INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 137, No. 15
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
n
8 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Science
Arts
Weather
Elections
COVID-19 Recovery
Sneakerheads
Sunny And Cool
Leslie Danks Burke hopes her fortunes change, as she challenges Tom O’Mara for State Senate. | Page 3
One student reveals how she has coped since leaving isolation at the Statler.
Megan Pontin ’23 examines the history of sneaker culture.
| Page 4
ALICIA WANG / SUN GRAPHICS EDITOR
Little enthusiasm | Despite Biden being the Democratic nominee, C.U. for Biden only has a mailing list of 30 students.
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S.A. Ballot Delay Not Unusual for Cornell Student-Run Elections By ALEX HALE Sun News Editor
Biden Org Lacks Members By ELI PALLRAND
Biden can “recapture [America’s] unity,” and “[in Sun Contributor politics] not everyone is there in good faith.” In an increasingly partisan nation, Bromberg said Cornell for Biden founder and lead organizer he hates the “spineless” Republicans and described David Bromberg ’23 occupies a curious posi- President Donald Trump as a “malign and hateful tion: His “one-man operation” representing the freak,” but wants nationwide unity. Democratic party’s presidential nominee on a politEven as 58 percent of self-identified Biden voters ically-active Ivy League campus has a mailing list of reported that they were voting more against Trump only 30 students and no campaign events or group than for Biden, Bromberg said he wouldn’t be a meetings in sight. “fairweather supporter” — he is all in for Biden. And the lack of enthusiasm for Biden is domBromberg has an unusual role as a youth orgainant — the Cornell Progressives, a significantly nizer in a campaign that he characterizes as targeting larger cohort of Democratic students on campus “soccer moms and former Republicans.” Starting formerly known as Cornell for Bernie, decided not Cornell for Biden as a first-year, Bromberg faced to endorse the Biden-Harris ticket. steep odds. During an election year, Cornell’s campus hisWhile Cornell Students for Bernie was 40 memtory would suggest more mobilization behind a bers strong, canvassing in New Hampshire and Democratic nominee for president –– especially on actively organizing on campus, Cornell for Biden a campus where, in 2016, 60 percent of Cornellians was, “just me making calls,” Bromberg said. He said they planned to vote for former Secretary of added that he had three other members –– then State Hillary Clinton and one left to support Sen. Amy only 4 percent indicated they Klobuchar (D-Minn.). “I hate phonebanking. I planned to vote for President But after Super Tuesday, seethingly despise it. I’m a Donald Trump. when it became clear that Despite the difficulty people person. I like door-to-door Biden would most likely of campaigning during the be the Democratic nomicampaigning and knocking.” nee, COVID-19 pandemic, the Cornell for Biden was lack of engagement around planning a weekend trip to David Bromberg ’23 Biden has deeper roots in the Pennsylvania to canvass swing Democratic party’s divide. voters. When asked about some progressives’ decision Then, the COVID-19 pandemic came to a not to support former Vice President Joe Biden, head. Once the University announced that in-perBromberg offered some of the following phrases: son classes were suspended and campus would close, “Stupid.” “Immature and irresponsible.” “Makes Cornell for Biden had to cancel the Pennsylvania me question [their] political understanding.” “Jesus trip and reevaluate. Christ!” “Have you looked outside?” “Just when it was going well, everything went to However, Bromberg added that most progres- shit,” Bromberg said. sives are “good, nice people.” He blamed some of his own weaknesses as an In a message to The Sun, Cornell Progressives organizer for the lapse in campaign activity. For a lead organizer George Defendini ’22 wrote that traditional campaigner like Bromberg, virtual orgaBiden’s platform does not rise to the group’s stan- nizing takes a toll. dard for endorsement. “I hate phonebanking. I seethingly despise it,” he “While many of us want Biden to succeed and none said. “I’m a people person. I like door-to-door camof us want the continued rise of Fascism under Trump, paigning and knocking. I like reaching out to people.” we decided in writing our Constitution to reserve Off campus, Bromberg has seen more sucendorsements for candidates who align with our values cess: He said that he spent a year moderating the of Progressivism and Leftism,” Defendini wrote. Joe Biden subreddit, which currently has more But for Bromberg, a stalwart Biden supporter than 52,000 subscribers, as well as the subreddit’s since 2015 — he even bought a Biden T-shirt Discord server (which has roughly 1,000 members) –– it’s either his guy or, “the end of the republic,” and another unaffiliated Biden Discord (which has he said. roughly 500 members). “My first political memory is of my grandfather Bromberg was formerly a member of Twitter’s raging against Bush,” Bromberg, the child of a @BidenWarRoom, with 40,000 followers and fiercely Democratic Long Island home, said. He has come to believe two seemingly contradictory ideas: See BIDEN page 2
HIGH: 67º LOW: 51º
At around 2 p.m. Thursday, right when voting was supposed to close, the directors of elections suspended Student Assembly presidential elections due to last-minute problems with the online voting system. From faulty electronic vote counting to problematic memes, 2020 is not the first year that elections for student-run positions have faced obstacles. Here is the recent history with election tribulations at Cornell: 2018: A Close Meme Disqualification
The 2018 S.A. election between Dale Barbaria ’19 and Varun Devatha ’19 came down to the wire, but it almost ended with a disqualification. Initially, the elections committee announced Barbaria the victor, but it was later announced that his victory was by default. The S.A. elections committee had disqualified Devatha for a meme posted by one of his supporters in the “Cornell: Any Person, Any Meme” Facebook group. The meme had a number of items, listing their cost, concluding that “Vesting in Varun” was “Priceless.” Problems arose with the meme because it had a Cornell logo on it, which the committee said violated campaign rules regarding promotional materials. In a six-to-one vote with one abstention, the committee voted to disqualify Devatha. Devatha appealed the decision, which the committee denied. But
a report by judicial codes counselor Kendall Karr J.D. ’18 reversed the decision, citing four separate instances of bias in the decision. Once Devatha was reinstated, the voting showed that the formerly-disqualified candidate had won by 48 votes, making Devatha S.A. president. Barbaria took the position of undesignated representative at-large. 2019: Counting Issues And Another Overturned Disqualification
Although for a different position, a similar story with campaign rules and disqualifications happened the following year, this time in the race for student trustee. Initially, Jaewon Sim ’21 was declared the winner, but the next day the Trustee Nominating Committee said that it was in part because JT Baker ’21 was disqualified. The controversy was over an email sent by a Cornell Athletics official to student athletes to support Baker, who is on the football team. The email did not specifically endorse Baker, but the committee still found its wording “altered the fairness of the election.” JT Baker, a member of the football team, is running for Student Elected Trustee,” the email read. “He would be the first ever student athlete in this critical leadership position.” “This election for the StudentElected Trustee position is incredibly important and we encourage you all to vote, please spread the word!” the email continued. See ELECTIONS page 3
EDEM DZODZOMENYO AND BORIS TSANG / SUN FILE PHOTO AND SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Meme scandal | The 2018 S.A. president race became contentious when Varun Devatha ’19 (left) was disqualified over a meme posted by a supporter.