10-12-23 entire issue hi res

INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 140, No. 16

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023 n ITHACA, NEW YORK

News

Dining

Science

Weather

AgTech Business

Beyond Pumpkin Spice

Native Lawns

Partly Cloudy

A local agricultural company that produces livestock nutritional products was named a finalist in a NYS competition. | Page 3

With the fad of pumpkin spice diminishing, cafes are becoming more creative with their fall drinks. | Page 5

A natural areas project through the Cornell Botanic Gardens aims to increase lawn sustainability. | Page 8

HIGH: 63º LOW: 42º

Common Council Votes to Amend MOU With Cornell

By ERIC REILLY and SAM JOHNSTONE Sun News Editor and Sun Staff Writer

Ithaca’s Common Council amended the duration of Cornell and Mayor Laura Lewis’s proposed memorandum of understanding to 15 years from 20, decided in a 9-1 vote on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The decision was met with mixed emotions from the nearly 40 community members in attendance.

“They forced us to choose between eating a terrible deal, continuing to allow Cornell to starve the city and displace marginalized people for 15 more years, and raising taxes and firing public workers — consequences that will affect working class people first — taking food off their tables now,” said Alderperson Tiffany Kumar ’24 (D-Fourth Ward), who voted to approve the memorandum.

This perspective was shared by several members of the Common Council, including Alderperson Jorge DeFendini ’22 (D-Fourth Ward), who asserted that the University had all the leverage in their relationship with the city.

“We are in a hostage situation with Cornell University,” DeFendini said. “The fact of the matter is, we don't have the ability right now as a city to take on Cornell University with their tax exempt status and their army of lawyers.”

DeFendini ultimately voted to approve the modified memorandum.

Before the MOU was voted on, the Common Council also voted 9-1 to approve an amendment introduced by Alderperson Robert Cantelmo grad (D-Fifth Ward) to adjust the length of the new MOU to 15 years, with an expiration date set for June 30, 2039. The amendment will also oblige the city to “not commence or support litigation seeking a change in that [tax-exempt] status.”

The Common Council also unanimously voted to approve two amendments — one which will include Ithaca’s city manager position in Cornell’s sitting working group, and one which will require Cornell to make their first payment under the new MOU no later than July 15, 2023.

The Common Council also voted against a proposed amendment introduced by Alderperson Cynthia Brock (D–Fourth Ward) to increase annual payments from Cornell to the city to include a two percent yearly increase on top of the inflation-adjusted $4 million for a shorter overall duration of seven years beginning in 2023. The amendment was voted down 8-2, with opponents fearing it would make the MOU unapprovable by Cornell.

Brock was the sole member of the Common Council who voted not to approve the amended MOU. See MOU page 3

BRAD J. VEST/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Charles Feeney '56, founder of Duty Free Shoppers, donated $8 billion over the course of his life, including $1 billion to the University, with the majority of donations made anonymously.

Charles Feeney '56 Dies at 92, Leaves Behind Legacy of Giving

By GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun News Editor

Charles “Chuck” Feeney ’56, a renowned businessman, Cornell alumnus, father, friend and, notably, the University’s most generous donor — died in San Francisco on Monday, Oct. 9, leaving a legacy of philanthropy and — as those who worked closely with him recall — kindness and humility. He was 92.

Feeney’s legacy both at the University and around the world is marked by his altruistic philanthropy. Known as the ‘James Bond of philanthropy,’ Feeney made a name for himself by giving $8 billion to charity — including $1 billion to Cornell — during his lifetime, much of which came in the form of anonymous donations.

Feeney was born on April 23, 1931 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and studied at the School of Hotel Administration.

While at Cornell, Feeney self-started a sandwich business at sports games and in student residence halls. Although

Sun Assistant News Editor

Back-and-forth | In light of an amended MOU, it is now up to the Cornell Board of Trustees to approve the $4 million PILOT contributions.

See FEENEY page 4

Stutzman '04 Secures WGA Deal

By MARIAN CABALLO

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

initially created to cover his remaining academic expenses, the on-campus food service was popular among students, generating great success for Feeney. His continued endeavor landed him the nickname “Sandwich Man.” Feeney’s philanthropic nature also assisted the University long before Atlantic Philanthropies — a private foundation created by Feeney — was founded. For his class’s 25th reunion, he helped raise about $2 million — $1 million above their goal.

After graduating in 1956, Feeney moved to Barcelona.

While there, he partnered with fellow hotel school alumnus Robert Warren Miller ’55 to form Duty Free Shoppers, a business selling duty-free luxuries to travelers.

Duty Free Shoppers — now the DFS Group — grew into a global enterprise, with shops in airports and major cities across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Feeney amassed most of his wealth from the success of this partnership.

School of Industrial and Labor Relations alumna Ellen Stutzman ’04 was taken by surprise when she received the call to serve as chief negotiator for the Writers Guild of America in February. But nearly nine months and a 148-day strike later, Stutzman and the 11,500 screenwriters in the union walked away with protections from artificial intelligence, staffing minimums in writers’ rooms and subscription-based bonuses, among other significant gains following negotiations with the once-unyielding Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. An overwhelming 99 percent of the WGA voted to ratify the contract on Oct. 9. “[I am feeling] an intense amount of pride for what writers were willing to do… I’m pretty much

in awe of that,” Stutzman said, having made several appearances at the picket lines. “I feel like this is a really important year in the labor movement.”

Stutuzman graduated from ILR in 2004 and began working as a research analyst at SEIUUHW, a health care workers’ union, before working numerous roles at WGA. Over the years, the WGA has had major wins in support of writers’ rights through the 2007 writers’ strike, disputes with top talent agencies and other movements in support of pension and health funds.

“It was just a lot of responsibility, knowing we had a big agenda. We needed to make real important gains,” Stutzman said. “[I felt] an even greater weight because people have walked off the job.

They’re putting their careers and their future in the business on the negotiating committee, myself and the staff that has to bring the deal in.”

See WGA page 4

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023

Daybook

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Today The Global State of Women in 2023 Noon - 1:15 p.m., 423 King-Shaw Hall “Psychosocial Influences on Health in Older Adulthood: A Coordinated Data Approach” Noon - 1:15 p.m., 1219 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall

Tomorrow Center for Hospitality Research: 14th Annual Virtual Sustainability Roundtable 9 a.m. - Noon, Virtual Event Encountering Agrippa d’Aubigné 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., A.D. White House, Guerlac Room India Conference 2023: India’s Economy in a Changing Global Landscape 9 a.m. - 5:45 p.m., 229 and 423 ILR Conference Center

Cornell Energy Systems Institute Seminar Series Speaker With Matteo Pecchi 12:15 p.m. - 1:10 p.m., 203 Thurston Hall

Break and Learn: Celebrating Local Latinx/Hispanic History Noon - 1 p.m., Virtual Event

Spooktacular Popcorn and Pups 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m., College of Veterinary Medicine Atrium

Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies Workshop: Teaching (and) Archaeology 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m., 125 McGraw Hall

Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement’s Global Poster Showcase 3 p.m. - 5 p.m., 102 Mann Library LPS Colloquium on Plasma Science and Application Featuring Dr. Uri Shumlak 4:15 p.m. - 5:30, 700 Clark Hall

Seminars in Infection and Immunity: “Visualizing and Manipulating Immunity with Light” With Minsoo Kim, University of Rochester Medical Center 12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m., College of Veterinary Medicine Lecture Hall 3 Systems Seminar: “Transforming Automotive Technologies Through Safety, Electrification and Automation” With Chris Atkinson 12:25 p.m., 253 Frank H. T. Rhodes Hall Reliable 3D Garment Simulation: Combining Traditional Knowledge with Software Skills 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m., Virtual Event Communication Colloquium: Risk Communication in the Social Media Age With Alisius Leong Grad 1 p.m. - 2 p.m., 102 Mann Library Cornell Field Hockey vs. University of Pennsylvania 2 p.m., Dodson Field Institute for German Cultural Studies Fall 2023 Colloquium Series: “Retelling Stories: From the Grimm Brothers to Chat GPT” With Fritz Breithaupt, Germanic Studies and Cognitive Science, Indiana University 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., 155 Klarman Hall

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The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023 3

News

Local Business Named Finalist for State AgTech Award

By DALTON MULLINS Sun Contributor

Clean Label Solution, an Ithaca-based agricultural technology company, was named a top 20 finalist in the 2023 GrowNY Food and Ag Summit. As a finalist, Clean Label Solution will go on to compete in November for $3 million in prize money as a part of the agricultural competition.

Founded in 2019 by Mohammad Arshadi, Clean Label Solution uses low-cost and environmentally friendly technologies to create livestock nutritional products for farmers in the areas of dairy cattle, poultry and aquaculture. They also provide technical support to others in waste management.

Arshadi received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Isfahan University of Technology in Iran, before he went on to conduct his postdoctoral research at Cornell University from 2017 to 2020. In 2019, he founded Clean Label Solution in part because he wanted to create a dairy feed that would maximize the amount of protein that dairy cattle could digest.

“I came up with a solution for the problem right now in the dairy farm industry. [Farmers] told us, the soy based animal feed right now is used as a feed for the cattle,” Arshadi said.

“At least 10 to 20 percent protein is lost or wasted as manure because it’s not digestible. It’s not processed properly.”

Arshadi described the unique digestive process of cattle that he had to account for when developing his product.

“The rumen [a compartment of a cow’s stomach] goes through the fermentation process,” Arshadi said. “Microbial proteins or bacteria inside the rumen eat and digest and degrade the large molecules into small molecules [so it] can be

digested by the other bacteria to be converted to the protein and fat.”

Arshadi’s solution is a new soy-based feed for dairy cattle that contains high levels of bypass proteins that are highly digestible by cattle. The product also increases the microbial protein within the digestive system of dairy cattle, all while remaining cost-effective for dairy farmers.

“We developed a single step fermentation process so we help the ruminate cow spend less time digesting — through a natural process in [our] technology. As the productivity of the cow improves, milk and production increases,” Arshadi said. “In order to provide energy for dairy cows, [farmers] use an important source of fat-like palm oil in the ration because soybean oil is toxic — but through our process, the [soybean] oil is not toxic anymore to the cow.”

Arshadi faced many financial struggles in the early stages of Clean Label Solution. In order to meet all expenses of the startup, Arshadi said that he worked as an Uber driver at night in addition to developing his company.

“I didn’t have any money. I stepped down from Cornell exactly [at] the pickup of the pandemic in 2020 and for a couple of months, maybe five or six months, I worked as an Uber,” Arshadi said.

“In the morning I reached out to the dairy farms, worked on finding a partner and marketed my product, and in the evening until the middle of the night, I worked as an Uber to make my expenses to be able to reach my goal and believe in the dream.”

Three hundred and twenty-three startups entered the competition, and only 20 — including Clean Label Solution

JOVELLE TAMAYO / THE NEW YORK TIMES

Finalist | Mohammad Arshadi’s local company, Clean Label Solution, developed a feed that gives cattle more protein.

— were selected for the finals. Jenn Smith, Grow-NY program director, explained the purpose of the competition.

“Grow-NY is a strategy for regional economic development. We know that, disproportionately, startups add new jobs to an economy,” Smith said. “And here in upstate New York we have a well established tradition of growing, making, moving, storing and selling food. We have a really rich agricultural tradition and a lot of interesting food production — so let’s lean on that sector and help support it with the attraction of innovation into the region.”

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Dalton Mullins can be reached at ddm88@cornell.edu.

Common Council Amends MOU With Cornell From 20 to 15-Year Span MOU

Continued from page 1

“The deal is much improved from where we started, so I’m grateful for that and the work of the community and my colleagues to help us get what we have right now,” Brock said in an interview with The Sun. “But I do think that this is a deal accepted under duress and we didn’t have any choice but to accept it.”

Brock mentioned that she hopes Cornell voluntarily modifies their offer to the city to be more in-line with the community’s and Common Council’s goals, specifically adding a reopening clause to make the agreement more flexible.

The amended MOU, which would induce voluntary annual payments of $4 million from the University to the city over the next 15 years, will be sent back to the Cornell Board of Trustees before it is officially approved.

“Cornell greatly appreciated tonight’s vote

by the Common Council approving an amended MOU agreement,” wrote Vice President for University Relations Joel Malina in a press statement. “The amended agreement will now be considered by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees, and I will notify Mayor Lewis once that has occurred.”

Wednesday’s vote comes after months of discourse between University officials, City of Ithaca representatives, Ithaca residents and Cornell faculty and students.

Negotiations began in April, as the city and Cornell prepared to replace the existing memorandum of understanding, which was set to expire in June 2024. Under those terms, which were established in 1995, Cornell owed annual payments of $1.4 million.

University and city officials held four negotiation sessions between April and August in which the city presented their proposal that Cornell pay $8 million annually. Lewis said that the city decided on the $8 million figure

through calculations of Cornell’s tax-exempt real estate holdings, which equate to approximately $33 million. The city benchmarked their proposals against 25 percent of this $33 million.

The city’s figure was met with Cornell’s own offer of $3.15 million, which is more than twice Cornell’s current annual payment.

Malina said in a prior interview with The Sun that this increase in voluntary contribution would “demonstrate Cornell’s deep commitment to the city.”

The city responded with an offer of $5 million, but Cornell indicated it would not move from its previous $3.15 million figure. Negotiations stalled on Aug. 11, as announced by Lewis in a Sept. 7 press release that condemned the University’s stonewalling.

One week after Lewis’s press release, Lewis and Cornell President Martha Pollack released a joint letter announcing that an agreement was reached on an annual con-

tribution of $4 million. Upon approval by the Common Council, Cornell would begin making this increased payment under an MOU set to expire in 21 years.

“This new agreement will further strengthen our critical relationship and partnership for the long-term, for the benefit of the people of the city,” Lewis and Pollack wrote.

The following Monday, Sept. 18, the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America held a march and rally urging Cornell to contribute higher payments as part of the Make Cornell Pay campaign. Around 70 students, faculty and community members attended, including Alderperson and Ithaca DSA member DeFendini, who has called on the University to both pay more and agree to a shorter contract length.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Eric Reilly can be reached at ereilly@cornellsun.com.

Sam Johnstone can be reached at sjohnstone@cornellsun.

www.cornellsun.com

4 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023

News

Cornell’s Most Generous Donor Dies Stutzman Acts as Chief Negotiator of WGA in Writers Deal FEENEY

Continued from page 1

In 1982 Feeney founded Atlantic Philanthropies in Bermuda to maintain his anonymity. The foundation would later expand and open offices in the U.S. and other countries. The expansion included the creation of an Ithaca office.

Located in Boardman House, the Ithaca office served as the primary liaison between Atlantic Philanthropies and the University. Atlantic Philanthropies’ first investment in Cornell, in 1982, was an anonymous grant of $7 million to establish The Cornell Tradition — an undergraduate fellowship program combining work, service and scholarship opportunities to instill a strong work ethic in civic-minded students — giving nearly $41 million to the program over the years and supporting more than 6,000 students.

Among the people who worked at the Ithaca office was Joanne Florino, M.A. ’95 — Distinguished Fellow in Philanthropic Excellence at The Philanthropy Roundtable — who worked as a program assistant researching late 19th to early 20th century education while a graduate student. Florino described at that time the office only had three employees, and most of the grants were awarded to the University. She also expressed her gratitude for Feeney and the experiences and values she acquired while working at Atlantic Philanthropies.

“I use Mr. Feeney as a model when I advise other philanthropists about thinking about alternatives to perpetuity — maybe putting a time frame in place around your philanthropy so that you can do more good while you’re alive to see it,” Florino said. “That was incredibly important to Mr. Feeney. He would say that he enjoyed kicking the tires himself.”

Florino described Feeney as a simple man who did not fit the common conceptions of what a billionaire would act like.

“The first time I saw him, he was wearing a crumpled trench coat. He did really bring things in plastic bags. We were never extravagant. If there was a board meeting, it was much more likely that we were going to just send out for deli sandwiches,” Florino said. “[Extravagance] was not what he wanted that culture

to be [at] Atlantic Philanthropies.”

According to his authorized biography, “The Billionaire Who Wasn’t: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune” by Conor O’Clery, the anonymity was partly due to modesty, and partly out of concern that giving publicly and generously to an organization might discourage others from giving to the same organization.

Florino added that another reason for the anonymity was because Feeney enjoyed touring potential grantees in person, where he would not be given preferential treatment. He would ask questions about an organization’s operations and learn about who the organizations provide their services to without the expectation that he would donate money.

Over their course of its operations, Atlantic Philanthropies gave almost $1 billion to the University, so much that former Cornell President Frank H.T. Rhodes referred to him as Cornell’s “third founder,” behind only Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White — Cornell’s first president — in the magnitude of his influence and impact. Much of the money went to the construction of more than a dozen buildings, notably on North and West Campuses, creating and transforming first-year student residential experiences and living-learning communities. He also provided funding for athletics endowments and facilities, including Bartels Hall and Cornell Outdoor Education.

Feeney’s contributions allowed for the creation of challenge grants to inspire alumni giving for University priorities and the Presidential Research Scholars Program, which was later named for former President Hunter R. Rawlings III. The grants also allowed for the acquisition and development of the Cornell Club property in New York City as a presence for the University and a gathering place for alumni and guests, and the Martin Y. Tang Welcome Center on Beebe Lake — a building that Atlantic helped restore in the 1980s and renovate in 2018 as Cornell’s first standalone welcome center.

To continue reading this article, please visit www. cornellsun.com.

Gabriel Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@cornellsun.com.

WGA

Continued from page 1

More than 11,000 film and television writers walked off the job when the strike began on May 2, pausing production and grinding Hollywood to a halt, citing concerns about studios’ use of artificial intelligence, “mini-rooms” that had forced writers to work short term gigs for long hours and little pay and streaming-based residuals.

The writers were eventually joined on the picket lines by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — which represents both film and television actors — who began their strike on July 14. The “double strike” was the first time since 1960 that two of Hollywood’s three major unions — the WGA, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors’ Guild of America, which represents film and television directors — had gone on strike simultaneously.

SAG-AFTRA remains on strike, with negotiations having begun on Oct. 2.

Throughout the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major production companies including Disney, Netflix and Warner Bros., remained steadfast in denying writers’ demands early in the strike. The alliance coordinated with Stutzman and the WGA for negotiations in August but the two sides were unable to strike a deal.

“It’s kind of amazing how long it takes for them to realize you just have to make this deal,” Stutzman said. “The companies made us an offer in August that started to address some of our issues, but it just wasn’t enough.”

Stutzman described her negotiation strategy as always keeping the most essential proposals on the table regardless of the studios’ smaller promises, including staff writer script fees and money diversion in health and pension funds.

“If people are gonna go on strike, the strike has to have meaning,” Stutman said. “The writers realized that we were fighting for issues in every area — and when we’re fighting on things like artificial intelligence, it affects everyone.”

According to Stutzman, because of the writers’ determination and commitment to the movement, the strikers were able to stand their ground, drive the studios to their bottom line and have them give up

what the WGA really wanted.

“Interestingly, because the things that we needed the most were the things that were hardest for the companies to give, they were the things that we would keep fighting for,” Stutzman said. The companies kind of gave other things along the way, in hopes that that would be enough to end the strike. It wasn’t, and that was how we ended up making certain gains.”

The tide finally turned in early September, when the production studios agreed to meet with Stutzman and the WGA’s negotiating committee.

“When the companies came into the room for the final few days of negotiations, they were just different,” Stutzman said. “When you want to make a deal — when you finally recognize the power that writers are exercising when they’re on strike — a company says ‘okay, we can do some of the things you’ve been demanding.’”

The AMPTP and WGA ultimately struck a deal on Sept. 24, and writers returned to work while they voted on the deal.

Stutzman said her passion for labor rights and organization began at Cornell, where she delved into her interests by organizing with student groups on campus.

“Cornell and going to the ILR School is the reason I’m in the labor movement,” Stutzman said, reflecting on her participation in the Cornell Organization for Labor Action. “Student activism was what shaped my professional career of wanting to fight for workers.”

As a member of COLA, Stutzman recollected disrupting the implementation of laundry and uniform provider Cintas due to concerns over overtime pay, discrimination and complaints over health and safety. Stutzman led protest chants against Taco Bell in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who picked the tomatoes Taco Bell used in their food. Having been a student during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Stutzman was also involved in protests over Guantanamo Bay and helped build jail cells on the Arts Quad to comment on America’s holding of prisoners without trial during the Global War on Terror.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Marian Caballo can be reached at mcaballo@cornellsun.com.

COURTESY OF J.W. HENDREICKS

A offer they couldn’t refuse | Ellen Stutzman ’04 captained the WGA’s negotiations team to a huge win over the AMPTP, with the WGA achieving all its goals.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023 5

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Dining Guide Your source for good food

From The Archives: 10.24.2021

Cornell Cafes Go Beyond the Pumpkin Spice Latte With Varying Success

By MELANIE METZ Sun Alumna

T

he official start of commercialized fall is when you spot the first sign for The Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. Fall flavors like pumpkin, ginger, clove and cinnamon are baked into warm breads, cookies and various Trader Joes special edition snacks, and sprinkled in coffee for a few months during the year. The pumpkin spice latte itself seems to be a bit overdone, but cafes are becoming more creative with their fun fall drinks.

The pumpkin spice latte itself seems to be a bit overdone, but cafes are becoming more creative with their fun fall drinks.

On Cornell’s campus, the school-run cafes are offering Starbucks’s PSL, but the few independent cafes — aka Gimme and Café Jennie — have come up with different options. Although I don’t normally choose sweet drinks, I do enjoy the warmth of fall flavors and switching up my normal latte order. I spent a little too much money, but hopefully my taste tests will help others find

their new fall favorite.

The first drink I tested was Gimme Coffee’s Ursa Mini for $6, a cold brew with clove syrup and milk. The drink was not sweet at all and had a great amount of spice.

The clove flavor was very present, though not overpowering, and was an unexpected addition to the strong and deep cold brew.

Overall, the drink was refreshing and calming, and something I would love to order again.

The next two drinks were at Café Jennie — don’t worry, I tried them on different days. The cold brew with pumpkin cold foam was especially exciting, as most cold foams are made with dairy, while Jennie’s is made with oat milk. The drink had an inch of creamy, fluffy, dense cold foam on the top which quickly melted into the cold brew. The cold foam was sweet, but not overly so, and the pumpkin spice contrasted wonderfully with the bitter cold brew. The drink cost around $5.50, which I think is too expensive for an enjoyable but altogether forgettable cold brew with a bit of foam.

I also tried Jennie’s $5 maple latte with oat milk. The latte had a nice layer of thick foam and was overall quite pleasant. Jennie’s espresso is flavorful and delicious, but there was absolutely no maple flavor. I don’t know if the syrup is weak or if the maple flavor is just extremely mild, but I could not find the maple taste at all. This latte was a waste if you were hoping for something special.

Melanie Metz, was a member of the class of 2021 in the College of Human Ecology and can be reached at mmetz@cornellsun.com

POLL: Where is your go-to pumpkin spice latte from?

ASHLEY HE / SUN AULUMNA

Barista serving coffee at Gimme! on Feburary 28, 2020.

MELANIE METZ / SUN AULUMNA

Ursa Mini, a clove and pumpkin iced coffee at Gimme! in Gates Hall.

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6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023

Opinion

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 141st Editorial Board ANGELA BUNAY ’24 Editor in Chief

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Leo Glasgow is a second year student in the College of Arts and Sciences. His fortnightly column Can We Talk focuses on student life, domestic and international politics and social issues. He can be reached at lglasgow@cornellsun.com.

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Crime Reports Should Always Have Race Descriptions

ou could go back to any time period and narrow in on the same conclusion: The people are living in uncertain and dangerous times. The COVID-19 pandemic has left us questioning our safety more than ever; violent crimes continue to remain elevated compared to 2019. In analyzing crime in the context of college campuses, there can be immeasurable effects in battling crime in the nation and the world as a whole.

A contentious 2015 Wall Street Journal article titled “More than 1 in 5 female undergrads at top schools suffer sexual attacks” analyzed responses from AAU annual climate survey on sexual assault and misconduct. It had found a correlation between top schools and sexual assault.

Similarly, Professors Wiersma-Mosley and Jozkowski published an indelible 2019 report concerning Sexual Violence among Universities with the NCAA Division I Athletic programs in the National Library of Medicine. Their findings, while expansive, had found that “Ivy League universities reported a significantly higher number of rape” and stalking as compared to all other conferences in their experimental football subdivision.

The nation’s top schools cannot escape from the most vile aspects of human life.

Even at Cornell, tucked away from the violence of cities and a school consistently ranked safer than most of its Ivy League counterparts, even in studies done by other Ivies, things can happen that bring people back into the real world.

A campus crime alert was sent out on Sept. 14 and detailed a rape that had occurred on campus. The suspect was described as a male, six feet tall and weighing approximately 160 pounds. The Cornell family, having all received this message, had immediately spiraled into understandable concern and questioning, especially given the rarity of such a heinous crime alert.

From parent Facebook groups, to the students, questions arose as to the identity of the assailant. While the case has officially been closed by the Cornell University Police Department, one is left questioning the extent to which we identify criminals before they are caught.

In conversations concerning suspect identification and crime it is important to get the elephant out of the room: Black people. There is near uniform agreement that Black people are overrepresented among persons arrested for nonfatal violent crimes and for serious nonfatal violent crimes relative to Black representation in the US population; the reasons as to why are, however, debated.

Nevertheless, the American Black experience is unique in its troubles. Given the immediate factor of institutionalized slavery, segregation, redlining and the contemporary consequences associated with those evils, there is a shared trauma in how Black Americans specifically respond to crime alerts. There is no young Black man in the nation that watches the news and doesn’t pray that the suspect isn't Black before a full description is given. This is why, in questioning how we provide descriptions in

college crime alerts, we prod into the fabric of the nation, and we must prod carefully.

The Cornell University Police Department (CUPD), being one of the largest players in anything crime related on campus, would be the logical first chain of communication.

After contacting CUPD Communications, The following response can be attributed to Eric Stickel, Deputy Chief of the Cornell University Police Department: “The Clery Act requires that we share information about certain crimes in a timely manner after an incident is reported. In this instance, we alerted the community with the details we had at the time. As new information came in, we edited the CrimeAlert.”

Cornell University's Police Department, founded in 2020, works tirelessly to keep the campus safe; but questioning the extent to which we identify suspects in college crime alerts, requires very specialized studies that go beyond the guidelines offered by the University.

Professor Naomi Fa-Kaji of Stanford and Professors Shannon Cheng and Mikki Hebl of Rice published a 2019 study called “The Impact of Suspect Description in University Crime Reports on Racial Bias”. The archival study examined the frequency of reporting suspect race and the relationship between the racial identification of the subject and the likelihood that the suspect was caught.

The second experimental study examined how race reporting can affect overt and subtle racial attitudes. The study’s conclusion was that there was “no significant relationship between racial identification and…the level of detail in a suspect description or the likelihood that the suspect was caught.” The second study “demonstrated increased overt and subtle actual bias towards Black people” among participants who read a report with a Black suspect compared to participants who saw a subject with no description.

I have many problems with this study, but I’m not the only one. Professor Vincent Egan of the University of Nottingham, Professor Maria Viskaduraki of the University of Leicester and researcher Nicola Gilzeane of the NHS Health Research Authority had written a 2013 study titled Strategic race blindness: not so black and white?, a work that continues to be cited to this day. The study concluded that purposefully avoiding mention of a suspect's ethnicity can potentially hinder eyewitness testimony and consequently hinder police investigations.

The prejudice that exists in this country will continue presenting itself, if the origin of the problem is not solved. Studies have consistently shown that Black people earn the least in tips across the board; does banning tipping solve institutional racism?

Women may be more likely to feel immediate caution when approached by a man at night; does the potential for bias against men mean that we have to remove sex descriptions in crime reports? After looking at a Black suspect description could mean a problem with society...

To continue reading visit Cornellsun.com

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023 7

Comics and Puzzles

Sundoku

Release Date: Thursday, October 12, 2023

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis 65 Avant-garde 66 Dissuade DOWN 1 Lure with false emails 2 Jousting weapon 3 Up to 4 Brings up the rear 5 Knight titles 6 Mucho 7 Three-time French Open winner Swiatek 8 Barrel of beer 9 Word with wash or wear 10 Said another way 11 Like a haunted house 12 Get to “I do” without the ado 14 Utterer of “Yogi-isms” 17 Gaming novice 20 Messy room 23 Glowing gas 24 “The Far Side” cartoonist Larson 25 Spotted 27 American __: veterans’ group 29 Commercial intrusions

30 Caviar 31 Racking up wins 32 Soda container 34 “Insecure” actress Issa 35 Leb. neighbor 37 Q.E.D. part 38 Sharp flavor 39 Lines of communication?

44 __ of the land 45 Dragon roll ingredient 46 Desertlike

47 Bucks 48 Beehives and some buns 49 Like the itsy-bitsy spider 51 Film critic Roger 52 Slow on the uptake 53 Starlike flower 56 Arrive at the airport safely 58 IRS form expert 59 She/__ pronouns 60 Fitting

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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)

THE GLUED

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The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, October 12, 2023

Science

SCIENCE

Natural Area Project Advances Lawn Sustainability

By REGINA GALVAN RUMAYOR Sun Staff Writer

A matter of carbon neutrality and preservation of biodiversity has led the Cornell Botanic Gardens to reimagine the conventional lawn approach that today covers 40 millions of acres in the United States.

Challenging the conventional lawn gardening practice — constant mowing, over-watering and over use of fertilizers and pesticides — is critical to furthering horticultural sustainability approaches.

Currently, lawnmowers produce 7.1 million tons of CO2 annually, as they typically operate on gas. Beyond greenhouse gasses, conventional lawn homeowners are estimated to use 10 times more the amount of pesticide and fertilizer per acre on their lawns than farmers do on their crops.

Almost 15 years ago, Krissy Boys, Natural Areas Horticulturist at Cornell Botanic Gardens, was captivated by the Danthonia spicata, a species of native grass more commonly known as poverty grass. She mentioned that she spotted this beautiful native grass on the side of the road and began questioning the presence of native species in Fall Creek.

“I was astounded by the grass that we see,” Boys said. “It is all European. Our native grasses are almost invisible to us.”

This realization led a group of specialists at the Botanic Gardens to instate a project called the Native Lawn.

The Native Lawn project aimed to reimagine landscape

COURTESY OF JASON KOSKI / CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Native lawn project | The Cornell Botanical Gardens challenges conventional lawn practices by using native species to create more sustainable, diverse and resilient local and natural areas.

and gardening practices across the US. The project is a designed plant community, explained Director of Natural Areas for the Cornell Botanic Gardens Todd Bittner.

“It is based on a combination of dominant or co-dominant species paired with other species that fit other ecological roles in a plant community,” he said.

The goals of the Botanic Garden’s Native Lawn were to create a lawn that tolerates a moderate amount of tramping, requires minimized watering, needs no fertilizer and pesticide use and does not require constant hand weeding.

“This project converted a non-native grass (and weed) lawn to a low-maintenance, low ener-

gy input, and high biodiversity, sustainable native lawn,” Bittner said.

The project has proven to be significantly successful. Cornell Botanic Gardens found that the native lawn only needed to be mowed one time per year to keep it around eight to 14 inches high.

According to Bittner, the team started using an old-fashioned scythe later on to achieve the adequate height, so the care of native lawn now emits zero CO2.

As climate change continues to disturb and alter weather patterns, specifically creating droughts throughout regions like New York state that typically receive substantial rainfall, Danthonia spicata has shown great promise as a drought-adapt-

ed native grass species to serve as the foundation of the native lawns in the Northeast region, according to Boys. Overall, the project reiterates the need to innovate and seek alternative horticultural practices.

“There is hope in plants being able to adapt,” Boys said.

Bittner additionally mentioned that the native lawn yielded nearly four times as many insect families versus amounts found in traditional lawns, emphasizing the importance of the presence of biodiversity.

“Diversity is good in ecological systems, and in the native lawn,” Bittner said. “Like native plant communities, diverse, healthy plant assemblages can create a tight matrix that makes

it hard for weedy species to establish and persist.”

Beyond biological diversity, Cornell Botanical Gardens is committed to the preservation of biocultural diversity. In collaboration with the Lakota Sioux community, the Botanic Gardens is working to study the impact climate change has on their livelihood as indigenous communities heavily rely on seasonal cues for hunting, fishing and other cultural practices.

A collaboration at Cornell includes a group of students that got together to increase availability of native species including medicinal and sacred plants.

Together with the Cornell Botanical Gardens, indigenous students created the Akwe:kon Full Circle Healing and Honoring Garden to honor land cultural use and availability of native species.

Looking forward, the Native Lawn project aims to expand further, focusing not on just native lawns but how they can be utilized in local parks and other low use recreational areas “We plan to develop additional native lawns that will incorporate more native species —- both those that grew spontaneously in our first lawn as well as local native species we think can thrive in a native lawn —– and scale up,” Bittner said.

The initiative aims to continue to expand across campus in order to be a significant strategy that brings Cornell closer to its carbon neutral goal of 2035.

Regina Galvan Rumayor can be reached at rg623@cornell.edu.

Bird Species Diversity Shrinks as Urban Temperatures Climb, New Cornell Study Finds

By EMMA ARBOLEDA Sun Staff Writer

In a recent study published in “Science of the Total Environment,” scientists at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology and Zhejiang University found that the surface urban heat island effect had implications on bird diversity in China, causing them to migrate from urban to suburban areas in the 336 Chinese cities studied.

“The urban heat island effect occurs when urban areas become ‘islands’ of higher temperatures which occurs when they have little green vegetation and abundant heat-retaining surfaces such as asphalt, concrete or steel,” said Frank La Sorte, senior research associate at the Lab of Ornithology and one of the authors on the paper.

During the 2001, 2011 and 2019 breeding and non-breeding seasons of studied avian species, bird species diversity saw a substantial decline in observed areas with higher heat island effects.

The study found that many bird species were leaving urban areas in favor of the surrounding suburban areas, consequently impacting bird breeding and foraging, resulting in decreased species diversity during both the birds’ breeding

and non-breeding seasons.

The non-breeding season, though typically cooler than the breeding season, still observed a decrease in diversity similar to breeding season — an unexpected finding.

La Sorte explained that researchers expected that the urban heat island effect would lower bird diversity in cities during the summer breeding season, and would increase the winter nonbreeding season.

Thus, the fact that bird diversity still decreased even during the typically cooler nonbreeding season was unexpected, LaSorte said.

Quantifying the results, the study found that, overall, a one degree Celsius increase in temperature between urban and suburban areas was associated with 0.291 fewer species on average during the nonbreeding season and 0.132 fewer species on average during the breeding season, according to La Sorte.

Expansion of urban areas, both in size and density, may have growing implications on bird diversity across the globe over time. “As urban areas become hotter, birds’ abilities to maintain normal body temperatures will become more challenging, increasing physiological stress”, explained La Sorte. “Over the long term, this could result in population declines [of

COURTESY OF JAIYU WU/CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Warming wearies | Bird species in Chinese cities are migrating due to warming temperaures that come as a result of the ‘urban heat island’ effect. birds],” he said.

Though the study was limited to China, a country with a high level of urbanization, the findings are applicable to metropolitan areas across the globe that contain structures promoting heat absorption and retention, according to La Sorte.

“As the climate continues to rise, these effects will likely be exacerbated as urban temperatures continue to increase,” LaSorte said.

Emma Arboleda can be reached at earboelda@cornellsun.com.