INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 138, No. 30
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2021
n
8 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Dining
Sports
Weather
Winter Session
Vegan Eats
Smooth Sailing
Partly Cloudy
Even following Cornell’s return to in-person schooling, winter session classes will remain virtual. | Page 3
Sadie Groberg ’24 glances into fast food’s vegan future and the best options for your plant-based meals. | Page 4
The women’s sailing team captured its third Middle Atlantic championship title on Sunday. | Page 8
HIGH: 46º LOW: 28º
Local Elections Bring New Faces
Two Cornell students slated to join Common Council; Democratic representatives take Tompkins County Legislature By JOHN YOON Sun City Editor
As Ithacans cast their last votes for Common Council representatives on Tuesday night, they decided a new slate of local officials — including two Cornell students. The current vote counts only include early voting and Election Day voting; mail-in ballots have yet to be added to the voting results as of Wednesday night. Ithaca is divided into five wards. Each ward has two representatives, making up 10 Common Council seats, all of which were up for election this year. Four of the five previous representatives chose to not run, making Cythnia Brock (D-1st Ward) the only incumbent. In the First Ward, Brock is defending her seat against
Maddie Halpert, the Solidarity Slate representative that replaced Shaniya Foster on the ballot when Foster dropped out for personal reasons in June. Brock is ahead, receiving 487 votes — with Halpert receiving 187 and Foster with 31. There were two write-in votes. In the Second Ward, Phoebe Brown, another Solidarity Slate candidate, pulls ahead with 532 votes. Rick Murray, part of the Rick Murray Party, sits in second with 225 votes. In the Third Ward, Jeffrey Barken, the Democratic nominee, ran as the sole candidate, receiving 292 regular votes and six write-in votes. In the Fourth Ward, which makes up part of West Campus and Collegetown, Solidarity State candidate George DeFendini ’21 is ahead with 72 votes. Alejandro Santana, an independent, follows with 30 votes. DeFendini
will likely join fellow Cornell student Patrick Mehler ’23 as Fourth Ward representative. The Fourth Ward saw one write-in vote. In the Fifth Ward, Robert Cantelmo grad, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Cornell’s government department, ran unopposed, receiving 502 votes. The district received four write-in votes. Along with Common Council, all 14 districts in Tompkins County held their elections. In Tompkins County, districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 represent the City of Ithaca on the Tompkins County Legislature. Districts 7, 11 and 12 represent the Town of Ithaca. In District 1, Travis Brooks, the Democratic nominee, is See ELECTION page 3
Maven Society Features C.U. Artists
Through auctions and events, club promotes diverse works By JULIETTE EGAN Sun Contributor
JULIA NAGEL / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Lounge | The Women’s Resource Center offers in-person resources to students once more in Willard Straight Hall.
Push for Menstrual Resources Continues By KELSEY XU Sun Staff Writer
Three years after the reboot of Free Period Products, a 2016 program to offer free menstrual products across campus, several community organizations have continued to expand this goal by advocating for and providing these resources. Members of the Gender Justice Advocacy Coalition and Student Assembly Infrastructure Fund Commission comprise the FPP team. Through a partnership with Cornell facilities, FPP has been able to make free menstrual products available in public women’s, men’s and all-gender bathrooms across campus. “The impetus behind the initiative is simple,” GJAC president Clara Drimmer ’22 wrote in an email to The Sun. “Toilet paper is free in any public bathroom. Why shouldn’t period products be free for all people who need them?” Drimmer said that historically, cost is one of the largest barriers to menstrual product access worldwide. She noted that the average menstruator spends thousands of dollars on period products throughout their lifetime. “A lot of people are becoming aware of the pink tax and how gender-related menstrual products are overpriced with respect to people who identify as women, and that is an economic justice issue,” said Joseph Mullen ’24, vice president of internal operations on the Student Assembly. Free menstrual products reached all public bathrooms on Cornell’s campus in 2020. According to Drimmer, FPP is in the process of changing their signage, switching “mxnstrual” to “menstrual,” recognizing that menstruation is not a strictly gendered term. “As of 2017, they had put menstrual products in women's and gender-neutral bathrooms on campus,” Mullen said. “In 2020, they decided to put them in all bathrooms on campus, and the rationale behind that was that regardless of how people identify biologically or gender-wise, See MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS page 3
The Maven Society brought fantasy to life in its Friday event, a runway show themed after film producer George Lucas’ movie, The Labyrinth, and featuring Cornell designers. The artist’s collective has hosted similar pop-ups, auctions and gallery events since its founding in spring 2020. The event took place at the New Park Event Venue and Suites, where viewers could eat dinner and view canvases across the walls. Walking into the event, a large white tent hosted a runway in the
center, with artwork on the walls and a D.J. booth on the side. Maven organizes events catered to the next generation of Cornell
“Maven gave me the opportunity to have my first runway show to display my work.” Maisie McDonald ’23 artists, said Maven CEO Ravi Patel ’22. According to Patel, the society aims to bring students together across different art forms
and walks of life at Cornell. The idea for the society sprung to life at the end of Patel’s sophomore year, inspired by two visits to an empty New York City Art gallery and a historic cafe in Paris, Café de Flore. “I got to visit a cafe — this place where Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali, everyone came together and shared ideas in a social setting, sharing drinks and stories,” Patel said. Patel saw potential in creating a social space for the art world at Cornell, inspired by this history. See MAVEN page 3
And a car to boot!
JULIA NAGEL / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Students on Ho Plaza pass by the L. L. Bean “BOOTMBL,” part of a pop-up shop that opened in front of the Cornell Store Tuesday and Wednesday with the help of its boot-shaped vehicle.