Wang ’21 Sabrina Xie ’21 Claire Chen ’22 Emily Jacobsson ’22

BENJAMIN PARKER / SUN SENIOR EDITOR

139 West State Street | The 139th Editorial Board has continued to turn out print papers twice weekly throughout the spring semester.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021 9

Opinion

Loving Cornell Properly

Pallavi Kenkare Jabberwocky Pallavi Kenkare is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She served as the opinion editor on the 138th editorial board and can be reached at pkenkare@cornellsun.com. This is the final installment of her column Jabberwocky.

E

veryone always says Cornell isn’t the place, it’s the people. Maybe this is naive, but it’s not like that for me. I know that I will take the people I’ve met here with me wherever I go (and if you think you know better, that bonds grow weak and memories fade, please don’t tell me.) My brilliant roommates, my dazzling best friends and my beloved coworkers will stay with me. So, for me, what I’m really saying goodbye to is the place.

Confession: I didn’t love Cornell the first time I visited. I was an angsty 17-year-old, leaving mid-eighties weather in Georgia to land in chilly, low-fifties Ithaca.

I refused to take the campus tour with my parents and somehow got lost on the slope, walking up and down and around until I exhausted myself.

I redeemed myself, though. By the end of O-week, I fell in love with it here — and when you know, you know. I walked an average of seven miles a day that

August, exploring every bit of campus my legs would take me to. I visited Sunset Park, climbed up the highest tower of the Law School and hiked Buttermilk Falls. I came to adore my nook in Clara Dickson Hall, met the girls who are my roommates and best friends to this day and, when it came time to move out, wept to Harry Hudsons’s “Yellow Lights” through the last week (’til the boy across the hall threatened to throw my speaker out the window).

Maybe it’s silly to think that four years of swimming in First Dam and standing on the roof of Kennedy Hall and photosynthesizing on the slope — and yes, swotting in Baker 200 and crying in the cocktail lounge and working so hard to justify reveling in the good parts — is what it means to love Cornell properly, but maybe that’s the point. Maybe the point is for each of us to graduate thinking, this is the right way, the only way, to have spent the past four years.

I am thankful for the runs I’ve taken, across waterfalls, along the Arts Quad and towards a triumphantly ringing clocktower. I am thankful for the summers I gloried in and the winters I marveled at and the temperamental springs. I am thankful for the lessons learned, for the snow falls survived, even for that one year that did not once pull its punches. I am thankful for the people I’ve met, the professors who have taught me, the fairy tale buildings I’ve studied in, the knowledge I’ve gained and the millions of moments I’ve spent laughing on this treacherous hill.

I am thankful for The Cornell Daily Sun, which is the reason I am able to write this article at all, and easily the most worthwhile thing I’ve done at Cornell — a responsibility that has humbled me, lifted me up and introduced me to men and women who are so much more at the ripe old age of 21 than I will ever be. When the beginning waves of a pandemic had just begun to break on Ithaca’s shores, my incredible editor in chief texted me a senior’s guest submission that I really should look at; as I edited it, and many times again throughout that year, I decided that working at The Sun, gleaning insight into the joys and woes and

Maybe it’s silly to think that four years of swimming in First Dam ... is what it means to love Cornell properly, but maybe that’s the point. Maybe the point is for each of us to graduate thinking, this is the right way, the only way, to have spent the past four years. ideas of Cornellians from all over campus, was the only way to love Cornell properly. Finally, I can say to all the people on Facebook who commented, “Who would publish this piece of garbage?” Hi! Yes, it’s me!

This is what I will graduate feeling, and what I wish for all of you.

So, to quote the immortal lines of Sarah Park ’20, whose grad column I was lucky enough to edit a year ago, “I hope you found a home here. I hope you found places in Ithaca that feel like magic. I hope you found people who make Cornell feel like a love story. I hope you found something or someone who made it hard to say goodbye to this desolate little icy town upon a hill in the middle of nowhere. I hope you fell in love with the person you became here.”

Because I did, and I hope you do too. As I sit typing in my slanty-walled little apartment in Collegetown, all I can think is, in the words of A.A. Milne, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Ithaca Is Gorges: In Bagels, in Invites, In Laughter, in Tears

Amanda H. Cronin Guest Room Amanda Cronin is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She served as a news editor on the 136th editorial board and as a senior editor on the 137th editorial board.

I

first fell in love with Cornell at age ten. On a weekend visit, we did all the quintessential 161 list things: hockey game at Lynah, breakfast at CTB, walking the waterfalls, ice cream at the Dairy Bar. I was enchanted by the scenery and the campus culture, and my enchantment was enhanced by the many legends my mom (Class of ’87) shared with me. Cornell became my dictionary definition for “college.” It’s image was inflated like a parade balloon.

So come senior year of high school, despite touring dozens of other schools, I knew I already belonged to one place. I cried when I was accepted, ecstatic at the prospect of freedom to explore my multitude of interests.

This honeymoon came to a painful halt

once I actually began classes here. I failed my first test. I hated and subsequently dropped a class. As the calendar pages flipped, I changed majors and friends.

Experienced more existential crises and breakdowns than necessary (even for a dramatic 20-something). I felt both lost and completely at home. Yes, I crossed breathtaking gorges on my way to class. Yes, I was (mostly) healthy and happy. But the bubble was popped; the system was broken, college wasn’t quite the movie montage I had hoped it would be.

My personal revelation was echoed on a national scale; our country was also experiencing an identity crisis. After spending my pre-college years fighting for climate change policy reform and witnessing the victory of the Paris Climate Accord, a dumb despotic leader took the reins and dashed any (perhaps naïve) dreams of environmental salvation. Witnessing the actions of Trump’s administration revealed that democracy wasn’t some gleaming, infallible institution, but a ramshackle patchwork held together with crumbling bricks. If nothing else, my education here has revealed to me that the systems I once blindly trusted are really corroded and dysfunctional.

Making up to corruption and inequity is unsettling, but it’s also part of growth. I am privileged to have had my reverie shattered this way later in life. During our four years here, the class of 2021 has collectively witnessed a rollercoaster of unprecedented, challenging events locally and nationally.

In response, we advocated for change. In some areas we took steps forward, in others, we took two (or three) steps back.

Despite these setbacks, being part of this inspiring Cornell community renewed my optimism that the corrosion can be

remediated and function can be restored. I still believe in the power of individual and collective agency. During my time on campus, I tried to chip away at these issues in my own way, through policy change advocacy, political campaign organizing and voter outreach. I had the opportunity to represent New York district 23 as a delegate on the local ballot. And when Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54, one of Cornell’s biggest heroes, fell, I helped celebrate her legacy in a campus-wide ceremony. Honoring her life was one of the greatest honors of my life.

My optimism about college was also renewed. It was renewed by venturing beyond the confines of campus and my own mind. I discovered the Black Diamond Trail through running half-marathons, Edwards Lake Cliffs Preserve through biking, Cayuga Lake through kayaking (and wine drinking). I auditioned for The Vagina Monologues on a whim and ended up onstage chanting “clitoris” 20 times to 1,000 people. I drove across upstate New York to talk with voters about their political malaise. Local farmers taught me about the wonders of hemp, inspired me to learn more and ultimately write a 70-page thesis.

As a freshman at The Sun, I was entrusted to write news articles about campus events and given acronin@cornellsun.com.

As a sophomore, I was given a desk and welcomed to an ivy-covered building that would become my second home. And as a senior, I was given the opportunity to shape and contribute to our collective record of the historic events of the 2021 election.

The venture I cherish most wasn’t a crazy adventure or an intense interview, but a humble meal. My first semester, I accept-

ed a dinner invitation to my Intermediate Yoga professor’s house. It was the best RSVP I’ve ever made. His family helped me discover the true meaning of community. Over countless plates of squash, rice, vegetables and ambrosial desserts, I shared laughs and bumped elbows with fellow students and Ithacans young and old. This Friday macrobiotic, vegan meal ritual continues to this day and has been one of the most precious parts of my time here.

So what would I tell my younger, eager freshman year self? It’s hard. Harder than you expected. It’s not a straight or predictable path to the finish line. Your seasonal affective disorder will not serve you.

Balancing work and life is an impossible pursuit, and the weather is depressing for 75 percent of the year. But you are lucky to attend school in one of the most beautiful, vibrant, crunchy college towns in the country! You can find fulfillment if only you step out of your comfort zone, and say yes to dinner invites! The Commons is only 15 minutes away if you sprint down Buffalo Street! This place has so much to offer beyond academics! Oh, and no, you will not master latte art, but you will master mediocre barista-ing at your dream workplace — CTB! For these four years, there’s no place I would’ve rather grown than Ithaca. After listening to many tales of Cornell glory days gone by, I often wonder how I will remember and measure my trials, triumphs and adventures. Will it be in bagels, in slope sunsets, in midnight edits, in cups of coffee? In print pages, miles of hills walked, in laughter, in tears?

To continue reading this column, please visit cornellsun.com.

10 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday May 13, 2021

Opinion

‘Good Grief ’

Daniel Moran Guest Room Daniel Moran is graduating from the College of Human Ecology. He served as an assistant arts editor on the 137th and 138th editorial board.

I

n December 2019, I got a text from my cousin, Bill, out of the blue. We hadn’t talked in almost a year, but he read The Sun’s albums of the decade list, and like everyone else who read it, had a bone to pick with our ranking. It was probably fair; after all, Clairo

The more we talked ... the more I realized how much of his taste was passed down to me.

Growing up, I always sought an older brother figure, and I got that from Bill. I took his music taste, his hand-me-downs and later his love for writing.

was ranked above Kendrick Lamar, Barter 6 was above Channel Orange and Title Fight’s Hyperview made it instead of Floral Green. The more we talked about the list, though, the more I realized how much of his taste was passed down to me.

Growing up, I always sought an older brother figure, and I got that from Bill. I took his music taste, his hand-me-downs and later his love of writing. I spent Thanksgiving with him, and after debating Mac Miller’s discography for hours, I wrote my first article for The Sun (which was rejected by Pete which convinced me to compet for assistant Arts and Entertainment editor so that I could force it through). That conversation in 2019 came out of nowhere, and reminded me why I started writing in the first place.

He passed away later that night.

That conversation should’ve been the perfect closure, but it was so unexpected that I couldn’t handle it. His death hung over me for all of 2020. Suddenly The Sun, which was the most consistent part of my life since my sophomore year, was inseparable from grief. The joy I got from writing was gone, too. Despite that I kept with it and went through compet again because of the people around me — thank you Jeremy, Emma, Pete, Maryam and Amina. I don’t think any of you knew what was going on, but all of your positivity kept my head on straight.

My friend Raphy wrote in his senior column that “we are who we pretend to be.” For me, that meant pretending that there was nothing weighing on me, until I eventually believed it. Compet is a stressful enough process on its own, but I didn’t know any better besides faking as if there was nothing hanging over my head, but that did get me through it, back to loving editing and working with my dream team of writers. Fake it ‘til you make it, I guess.

This is the hardest thing I’ve ever written. I don’t want this final bit of closure. I don’t want to acknowledge that this final connection I have with my cousin is coming to an end. But The Sun gave me this last memory, and so many other memories over the last three years, and for that I am eternally grateful. While I am endlessly thankful, this column is not endless, so here’s a few thank you’s we could fit: Pete, Jeremy, Emma and Brian: I couldn’t have

This is the hardest thing I’ve ever written. I don’t want this final bit of closure. I don’t want to acknowledge that this final connection I have with my cousin is coming to an end. But The Sun gave me this last memory, and so many other memories over the last three years, and for that I am eternally grateful. picked a better team to work with if I tried.

Connor and Melat: Thank you for always going out of your way to read everything I wrote, no matter the relevance of the topic to you. There were so many times I felt like my writing was nothing more than screaming lukewarm takes into the void, but you two always kept that feeling in check.

Liv: I remember leaving our first date to write an article about Telfar and New York Fashion Week, which probably should’ve been a heads-up into the rest of our relationship. Thank you for dyeing my hair, and for everything else. I love you.

Pablo and Nick: Thank you for always pushing my creative limits and questioning what I’m capable of.

Working in the same spaces as you two always inspires me and gives me endless hope for the future.

Mom, Dad and Erin: Thank you for all the support forever. I wouldn’t have gotten to Cornell without you, and I certainly wouldn’t be graduating without you.

Danke Schön, Cornell

Sean O’Connell Guest Room Sean O’Connell is graduating from the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. He served as a news editor on the 138th editorial board.

O

verwhelmingly, other graduation column writers (bless them, all of them) will describe their goodbyes from Cornell as “bittersweet.” I respectfully disagree — I suffered. College transformed me from a bashful nervous wreck to a more self-assured nervous wreck; there’s few things you can really change in a person. A lot of this, you might be surprised to hear, revolved around talking. When you engage in a conversation, no matter how small the topic, you trade bits and pieces of your inner self as concessions for social activity; there is no interaction without at least some vulnerability exposed on both sides. I found this a profoundly painful undertaking, which is ironic because I have a giant mouth.

So how did someone as antisocial as I decide that college journalism was a fine way to spend the past three years? Writing gave me the opportunity to create a barrier

between a painful and often disappointing reality, and my own psyche. There’s so much information — superfluous or otherwise — jockeying for attention in one’s head at every moment, muddying any sense of inner peace or mental clarity. Writing let me take a second, a minute, an hour to gather my thoughts and consider the message of what I was creating. When I wrote for news, every word I added to the document was carefully considered, rejected, re-added and then edited once more for good measure. I didn’t have to add anything about myself; it was guiltless and amazing. What I did have was leeway to focus on how words, together, would convey the emotions collected over days of interviews. There’s nothing as self-affirming as looking to your fellow news editor, calling their attention to a less-than-imaginative lede on one of the stories we would be working on, and agreeing that “we can do better.”

By focusing on others’ stories I learned to tell my own. Vulnerability, accidentally spilled over in casual conversation, became less of a concern because I gained the ability to self-regulate on my own terms. News writing, then, begat my interest in other forms of writing, including personal essays and fiction, where I could pick and choose what parts of myself I added to the Google doc. I wrote a story about loneliness, another one about working long hours at the liquor store, and the best thing was that it never felt like a chore or like I was selling myself short. I still wrote for news, but now with an understanding of how each word, no matter how dispassionate, could evoke a choice emotion in The Sun’s readers.

A large part of this was the affirmation provided by my place at The Sun. I started as a staff writer, had my share of fluff pieces and Student Assembly gossip, slowly building up the confidence to keep writing

at least once a week. The “big stories” — revelations that could shake up campus — correspondingly emerged as I developed that sense of recognizing dissatisfaction that journalists need and novelists want. It’s really about listening to what people say and don’t say. I heard a one-off comment about Cornell’s code of conduct revisions from an administrator a full year before they were suggested; a friend spreading a rumor about a student contracting COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic; a union member’s pressed smile and refusal to talk at a Republicanled rally in the Commons.

Each of those moments was accompanied with a little voice in my head saying, “this is a story.” And most of the time I was right, especially as a little more exploration inevitably revealed controversy lying underneath a thin veneer of normalcy. It’s a rule that when people are pissed, you have a story — stories don’t exist if no one cares about them, and this includes the writers themselves. I suppose that would be my advice to students looking to cut their teeth at The Sun: always follow the emotions, but not just others’.

Trust what you see and hear, but also how you feel. At the end of the day, your readers won’t remember exactly what they read, only how and what they felt while reading it.

I spent the last few paragraphs talking about personal growth, so I’m folding and giving in to my desire to appreciate the people that have helped me get to where I am now (alive, mostly well, happy).

Maybe I was too harsh in casting aside the bittersweet emotions voiced by so many of my peers. Without heartbreak, without anguish, without redemption, I could never grow as a writer or as a person.

Emotion must work as a guide because what else is there to follow? Words lie. People lie.

Everything, at some point, will lie to you but your emotions won’t. It took me four long years to learn that, but I’m glad I did.

Just like Jay-Z and Kanye have done before me, I want to do a few shout outs to everyone that helped me get here. Thanks to the entirety of Brooklyn. Mama, te quiero mucho, Dad, I love you, all my sisters, you know the deal. Besos y abrazos para toda la familia en Buenos Aires!

Another shout out to the tenants, the banned, Space Fam, Cat, Sham, Oli, Caleb, David, anyone else that has offered a kind word in a bad time. Final thanks to all the professors that pushed me in the right direction — Zukovic, Green, Klein, for starters, but there’s more that I’m not mentioning. I wouldn’t be writing this column without all of you.

Emotion must work as a guide because what else is there to follow? Words lie. People lie.

Everything, at some point, will lie to you but your emotions won’t. It took me four long years to learn that, but I’m glad I did.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, May 13, 2021 11

Comics and Puzzles

Reflections #5

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Sports

THURSDAY MAY 13, 2021

12

Back in action | The men’s heavyweight rowing team participates in intercollegiate competition for the first time since 2019.

ELDON LINDSAY / CORNELL ATHLETICS

MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT ROWING

Men’s Heavyweight Rowing Brings Athletic Competition Back to Cornell

By LIAM MONAHAN Assistant Sports Editor

After over a year without athletic competition, the men’s heavyweight rowing team brought Cornell athletics back to Cayuga’s waters in a dominant performance against Marist and No. 17-ranked Hobart on May 8.

The varsity, second varsity and third varsity teams each took first in their respective regattas, sweeping the competition in front of the home crowd after not taking to the competition field since the fall of 2019. With the victory, the varsity team moved up to 15th in the latest Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association poll, which ranks college rowing programs across the country.

The stands, however, were not as packed as they were at the team’s MONIQUE HALL / SUN FILE PHOTO last outing. Cornell’s social distancing guidelines prohibited large gatherings Storied past | Cornell’s heavyweight has been strong, historically. The 2012 team featured above finished ranked No. 13 in the nation. on the shore, meaning friends, family, “At the beginning of this year we were told to expect an incredibly low chance of and fans were more spread out than past years.

As opposed to lining the shores to pre-pandemic levels, organizers set up des- racing, and as coxswains the responsibility falls on us to ensure that our teammates ignated seating and live streams of the races to accommodate social distancing are motivated,” Yuva Raju said. “So we were grateful for every opportunity we got to be at the boathouse or in Teagle, even if it was in small groups of 10.” regulations.

While the team was the first at Cornell to receive the long-awaited news that Even with smaller crowds, the prospect of being back in action was enough to they could return to competition, they were only given a week’s notice to become get the team excited to get on the water once more.

“The enthusiasm and regatta-ready. The crunched schedule, however, did not deter the members of the spirit wasn’t lost on any heavyweight rowing team. After months of preparation, they were finally ready to “As Cornell’s first sports competition us,” said Teevyah Yuva put their work to use and give it their all in the boat. since the pandemic began — we were of “It was an electrifying feeling for our coaches and teammates to be back on the Raju ’22, one of the team’s eager to take the race on by storm.” coxswains. “The energy was water doing what we love most,” Yuva Raju said. “This experience gave us the phenomenal and as Cornell’s opportunity to demonstrate through passion, determination, and teamwork we can Teevyah Yuva Raju ’22 first sports competition since overcome any barrier that stands in our way.”

With the rowing team’s dominant outing being the first athletic competition to the pandemic began - we were eager to take the race return, athletes see a glimmer of hope as they eye their seasons next year.

Still, easing back into old practices takes time. The most recent regatta showed on by storm.”

Despite holding practices since last year, many rowers held doubts about their that Cornell is still willing to get creative in the name of public safety and fan chance to compete during the 2020-21 academic year due to the Ivy League’s satisfaction. decision to cancel multiple athletic seasons — which took a toll on the team’s Liam Monahan can be reached at ljm294@cornell.edu. morale.