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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 130, No. 50

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2013

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20 Pages – Free

News

Arts

Sports

Weather

Candid Chats

By Scott

Just Keep Rowing

Sunny HIGH: 43 LOW: 30

Dr. Marion Nestle, a vising professor, gave a speech about obesity Tuesday. | Page 3

Zach Zahos ’15 sits down with famous film critic A.O. Scott, who will introduce his film today. | Page 14

The rowing teams performed well at the Cornell Regatta over the weekend. | Page 20

Open to negotiation

Cornell Will Return 10,000 Tablets to Iraq Ancient Sumerian inscriptions were donated to Univ. in 2000

By DARA LEVY Sun Senior Writer

Following years of controversy, including an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and allegations of both illegal looting and tax fraud, Cornell is preparing to return 10,000 tablets to their native Iraq. Cornell’s move to return the tablets may be the biggest return of antiquities by an American university.

The clay blocks, which date back to the 4th century B.C. and offer researchers a glimpse into the daily lives of ancient Mesopotamia, were donated by Jonathan Rosen and his family — of the Jonathan and Jeannette Rosen Ancient Near Eastern Seminar — in 2000, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Some of the tablets, which were part of the private archives for a Sumerian princess in the 21st century B.C. in the city of Garsana, have been the source of much controversy. Critics believe the tablets were looted from Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, when many archaeological relics went missing, according to the L.A. Times.

In a statement, the University denied any connection to an illegal looting of artifacts and said that it is undergoing negotiations with Iraq for the tablets’ return.

“Cornell appreciates the opportunity it has had to participate in the preservation and study of these invaluable historical artifacts and welcomes the opportunity to continue this work in participation See TABLETS page 4

OMARI POWELL / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Prof. Nava Ashraf, Harvard Business School, negotiations, organizations and markets, presents at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management Tuesday on what motivates people to become public servants.

Robbery Reported on Maple Ave.

By DARA LEVY Sun Senior Writer

A woman was pushed down to the ground by an unknown male in a strong-arm robbery at 201 Maple Ave. Sunday afternoon, the Cornell University Police Department said in an email.

The woman told police that the male confronted her, took her laptop and then fled up a stairway toward 301 Maple Ave. at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The perpetrator was described as “a black

male, approximately six feet tall, weighing about 230 pounds, with short braids, a scruffy beard and stocky build,” CUPD said.

No weapons were shown or threatened to be displayed, according to the email.

As of Tuesday night, there were no updates available on the case, according to CUPD Chief Kathy Zoner. Police are continuing their investigation and ask anyone with related information to contact them.

Dara Levy can be reached at dlevy@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Alumnus Appears Cornell Abroad Director Shares Goals On The Colbert Report

By SUN STAFF

By CAROLINE FLAX Sun News Editor

Stephen Colbert had some tough questions for National Public Radio media correspondent and former Sun

Editor in Chief David Folkenflik ’91 when he appeared on The Colbert Report on Monday night.

“My guest, [Folkenflik], goes behind the scenes at Fox News. I

wonder how much peanut butter it takes to make Bret Baire look like he’s talking?”

Colbert said.

Calling Folkenflik a See COLBERT page 5

Talk it out

SIMON LI / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Mezna Qato, who is completing her Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford College, discusses the history of educational regimes in Palestine Tuesday.

open for us to discuss what constitutes a meaningful or significant experience abroad.

On Aug. 15, Marina Markot became the Currently, Cornell Abroad is collaborating newest director of Cornell Abroad. A former with the Einaudi Center for International associate director of the International Studies Studies, the Engaged Learning and Research Office at the University of Virginia, Markot Center and the Office of Academic Diversity brings her experience in international engage- Initiatives to bring together a number of ment to the study abroad program. Sun News people, including faculty, students and Editor Caroline Flax ’15 sat down with administrators. We are aiming to have a oneday workshop or symposium to Markot to talk about her goals for ponder what constitutes a meanCornell Abroad. ingful experience abroad. Does it THE SUN: How has your transihave to be a certain length? Does tion to Cornell been so far? it have to have certain characterisMARINA MARKOT: Most of tics? How do we create meaningwhat I’m doing now is going ful experiences that can reach a around and meeting people, learnbroader population of students? ing what is going on, what they SUN: Do you have any future are doing, what they would like to ideas for Cornell Abroad? be doing and how Cornell Abroad MARKOT M.M.: Well, I think Cornell can be of help. There are a lot of Abroad has historically focused things to learn. It’s a complex institution, as you well know. There are a number of very on a particular type of study abroad experiinteresting international initiatives that are ence, but there can be many different types. spread around campus and a lot of innova- My goal is to open up Cornell Abroad to many different possibilities and create parttion in terms of these initiatives.

SUN: What do you think of the initiatives nerships with colleges in their initiatives. so far? For example, President David Cornell Abroad is staffed with international Skorton has announced that he wants 50 education professionals, and we would like percent of Cornell students to have an to offer our expertise and services to faculty abroad experience by the time they graduate. and units that want to start a program M.M.: President Skorton has set a very See MARKOT page 5 ambitious goal, and he has also left a door

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

Today

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Weird News

Today Employee Assembly Meeting 12:15 - 1:30 p.m., 401 Physical Sciences Building

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

Daybook

of the Week

California Man Busted For Selling Rustled Cow Costumes

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary Of the Arecibo Radio Telescope 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., 2146 Snee Hall Design Careers That Make a Difference 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Cafe Lobby, Carol Tatkon Center Leaders in Sustainable Global Enterprise Colloquium 6 - 7:30 p.m., B09 Sage Hall

Tomorrow Faculty Luncheon Discussion: The Peer Review of Teaching –– What Works Best?

Noon - 1 p.m., 229 King-Shaw Hall IP & Pizza: Discussion on Intellectual Property and Their Relation to Plants Noon - 1:30 p.m., 102 Mann Library

REDLANDS, Calif. (AP) — Police in Southern California have busted a cattle costume rustler after he tried to sell the stolen suits online.

Redlands police say the two 7-foot cow costumes created for the Chick-fil-A chain were nabbed in separate restaurant burglaries.

The costumes turned up for sale for $350 apiece on Craigslist on Oct. 30.

An undercover officer arranged to buy the bovine attire in time for Halloween. When the seller produced the black-and-white outfits, he was arrested.

Forty-three-year-old Robert Michael Trytten, of Riverside, is being held for suspicion of possession of stolen property on $275,000 bail.

The costumes were valued by the restaurant at $2,800 apiece.

Police also recovered a pop-up canopy stolen from the restaurant. All the property was returned to Chickfil-A.

U.K. Commissioner Creates ‘Pensions’ for Police Dogs

C.U. Music: Midday Music at Lincoln 12:30 - 1:15 p.m., B20 Lincoln Hall Weekly Brown Bag Seminar: Rescue Me! U.S. International Financial Bailouts 12:15 - 1:30 p.m., G08 Uris Hall

LONDON (AP) — They work hard, sniffing out crime with only the occasional pat on the nose in gratitude.

Please Recycle this Paper in one of the recycling bins located on the Cornell Campus.

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Rebecca Harris ’14

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But police dogs deserve better, according to the police and crime commissioner in the English county of Nottinghamshire, who wants to reward them with “pensions” on retirement.

Paddy Tipping says the idea for a canine pension fund came about because officers were picking up the costs for retired police dogs. Handlers normally take dogs home upon retirement. Tipping, however, says he doesn’t “think it’s fair that they have to pay all the bills.”

The plans announced Monday will be rolled out next month.

Up to 500 pounds ($800) annually will be given to handlers for three years to cover veterinary bills for work-related injuries or illness.large factory in Irwindale this year.

Thieves Steal 160 Sheep Near U.K. Town of Wool LONDON (AP) — Wool’s wool is missing.

Police in southwest England appealed for help Tuesday in tracking down thieves who made off with 160 sheep from a field near the village of Wool.

Police say the sheep were stolen between Saturday and Monday, and that the thieves would have needed a large vehicle to move the woolly haul.

Constable Adam Taylor says all of the sheep were electronically tagged.

He is urging anyone who has witnessed suspicious activity — or been offered sheep “in unusual circumstances or for very low prices” — to come forward.

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

NEWS

Prof Says Food Industry Contributing to Obesity Nestle: obesity transforms ‘personal responsibility’ to ‘corporate responsibility’ grow in order to be profitable for shareholders, Nestle said.

The food industry has fought to continue growing by increasing its advertising spending, as well as increasing Prof. Marion Nestle, author of numerous nutrition- portion sizes to help boost sales, according to Nestle. related books — including Eat, Drink, Vote and Food Today, it is unprofitable for companies to change their Politics — spoke to Cornellians Tuesday about changes to products or marketing plans — making it even more diffithe food industry in the face of America’s obesity epidem- cult to incentivize producing healthy products. ic.

Companies have previously defended their products In her seminar, Nestle — a profesby using the “personal responsibilisor of nutrition, food studies and pubty argument,” claiming that conlic health at New York University — “[Food companies’] job is to sumers are responsible for their addressed the issues that obesity poses make profits for investors. choices. Still, more recently, there for the food industry and the ways in ... Their job is not to prohave been numerous studies which the industry has hindered emerging that suggest the food efforts to decrease the country’s obesi- mote public health.” industry is more responsible for ty rate. consumers’ behavior than it thinks, Although data about changes in Prof. Marion Nestle Nestle said. physical activity are inconclusive, Nestle “The food industry has come to said it is “pretty clear” that people are recognize that they’re not going to eating more than they were in the 1980s. Based off of data get away with that kind of excuse anymore,” Nestle said. on food supply and dietary intakes, Nestle estimates that “Obesity is transforming personal responsibility into corpeople are now eating around 350 more calories a day than porate responsibility.” they did two decades ago.

Even then, companies have continued trying to exploit It should not be so difficult to lower the obesity rate. consumers in other ways. In one method, companies take Prevention is the most effective way to combat obesity, advantage of “how easy it is to convince consumers that Nestle said, adding that people can watch their weight these foods have health benefits,” Nestle said. In another, in three ways: eating less, eating better and moving companies leverage the rise of nutritionism, which involves more. a focus on individual nutrients, to sell their products, “If it seems more complicated than this, it is because of Nestle said. the food industry,” she said.

“All you have to do is put these claims on the packagThe problem is that “eat less … is very bad for the food ing, and consumers will think they have fewer calories,” industry,” which has become fundamentally at odds with she said. public health, Nestle said.

This is part of a broader trend of companies trying to “[Food companies’] job is to make profits for “position themselves as health food companies,” Nestle investors,” she said. “Their job is not to promote public said, adding that many companies have been experiencing health.” “unrelenting pressure” to shift from “being part of the The issue of obesity is exacerbated by the fact that, problem to being part of the solution.” although there is already an excess amount of calories availThe industry also faces a growing movement of supable per capita, companies need to continue to sell and porters of food that is “health friendly,” Nestle said.

By TALIA JUBAS

Sun Staff Writer

A yoga break

ANAMARIA TOLEDO / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Let’s talk about obesity | Prof. Marion Nestle from New York University speaks about the impact of the food industry on American obesity at Pepsi Co. Auditorium in Ives Hall Tuesday.

“Food studies is emerging in universities all over the country … which means lots and lots of young people are being exposed to these kinds of ideas,” she said. “You can ... be part of this burgeoning movement that is interested in having a food system that is healthier for people and healthier for the planet.”

Talia Jubas can be reached at tjubas@cornellsun.com.

C.U.-Columbia Library Project Receives $150K

By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Contributor

SONYA RYU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Instructor Rachel VerValin leads a yoga session, “Yoga & Art,” on the sixth floor of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum Tuesday.

Police R eport A Break-In An individual on Forest Park Lane reported Friday that unknown individual(s) broke a door and window before stealing various items in the building, according to a Cornell Police report.

Unlawful Alcohol Possession Three counts of unlawful possession of alcohol — one on West Campus and two on North Campus — were reported Saturday, according to a Cornell Police report.

Two Harassments Reported in Barton Two individuals were reported for harassment at Barton Hall Saturday. One individual was arrested, while another individual’s status is pending, according to a Cornell Police report.

Reported Sexual Assault An officer was dispatched Friday to take a report regarding a possible sexual assault in Barton, according to the Cornell Police.

— Compiled by Jinjoo Lee

With the support of a $150,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Cornell and Columbia’s libraries will work to convert an expanding number of historical titles into e-journals.

The two universities say the partnership will help provide scholars “content, expertise and services that are impossible to accomplish acting alone,” according to the website of 2CUL, the name of the partnership. Both Columbia and Cornell hope that, with the 18-month grant, they will be able to expand their ejournal collections.

“The main objective of this project is to increase the number and range of e-journals that will be preserved, but it’s equally important to develop and promote methods that can be broadly adopted to expand our work,” Oya Rieger, associate university librarian for digital scholarship and preservation services, said in a University press release. “Making sure that the vital content in ejournals is available to scholars and researchers is an essential part of the process.”

Cornell and Columbia’s expansion of digitized material comes at a time when e-journals have become increasingly popular among scholars for research.

According to a 2011-12 report from the Cornell Library, there has been an 84 percent increase in electronic serial titles since 2006-

07.

Now, Cornell has more than 100,000 electronic journals, said Gwen Glazer, editor and social media coordinator in the Cornell University Library’s assessment and communication department.

Cornell’s collaboration with Columbia’s library began in 2009 as an attempt for both libraries to address the financial challenges resulting from the recession, according to the 2CUL website.

Since then, the partnership between the two libraries has enabled both universities to expand their collections.

In Phase 1 of 2CUL, from 2009-12, the universities collectively saved more than $360,000 as a result of the partnership, according to the website.

In the second phase of the project — from 2013-15 — leaders of the project hope to strengthen the relationship between the two universities and build on the progress made in Phase 1, including “more integrated collection building,” according to a January CUL press release.

During the second phase, coordinators said they aim to “create the requisite infrastructure to build deeper collections through integration and develop new capabilities for meeting 21st century research, teaching and learning needs,” according to the 2CUL website.

Zoe Ferguson can be reached at znf3@cornell.edu.

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

NEWS

Tablets Will Return to Iraq TABLETS

princess, Simat-Ishtaran, took over the estate after the death of her husband, according to the L.A. Times. Other with the U.S. and Iraqi governments,” women supervised men, received equal salaries to men and worked in constructhe statement said.

The tablets were the subject of a tion.

“It’s our first real archival discovery of 2001 investigation by the Department of Homeland Security when they were an institution run by a woman,” suspected to be illegally removed from Professor David Owen, chief curator for the country of origin. Possession of the Cuneiform Library, said to the L.A. antiquities illegally removed from coun- Times.

Some of the other tablets show tries who claim them as government detailed administrative property violates U.S. records, temple rituals, law, the L.A. Times “Scholars have agricultural outputs and reported. participated in a information about resetThere was also an project to conserve tled refugees, according investigation into to the L.A. Times. whether the exchange of the tablets.”

The University said in the tablets violated tax Cornell Statement a statement that it is fraud or the Trading proud of the work done With the Enemy Act, which prohibited any business with Iraq on the cuneiform tablets since 2000.

“While the cuneiform tablets have during the war. According to the L.A. Times, the Garsana tablets were valued been at Cornell, scholars have particiat less than $50,000 when they were pated in a project to conserve the tablets imported, but Rosen received a and publish them, not only for historic $900,000 tax deduction upon their preservation but also for the research and cultural benefits of the Republic of donation in 2000.

There were no findings of wrongdo- Iraq,” the statement said.

According to the L.A. Times, Cornell ing because investigators could not determine the precise details of when or is not the only University returning how the tablets were acquired, according ancient artifacts suspected of looting.

Princeton University returned 170 to the L.A. Times.

Last year, the Iraqi government objects to Italy last year after they were requested that the tablets be returned, linked to an antiquities dealer being and the U.S. attorney’s office in investigated for trafficking looted Binghamton is brokering the transfer, objects. Last year, Bowling Green State University in Ohio also announced the according to the L.A. Times.

The tablets have played a crucial role return of a dozen ancient mosaics after in helping scholars learn about the roles evidence revealed they had been looted. of women during the time, showing that women attained a high status in their Dara Levy can be reached at society. The Garsana tablets show that a dlevy@cornellsun.com.

Continued from page 1

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

NEWS

Markot: Travel Registry Alumnus Discusses Murdoch on Colbert System‘Well-Received’

powerful?” Colbert asked According to Folkenflik, Murdoch is “fascinating and complex,” but in particular, he was drawn “journalistic hack,” Colbert and Folkenflik spoke to the hacking scandal in 2011, when even the top about Folkenflik’s new book on media mogul officials at Scotland Yard had to resign for taking Rupert Murdoch: Murdoch’s World: the Last of the bribes from reporters.

Folkenflik added that although he did not Old Media Empires.

“Listen to how Folkenflik — and I hope I can know if Murdoch knew these practices were hapsay that word on the air — has been accusing pening in the U.K., there was a certain culture News Corps of public relations skullduggery,” within his organizations.

“There is the sense that he continually pushed Colbert said.

In his book, Folkenflick describes how his tabloids to find out greater and greater degree Murdoch was “humbled and humiliated” by the of gossip and news. He pushed them relentlessly in an age of having to compete 2011 hacking scandal, when against the internet sites for gosreporters in the United sip as well,” he said. “But it was Kingdom were accused of “Listen to how Folkenflik — also in a culture in which he had hacking people’s answering and I hope I can say that word machines, according to on the air — has been accusing so much power through his newspapers, and influence in NPR. politics that politicians were Folkenflik, however, said News Corps of public relations unwilling to check any behavior he was impressed by skulldoggery.” that was a problem.”

Murdoch, and mentioned According to The Colbert that Murdoch has multiple Stephen Colbert Report segment, staffers at facets: aside from being a Murdoch’s media outlets would go online and media powerhouse, he is also a papal knight.

“This is about a guy who I think is, in many comment on negative blog posts and rebut negaways, the most influential media figure in the eng- tive comments. Staffers would use anywhere from lish speaking world,” he said. “He’s a guy who has 20 to 100 aliases to do so, according to the segbent politicians to his will, who has sent people ment.

Folkenflik has worked for NPR since 2004. seeking to be presidents, prime ministers, even aspiring popes to travel thousands of miles to Before that, he spent more than 10 years at the Baltimore Sun and worked at the Durham meet with him.”

However, when discussing his book, Colbert Herald-Sun, his first job after graduating from said he did not know why Folkenflik would write Cornell.

Folkenflik’s apperence comes after Prof. his book about Murdoch, who not only controls the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal and Christopher Barrett, applied economics and manFox News, but also has a majority stake in agement, went on The Daily Show With Jon Australian newspaper circulation and a third of Stewart in September. national newspaper circulation in the United Caroline Flax can be reached Kingdom.

“Why would you want to cross someone so at cflax@cornellsun.com.

COLBERT

Continued from page 1

2008. We can follow trends for Cornell Abroad programs, but for us to be able to see definiabroad or may already be run- tive trends across the ning a program, but can use University; we need more support. That is what I hope complete data. Right now, we to see happen in general: a web are inviting every school, of interesting new initiatives department or individual faccoming up throughout the ulty who take or send students University and Cornell Abroad abroad to start using it to manage their application helping make them happen.

S UN : What relationship processes. Most already use it does C.U. Abroad have with in the form of Travel Registry, which is actually just a differCALS Exchange?

M.M.: CALS Exchange ent interface to the same softmay be one of the oldest pro- ware. Travel Registry keeps grams of study abroad at track of students’ whereabouts Cornell. I recently met with abroad in case of emergencies. the leadership of CALS and The application management found out that their programs system offers additional robust capabilities and organizes data more sys“That is what I hope to see haptematically. For exampen in general: a web of interestple, it allows to track students as a group, ing new initiatives coming up which is an additional throughout the University and benefit. Programs like Cornell Abroad.”

CALS Exchange are coming on board; the Marina Markot next to join will be ILR and Human started sometime in the early Ecology Exchanges. The more 1960s. So, it’s a really long programs that participate, the track record. They have a wide more comprehensive set of array of partners, and it has a data we are going to have.

SUN: I know the travel regwonderful following within the college. The way we part- istry system was only implener currently — outside of just mented last year — how has it being colleagues and sharing been working?

M.M.: It has been well good practices — is that CALS Exchange is using our online received, and many people are application system. This is the making use of it. The Travel second year they will be using Registry is designed particularit, so I’m hoping that will help ly for independent travelers: them keep better track of their for example, an individual or a students, not just for every small group of students who given year but also historically. are going to do an indepenOur application management dent project abroad. Via the system also allows CALS to Travel Registry, [travelers] can have full access to students tell the University where they information: their emergency are going, they get access to contact, their travel itinerary, the University emergency etc. I believe that this is a good assistance program and if anyway for Cornell Abroad to thing were to happen, we can provide a platform so CALS tell who is where. One of the colleagues can do their work challenges of Travel Registry is to make that, every year, the more easily.

S UN : You said that you new cohort of independent could track trends with this travelers is well aware of its software. ... Have you noticed existence and the benefits of it. any so far? How long have you been using the system?

M.M.: Cornell Abroad has The Sun’s news department can been using the system since be reached at MARKOT

Continued from page 1

news-editor@cornellsun.com.

You can always find The Sun on campus! BUT can you find it on the Hertsprung-Russel Diagram???

6 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013

NEW YORK STATE NEWS BRIEFS

Two Binghampton Men Face Murder Charges BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — Two men face murder charges for an attack that left a 22-year-old man dead and his six months pregnant 19-year-old girlfriend hospitalized with serious injuries.

The Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin reports (http://press.sn/1aDobf2 ) that the victims were beaten, stabbed, set on fire and left for dead in the basement of a burning house in Binghamton Monday morning. The woman, whose name wasn’t released,

broke a window to escape.

Jordan Dordell’s body was found after the fire was extinguished.

Police later charged 21-yearold Julian Talamantez IV and 25-year-old Nigel Saunders with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

They pleaded not guilty in Binghamton City Court Tuesday and were sent to the Broome County Jail without bail.

Court papers say the suspects broke into the house when the victims were sleeping.

Prison Sentence Upheld In N.Y. Federal Appeals Court NEW YORK (AP) — A New York federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and 20-year prison sentence for philanthropist Anne H. Bass’s former butler.

Emanuel Nicolescu (nik-ohLES’-kyoo) was convicted last year in New Haven, Conn., of trying to extort millions of dollars during an hours-long ordeal in which Bass and a companion were held hostage on her rural Kent, Conn., estate.

Bass fired Nicolescu weeks before three men invaded her

western Connecticut home in April 2007.

Authorities said the masked intruders injected the women and withheld an antidote unless they paid $8.5 million.

The injected substance was harmless.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday said a commerce-related charge was appropriate because a successful extortion would have reduced the scope of Bass’s global charity.

Bass is an ex-wife of Texas billionaire Sid Bass.

Bill de Blasio Elected Next Mayor of New York City NEW YORK (AP) — Bill de Blasio was elected New York City’s first Democratic mayor in two decades Tuesday, running on an unabashedly liberal, tax-therich platform that contrasted sharply with billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s record during 12 years in office.

With 6 percent of precincts reporting, De Blasio, the city’s public advocate, had 71 percent of the vote compared with 27 percent for Republican Joe Lhota, former chief of the metropolitan area’s transit agency.

De Blasio’s campaign tweeted out a simple message soon after polls closed: “Thank you, New York City.” De Blasio, 52, will take office on Jan. 1 as the 109th mayor of the nation’s largest city.

He had been heavily favored, holding an overwhelming lead in the polls for weeks.

Bloomberg, who first ran as a Republican and later became an independent, guided the city through the financial meltdown and the aftermath of 9/11. He is leaving office after three terms.

De Blasio ran as the antiBloomberg, railing against economic inequality and portraying New York as a “tale of two cities” — one rich, the other working class — under the pro-business, pro-development mayor, who made his fortune from the financial information company that bears his name.

De Blasio, who hails from Brooklyn, reached out to New Yorkers he contended were left behind by the often Manhattancentric Bloomberg administration, and he called for a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for universal pre-kindergarten. He also pledged to improve econom-

ic opportunities in minority and working-class neighborhoods.

He decried alleged abuses under the police department’s stop-and-frisk policy and enjoyed a surge when a federal judge ruled that police had unfairly singled out blacks and Hispanics. The candidate, a white man married to a black woman, also received a boost from a campaign ad featuring their son, a 15-year-old with a big Afro.

Despite his reputation for idealism, he has also shown a pragmatic side, having worked for both Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and was known for closed-door wheeling-and-dealing while serving on the City Council.

He was expected to address a rollicking crowd of supporters at the YMCA in his home neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn, a far cry from the glitzy Manhattan hotel ballrooms that usually host election night parties.

Lhota called de Blasio to concede about half an hour after polls closed at 9 p.m, according to a spokeswoman for the Democratic candidate.

“It was a good fight and it was a fight worth having,” Lhota told a crowd of supporters in a Manhattan hotel before offering a word of caution to de Blasio.

“We want out city to move forward and not backward, and I hope our mayor-elect understands that before it’s too late,” he said.

Lhota, 59, spent much of the campaign slamming de Blasio’s “tale of two cities” appeal as class warfare and argued that de Blasio’s time in the 1980s with the left-wing Sandinistas in Nicaragua as an aid worker and activist made him a Marxist.

U.S. NEWS BRIEFS

McAuliffe Takes Virginia Governor’s Race

TYSONS CORNER, Va. (AP) — Terry McAuliffe wrested the governor’s office from Republicans on Tuesday, capping an acrimonious campaign that was driven by a crush of negative advertising, non-stop accusations of dodgy dealings and a tea party-backed nominee who tested the limits of swing-voting Virginia.

McAuliffe received 47 percent to Cuccinelli’s 46 percent, with 97 precincts reporting.

McAuliffe, a Democrat, ran strong among unmarried women, voters who made abortion a top issue and those who called the suburbs of Washington, D.C., home, according to preliminary results of an exit poll conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks. Cuccinelli, meanwhile, fared well among tea party backers, gun owners and among the state’s rural residents — but there were not enough of them to yield a victory.

In winning, McAuliffe broke a stubborn streak in state history.

During the past nine governor’s races, the party that controlled the White House at the time has always lost.

That’s not to say voters rushed to back McAuliffe’s vision for Virginia. Turnout for was low, and both candidates worked through Election Day to reach as many potential voters as possible.

Only 52 percent of voters said they strongly backed their candidate, the rest had reservations or backed a candidate because they disliked the other options, according to exit polls. Neither major candidate’s ideological views seemed “right” for a majority of Virginians, 50 percent called Cuccinelli too conservative, 41 percent said McAuliffe is too liberal.

The exit poll included interviews with 2,376 voters from 40 polling places around the state.

The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Voters’ dissatisfaction couldn’t

overshadow the fight on television.

McAuliffe enjoyed a 10-to-1 advertising advantage over Cuccinelli during the final days.

“We were very heavily outspent but I’m proud we ran on first principles,” Cuccinelli told supporters in conceding. “The battle goes on.”

The campaign’s tilt turned many voters off.

“I really hated the negative campaigning,” said Ellen Tolton, a 52-year-old grant writer. “I didn’t want to vote for any of them.”

Richard Powell, a 60-year-old retired I.T. manager who lives in Norfolk, described himself as an independent who frequently votes for members of both parties. He said he cast his ballot for McAuliffe, although not because he’s particularly enthusiastic about him. He said he was more determined not to vote for Cuccinelli, who he said overreaches on a variety of medical issues.

Voters were barraged with a series of commercials that tied Cuccinelli to restricting abortions, and while Powell said the negative advertising “got to be sickening,” abortion rights played a factor in his vote.

“I’m not in favor of abortion — let’s put it that way — but I find that restricting abortion causes far more social harm than allowing abortion, so that was an issue for me,” he said.

McAuliffe’s narrow victory in Virginia rested on a 9-point edge among women, while the two major party candidates split men about evenly, according to exit polls. McAuliffe carried liberals and moderates, Cuccinelli independents and tea party backers.

From the outset, the campaign shaped up as a barometer of voters’ moods and a test of whether a swing-voting state like Virginia would elect a tea party-style governor. Republicans bet a deeply conservative candidate would be their best shot at holding onto the governor’s office.

LAX Shooting Survivor Says He Crawled for His Life LOS ANGELES (AP) — A teacher said Tuesday that he crawled to escape a gunman at Los Angeles International Airport and used a sweatshirt as a tourniquet after his leg was shattered during last week’s deadly shooting.

“I didn’t know what his intention was,” Brian Ludmer said from his hospital bed. “I only saw me and him. ... I was in total panic.”

Ludmer, 29, said he was heading to his hometown of Chicago to attend a wedding when gunshots erupted Friday on a floor below him as he waited in a long, snaking line at a Terminal 3 security checkpoint.

“It was hard to know what was going on, where the shots were coming from,” he said.

Downstairs, Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez was killed and the gunman was trying to shoot other TSA workers.

Ludmer recalled that he and other travelers pushed through metal detectors after hearing shots, scattering into the terminal and down ramps into bathrooms,

shops and stores, even onto airplanes — anywhere to get away from the shooter.

As Ludmer ran, a bullet hit him in the calf.

“My leg collapsed. It just instantly wouldn’t support me,” he said. “Below the bullet wound my leg was just hanging.”

He looked back and saw the gunman alone in the terminal hallway. Ludmer collapsed against a wall and started crawling for his life on all fours. He found a shop, scrambled into a storage room and shut the door. He found a sweatshirt and tied it around his leg to reduce the bleeding.

Ludmer was terrified that he would pass out and bleed to death or the gunman would follow and finish him off.

Soon, however, he heard voices, dragged himself to the door and peeked out. A wave of relief swept over him when he realized police officers were clearing the terminal.

“They got me out of there, even though it was at great risk to themselves,” he said. “They wheeled me out of there at a run.”

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

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Editorial

More Police for Ithaca AFTER APPROVING A 2013 BUDGET that cut nine officers from the Ithaca Police Department, the Common Council is now considering an amendment to reintroduce two of those positions back into the force in 2014. Some officials have suggested funding these two officers by removing the new Deputy Police Chief for Professional Standards position from the 2014 budget. With the ultimate goal of keeping our city safe from crime, we believe the addition of an internal affairs position is less critical than maintaining a strong presence of uniformed police. The Common Council should answer IPD officials’ pleas and pass the amendment to get more officers on the street. Amid economic struggles, public safety must still remain the City’s first priority.

We understand that the City needs to make cuts to balance the budget; some sacrifice is necessary in order to help maintain financial health. But crime rates in Ithaca have risen, according to statements IPD Chief John Barber made at a Common Council meeting last week. Barber and other IPD officials have repeatedly made it clear that downsizing by nine officers has diminished the department’s ability to protect residents. If returning two of those officers to the force will have a real impact on Ithaca’s ability to provide its citizens with essential safety services, the Common Council should find the money to make it happen.

If funding two more uniformed officers, which would cost the city an additional $117,609, requires the elimination of the deputy position from the 2014 budget, so be it. According to officials, the new deputy would be tasked with overseeing and standardizing internal investigations, as well as working to improve relations between police and the community. While such a role would be an asset, we are more concerned by IPD’s claims there are not enough officers to adequately police the streets. If budget constraints mean a choice between one or the other, the City should choose to dedicate concrete resources to daily crime-fighting.

If scrapping the new deputy post is not enough to fully finance salaries for two officers, the mayor’s plan to streamline the bureaucracy of Ithaca’s planning and building departments should shake loose some extra funds. If those savings are still insufficient, perhaps the Common Council should reconsider the 2014 budget proposal’s tax levy increase of only 2.08 percent. Implementing the lowest raise since 2000 simply may not generate the revenue Ithaca desperately needs. We understand the pressure on City officials to keep taxes down, and easing the burden on families is a positive goal. But with Ithaca facing massive cuts to essential services and crime rates moving in the wrong direction, perhaps now is not the time for taxpayer appeasement.

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

OPINION

Sarah Byrne | Let It Byrne

Rachael Singer |

Animal House of Reps

Five Adventures In Childcare E

ver since I’ve been old enough to be left home alone, I have been babysitting every child I know. Neighbors, family friends, cousins, friends of cousins, friends of cousins of friends; if I know a human person under the age of 10, I’ve probably babysat him or her. Last summer, during the week I worked at a summer camp with 10 and 11-year-olds, and on the weekends I nannied for a family with two children under the age of three. I had some pretty interesting experiences, and I heard some things that I never thought I’d hear come out of another human being’s mouth. Here are a few of my top moments: 1. “Knock-knock.” – “Who’s there?” – “Strawberry.” – “Strawberry who?” – “STRAWBERRY I’M GOING TO EAT YOUR FACE.” This is a real joke told by a real other member of our species. I can’t explain what the joke is, or even if it is a joke.

Could just be a poorly formulated threat. The choice of strawberry is bold, considering the prevalence of oranges and bananas in the traditional knock-knock jokes of our generation. Maybe this joke is simply leaps and bounds ahead of anything I could ever conceive of. In that case, kudos to the three-year-old who came up with it.

2. Kids at camp love feeling my legs: Going into this summer, I thought that since I’d be working with kids, I wouldn’t have to look great every day, which was a relief. It’s really hard to look good when you have to wake up at 6AM to take the subway to get on a bus with 50 screaming children. However, as it turns out, children, at least these New York City children, were acutely aware of every imperfection in my appearance.

If I can never have cornrows, so be it; as long as I live in a world where any fruit can be a part of knock-knock jokes, I’ll survive.

Particularly, they were fascinated by the amount of hair on my legs. If I hadn’t shaved in a few days, they would make fun of me for having furry legs. If I had just shaved, they would sit next to me and stroke my legs. Once, a camper said my legs were so smooth they were reflecting the sun like mirrors. I really hope that’s a good thing, and also that it’s not super creepy, coming from a fifth-grader.

3. Me: “Can I have cornrows?” Camper: “No, that’s too hood, you can have braids like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.” One of my dearest dreams, throughout childhood, was to have cornrows. Over the summer, a few of the campers had cornrows, and told me all about how they produced and maintained these gloriously tight braids. Their mothers often gave me specific instructions on how to deal with the elaborate hairstyle during swim times, and the whole process just seemed very magical. So, one day, when the kids were braiding my hair, I asked if I could have cornrows. Sadly, I was denied. Apparently, they identified me more with a fictional Kansan than any existing person who could pull off cornrows.

4. Marriage proposals from toddlers: Actually, I’ve received a lot more of these than any logical person might imagine. Once, one of my babysit-ees told me to make a silly face. Then, when I stuck my tongue out while making this face, he quickly leaned forward and licked my tongue. This was immediately followed by him asking me to marry him, which, marks by far the most fastpaced relationship I’ve ever had. On a second occasion, a small boy asked me, “When I’m a old and I’m a dad, can you be the wife?” Which I guess shows a lack of understanding of human reproduction, but is still quite adorable.

5. Harry Potter-Themed Activities: Far and away one of my favorite things about children who are growing up now is that they still like Harry Potter. On the first day of camp, my kids played a variation of “Two Truths and Lie” in which they came up with seven statements, one fact from each of the seven Harry Potter books, and I had to guess which one was the lie. Another day, the only way they would change into their bathing suits was if I read them a chapter from the Order of the Phoenix while they did so. They found it outrageous and hilarious that I had to wait months and years for each Harry Potter book and movie to come out, which makes me feel really old. Maybe I’m really immature, or they were all really mature, but I like to think certain opinions (really just regarding Harry Potter) are universal.

I absolutely love working with children, mostly because they’re so ridiculous, and I love being ridiculous with them. A three-yearold once told me that I was a ten on the scale of silliness, which is one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received. And if I can never have cornrows, so be it; as long as I live in a world where any fruit can be a part of knock-knock jokes, I’ll survive.

Sarah Byrne is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at sbyrne@cornellsun.com. Let it Byrne appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

Christo Eliot |

The Tale of the Dingo at Midnight

Facing Your Own Mortality On Student Center

A

few nights ago, I was ice quently illustrates the problem. He climbing in Austria (bear says that grades should be looked at with me for a minute). as a tool similar to the speedometer Everything seemed to being going of a car. A speedometer measures the pretty well, but then, as in most ice speed of a car and communicates it climbing stories that you read about to the driver. Similarly, grades meain the Cornell Daily Sun, something sure academic performance and went wrong. My partner and I were then communicate the level of perscaling the face of the ice wall simul- formance to the student. When you taneously using a team belay system. drive a car, you glance at the Unfortunately, because of climate speedometer regularly and adjust change, the ice was softer than we how much pressure you are putting anticipated and one of the bolts that on the accelerator or brake — you we used to secure our ropes dis- do not stare at the speedometer the lodged itself from the ice face, and whole time. Additionally, the point we began to fall. of driving a car is to arrive at a desProbably the most relieving part tination. It isn’t achieving and mainof this story is that it was a dream. I taining some high speed — just like fell, but it was out of my bed. your primary goal in education is to Embarassing? Yeah, but at least I be educated, not to earn high didn’t have to plummet to my death grades. in the icy alps along the Tyrolean-Italian border to face my own mortality. I really like the Buddhist It is important to take approach of “living in the classes because you want present,” so I try and face my mortality at least once to take them rather than every few months (side because you think you can note: riding a shopping cart down Williams might succeed in them. sound like a really good idea, but it actually isn’t).

This particular instance comes at a During pre-enroll every student very good time – pre-enroll. A time gets to choose what classes he or she when you take stock of what is will take in the coming semester and important in your (academic) life has to take stock of what interests and choose what you are doing with him or her and what other courses your (academic) future. he or she will be taking. A lot of stuEveryone has been told at least dents, however, add a third factor to once in their lives that they are not the mix: what grade will he or she their GPA, yet many students get in the course. (myself included) are guilty of not When selecting your courses this just projecting what their GPA for pre-enroll try to think like you the semester will be but also electing would during high school. Maybe to take or not take a class because it don't ruthlessly make fun of everyhas a reputation for being easy. one around you, but approach the Students, particularly at Cornell, process with that terrific sense of seem to be drawn to higher grades entitlement that teenagers have. than they are to the actual learning What do you want to do? That's that those grades may represent — what matters. If a class on nuclear this is an issue. fusion or art history of the modern An analogy outlined by Ahmed era looks interesting to you, take it.

Afzaal, a comparative religion pro- I won’t say that grades don’t matter fessor at Concordia College, elo- — they do — but what grade you

get in a course is secondary to your actual learning. Are you going to leave the class with knowledge that you wouldn’t have had before?

Actually falling while ice climbing and surviving would undoubtedly change the way I approach the world. I once heard someone who survived a plane crash say, “I only save bad wine.” That is to say, if the opportunity for something presents itself, and there is nothing standing in your way, there is no reason at all to put it off. It goes beyond the normal bucket list stuff like skydiving, learning German or going to a cock fight in Puerto Rico. Sure, I’m obviously going to go to a cock fight if the opportunity presents itself because my distaste for animal cruelty is outweighed by my affinity for gambling in other languages. But the bucket list and slamming bottles of nice wine are simply examples of taking full advantage of what you are presented with.

At Cornell you are presented with incredible opportunities to learn from incredibly accomplished instructors in great facilities surrounded by (hopefully) intelligent and motivated peers. I’m not saying that Cornell is all about learning; we all know that a large part of the experience comes from … other outlets. And I’m not saying that taking easy classes is a cop-out.

I simply think that it is important to take classes because you want to take them rather than because you think you can succeed in them. So please stop posting in the Cornell Class of 2015 group about easy classes to fill out your distribution or liberal arts requirements. I promise there are classes out there that you’ll actually enjoy.

Christo Eliot is a junior in the College of Engineering. He may be reached at celiot@cornellsun.com. The Tale of the Dingo at Midnight appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

10 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013

One more reason to pick up

The CorneÂŹ Daily Sun

SCIENCE

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013 11

Robotics

Nutritional Science

Genetics

Robots Predict Human Actions

By RYAN O’HERN Sun Contributor

Autonomous robots can build cars, manage the inventory at Amazon’s warehouses and run gene-sequencing experiments. However, since these robots operate in static environments, performing the same actions thousands of times, the technology that powers them has limited use in environments where change and unpredictability are present.

Cornell researchers are trying to change this.

In order for scientists and engineers to build robots that can work with humans, they must be able to build robots that can understand and predict human activity in order to handle human sources of change and chance.

Hema Koppula grad and Prof.

Ashutosh Saxena, computer science, have begun to solve the problem of predicting human actions in order to moderate the actions of robots.

In Saxena’s lab, a human-sized robot with two sophisticated arms observes the world using a Microsoft Kinect 3-D Camera. The Kinect, a camera that uses thousands of bursts of an infrared laser to gather three-dimensional data about the world, has become the bread and butter of robotics research because of its low price and efficacy at mapping spaces in 3-D. Using the Kinect, the robot observes humans performing simple household tasks such as warming food in a microwave or drinking from a coffee mug.

Then, the robot, which has been programmed to perform helpful actions like refilling the mug or opening the refrigerator, uses information about the human’s current activity to decide what action it should take next.

The robot’s understanding of human activity allows it to moderate its actions to

avoid causing more harm than good. For example, because it would be disastrous for the robot to attempt to refill a mug that a human is currently drinking from, the robot must know to pause the activity of refilling a mug.

“Humans are predictable, but not very predictable,” Koppula said.

There is a limitation to how far into the future a robotic system can predict because there is an inherent amount of uncertainty in what action a human will take next, according to Koppula. Even a perfect prediction model will have limitations. However, like many systems now being built with machine learning technology, even within the limitations of inherent unpredictability, the quantity and quality of data available is critical to the efficacy of the system.

Koppula and other researchers in Saxena’s lab use data to build models of human action by capturing dozens of 3-D videos of humans performing common domestic tasks. Using technology similar to that seen in computer-animated films, human beings are represented in these videos as skeletons built of lines and joints.

A complex action like pouring a drink is recorded, and researchers then label the sub-actions that make it up each action.

For example: in order to pour a drink, the robot will reach for a drink, picking up the drink, moving toward the mug and pour the drink. Taking these labeled chunks of activity gathered from 120 videos, larger activities can then be modeled as sequences of these sub-actions.

The robot is then able to observe a human and decide what activity is being performed. Based on the current subaction as well as the objects present in the environment, the robot guesses what subaction the human will do next, according to Koppula.

COURTESY OF HEMA KOPPULA GRAD

Robot to the rescue | Hema Koppula grad built a robot that can anticipate human actions. The robot is uses a 3-D camera to view and help with common domestic tasks.

In this model, objects are nearly as important as actions, Koppula said. The robot must be able not only to recognize types of objects but also to associate each type of object with the sub-actions that can be done to or with it. These possibilities are called affordances.

An object may have many affordances associated with it. For example, a mug can be picked up, it contains fluid that a human may drink, and it contains fluid that may be poured. Thus the affordances for the mug can include “pick up,” “drink” and “pour,” as well as several others.

Although Koppula has had success with this approach by producing robots that helpfully open a refrigerator when they notice a human walking towards it or that pause before pouring root beer into a mug that is being used, she said that she is not satisfied. Koppula said her goal is to make it possible for robots to operate intelligently in common human environments such as the home or office, freeing them from the limited but predictable environments of factories and warehouses

in which they currently operate. However, her prediction model is restricted by access to 3-D videos of human activity.

“Getting large amounts of 3-D data is a challenge,” Koppula said.

As there is no database such as YouTube for 3-D videos, researchers have no existing store of videos to use and must create them in the lab. For robots to predict any of the thousands of activities a person can perform in the home or office, more data is required.

One approach, said Koppula, is to install 3-D cameras like the Kinect in homes and offices and to employ people to use systems like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to label the activities captured in these videos to allow new learning algorithms to learn from them.

This could be first step in building a universal 3-D video library of human actions and creating more helpful, autonomous robots.

Ryan O’Hern can be reached at rmo26@cornell.edu.

COURTESY OF HEMA KOPPULA GRAD

Assisting actions | The autonomous robot uses learning technology to recognize objects and possible actions associated with those objects. For example, if the robot notices a person reaching for a mug, it will not refill the mug until the person is done drinking. Similarly, if a person is walking toward a fridge, the robot will know to open the fridge.

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

SCIENCE

Prof. David Levitsky Finds Simple, Healthy Way to Lose Weight

By YIDAN XU Sun Staff Writer

Do you want to lose weight in a healthy, easy way? Skip breakfast, Cornell researchers say.

Eating breakfast is widely believed to be a key factor in preventing obesity because skipping breakfast, some say, increases hunger throughout the day and makes people overeat during lunch to compensate for the missing first meal.

However, Prof. David Levitsky, nutritional science, and Carly Pacanowski grad recently led a study that shows skipping breakfast may actually be a formula for weight-loss success.

The study measured the caloric intake throughout the day of people who ate large breakfasts that contained more than 600 calories, according to Levitsky. These individuals were compared with a sample of people who usually skipped breakfast entirely.

The study concluded that those who skipped breakfast on a daily basis were hungrier and increased their calorie intake by over 140 calories during lunch, which agrees with popular thought.

However, by the end of the day, they consumed, on average, 400 fewer calories than those who ate a big breakfast, Levitsky said.

The results suggest that occasionally skipping breakfast could be an effective strategy in reducing total daily energy intake. According to Levitsky, the findings can be explained by a deficit in human body mechanism.

“It is currently believed that humans possess biological mechanisms that regulate our eating,” Levitsky said. “However, these mechanisms regulate our intake very poorly. Undereating increases people’s rating of hunger level, yet our body does not

know how much to eat to make up [for it].

Consequently, under eating at one meal does not result in overeating at the next.”

According to Levitsky, this finding is important in a society that is trying to fight an obesity epidemic.

“What we have to learn how to do is to eat less,” Levitsky said.

According to Levitsky, although there is no hard data from long-term research projects on this subject, several studies in Europe tracked people who occasionally skipped meals and found they lost weight and kept it off until they stopped skipping meals.

“This is a message that the food industry does not want to hear and they are trying all kinds of things to get around this,” Levitsky said.

Levitsky’s research not only runs counter to common belief, but also has raised a few eyebrows among other scholars.

In another study, researchers in Boston found that men who regularly skip breakfast are at higher risk of a heart attack or death caused by heart disease than those who eat breakfast daily, according to Levitsky.

Despite this other study, Levitsky said that he does not believe skipping breakfast leads to higher risk factors for disease.

According to Levitsky, upon a closer look, the Boston study revealed that larger people are more likely to skip breakfast.

We know larger people have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease,” he said.

So, the results, according to Levitsky, only prove association, not causation. The high risk of heart disease in the Boston study could be related to the person’s overall condition instead of their eating habits.

In the meantime, even though skipping breakfast does not risk one’s health, it is

COURTESY OF PROF. DAVID LEVITSKY

Missing meals | Prof. David Levitsky, nutritional science, found that, contrary to popular belief, skipping breakfast can help individuals lose weight.

important to know that Levitsky’s results only apply to healthy adults.

“If you’re diabetic or hypoglycemic, for example, no doubt you need to eat breakfast to maintain glucose levels,” Levitsky said. “But generally, we must learn to eat

less and occasionally skipping breakfast may be a safe and reasonable way to lose weight and control obesity.”

Yidan Xu can be reached at yxu@cornellsun.com.

Alyssa Cornelius ’14 Studies Genetics of Rare Blood Disorder

By BARBARA FORCE Sun Contributor

To many people, Alyssa Cornelius ’14 is known as the “guiding eyes lady,” always seen with an entourage of adorable guide dogs in training. However, Cornelius has another life – one spent at a lab bench inside the Vet Research Tower where she spends countless hours researching Fanconi anemia, a rare blood disorder.

Fanconi anemia is a deadly affliction that affects blood production. It is passed on through mutated recessive genes in thousands of people across the globe. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute places the carrier rate of Fanconi anemia gene mutations at one in every 181 people; this means about one in every 130,000 people have the disorder. The mutations that cause fanconi anemia are characterized by genetic instability, bone marrow failure and significantly increased cancer susceptibility, according to Cornelius.

A person with Fanconi anemia is unable to grow new blood cells and can develop cancer as faulty blood cells are created, according to Cornelius. Organs are also affected because they depend on nutrients carried in the blood. Fanconi anemia affects children more than

adults because of their bodies’ rapid growth, Cornelius said.

According to Cornelius, a series of genes called the Fanconi anemia pathway are normally used by the body to repair broken DNA. However, when genes inside the pathway that code for repair are broken, the body suffers. So far, scientists have tracked down fifteen genes susceptible to mutations that can lead to the Fanconi anemia disorder in humans.

Cornelius said that she studies one of the most recently discovered genes – FancJ. The FancJ gene is linked to Brca1 whose infamous mutations often lead to breast cancer. That connection led scientists to find the FancJ mutation. The FancJ mutation was recently characterized by Cornelius’ principal investigator, Prof. Paula Cohen, genetics, and Dr. Kim Holloway, a research scientist in Cohen’s lab, last year.

“I spent the majority of last year setting the baseline for this research,” Cornelius said.

Cornelius is currently researching the moment when the FancJ gene mutations begin to alter development in afflicted mouse embryos’ gonads, or sex organs.

The moment the gene is turned on and shows its characteristics is called the phenotype.

After studying the division of

both normal and afflicted cells, Cornelius saw that the phenotype was not due to errors in meiosis, or germ cell division, in adults, as she predicted. Instead, onset began earlier, during the development of the gonads. Cornelius now looks at embryos, specifically mid-gestation and postpartum samples when germ cells are rapidly dividing and are more susceptible to DNA damage.

“My hypothesis is that, in mutants, on the day of gestation when the phenotype shows up, there will be a spike in apoptotic [dead] cells and a decrease in primordial germ cells,” Cornelius said.

One problem Cornelius has faced in her research is the fragility of both the cell samples and the TUNEL and TRA98 stains that she depends on for analysis.

According to Cornelius, reaching out and networking with other researchers has allowed her to overcome this problem.

“We know it works. It’s a matter of getting it to work again,” Cornelius said. “The images are gorgeous. We went from the normal controls with numerous primordial germ cells to five or six living germ cells in the mutant.”

Cornelius said that she may be close to pinning the exact day when the FancJ phenotype kicks in dur-

COURTESY OF ALYSSA CORNELIUS ’14

Detecting disorders | Alyssa Cornelius ’14 looks for the moment during development when FancJ gene mutations in mice alter development and cause the rare blood disorder, Fanconi anemia.

ing gestation.

“Finding the day the phenotype appears is the goal. Knowing that, working on preventative measures can come next,” Cornelius said.

In the future, Cornelius said she anticipates seeing an integration study of all the genes in play within these mutations in order to look at what is known as the Fanconi anemia pathway.

Cornelius added that she would especially like to see how FancJ interacts with MLH1, a mismatch repair gene also involved in promoting meiotic crossovers – or the exchange of genetic material across chromosomes – that play a critical role in meiosis.

Barbara Force can be reached at baf72@cornell.edu.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013 13

A&E

14 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, November 6, 2013

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT An Interview With A.O. Scott

BY ZACHARY ZAHOS Sun Associate Managing Editor

While he may have raised the ire of Samuel L. Jackson with one sarcastic takedown of The Avengers, A.O. Scott has earned many more kindred followers with his erudite, personable and well-reasoned film criticism for The New York Times. Tonight at 9:15, he will introduce The Sweet Smell of Success at Cornell Cinema, and tomorrow, at 4:30 p.m., he will deliver the Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Lecture at Goldwin Smith Hall. On Monday, the Sun spoke to Scott about his writing process, Roger Ebert and Breaking Bad. THE SUN: When you look back at college and your pre-professional life, interests, etc., does your career as a critic seem like a given to you?

A.O. SCOTT: Not at all. In a way, I would say, probably when I was in high school, when I first started reading criticism and became aware that there was this whole layer you could experience and think about in the movies you saw, the books you read, the music you listened to, I had an interest in criticism and kind of a fantasy someday writing for a newspaper or a magazine. But I kind of wandered away from that and went to college where I was very focused on the academic side of things and didn’t do much other writing. I just kind of went on a track into academia, like to graduate school and a Ph.D. program, where I put aside all those things until they kind of came back. In a way, it’s very surprising but it’s also what I’ve always wished I could figure out how to do.

SUN: I think in academic stuff you want to be rigorous and, for film academics, analyze closely. But for a review you want to do those things and also have a voice that people will read — that spark, which everyone since Pauline Kael has had to have. How do you balance those two?

A.S.: Well, as you said, one of the big differences is audience.

When you’re writing academic work, journal articles or books, you’re writing for an audience of your professional peers. When you’re writing for a newspaper, you’re definitely not. I think that’s one of the reasons I gravitated toward it. I got frustrated with the limitations of academic writing, what I felt it was placing on my voice. You see the cultivation of a voice and a relationship, an almost personal relationship with readers, where they come to you every week and you want them to know who you are and trust you, whether or not they agree with you. That’s something that journalistic criticism has much more room for and much more of a tradition of.

SUN: That reminds me of your appraisal of Roger Ebert, which I was touched by when I read it [in April]. Just to mention him, explicitly, is that something you took from him, and what else did you take from him and his work?

A.S.: Well, Roger Ebert was someone who was always around. ...

What I came to appreciate more as I got to do this and, later, as I got to know Roger, was his incredible intelligence and sophistication. He knew as much about film as any film professor. He could do a frame-by-frame, shot-by-shot formal analysis as well as any film studies scholar. He knew the history of the art form backwards and forwards. But he wrote and talked and presented himself in the most accessible, personable, democratic style that he could imagine, without dumbing anything down, without pandering, without letting go of his knowledge and his sophistication. I have increasingly thought that that was an important thing to aim for, a good model to emulate. Movies are, ideally, a kind of great democratic art form that anyone can appreciate and that can travel across all boundaries of time and space and background, beliefs. The way to write about them is as clearly and directly as possible.

The hard thing about them is that they’re also incredibly complicated. You know a mediocre, run-of-the-mill movie is a very complex artifact that you have to figure out a way of talking about.

SUN: When you’re reviewing a movie, you might single out a filmmaker or an actor by name and say that this is something they did wrong, or something you didn’t like — you tie their name to a bad thing. If they read your review, do you hope they take something from your words?

A.S.: I don’t really think about it that way. I guess the vector of my writing is more toward the audience than the filmmakers.

I don’t think of it as offering constructive criticism, because I don’t know. I’ve never directed a film, I’m not an actor. So I can say how it looks to me and what I think from my standpoint as someone watching a movie ... But I never think of it as “well, you should have done it this way.” “This is how I would have made this movie.” Because, probably, if I made it, it would be much worse. What I do hope is that [filmmakers] take everything that I write that is harsh in the spirit of respectful attention to their work. ... Nobody tries to do things badly. People do submit their work for judgment and evaluation and it’s very important that

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

evaluation always be honest. I think that what I feel like I owe is an honest account of what I think of their work. ...

SUN: I see what you mean. The only public spat I recall is the Samuel L. Jackson tweet, which is just funny now.

A.S.: [Laughs] That was social media theater; that was quite hilarious. And that was very unusual. I’m sure there are a great many people in Hollywood who get mad when I write bad things or think I’m an idiot or a jerk or whatever. No one will ever say it to me, because I may have to review something else they do. So I admire that Samuel L. Jackson decided to call me out that way and rally The Avengers fans. I certainly don’t hold any grudges against him. That was an interesting piece of theater and sort of a teachable moment about what is criticism, really?

And what’s it for?

SUN: The New York Times runs reviews that are a bit longer than those in most newspapers. Does it take you a while to write these, and do you have a go-to format? Because you have to churn them out. How long does it take?

“You can labor and sweat for days for something and it’ll come out okay. Or you can write something in two hours and it’ll set people on fire.”

A.O. Scott A.S.: It really varies. It also depends on how much time I have. Usually I will take up as much time as possible, but sometimes that’s just a few hours — a Wednesday night screening and Thursday morning deadline for Friday’s paper. Sometimes I’ll get up and write it that way. So I don’t know. It’s often hard for me to do too much. I’m very much a creature of deadline. That’s a habit I developed in college [Laughs] ... I’ll think about it, sometimes I’ll do whatever extra work needs to be done — reading the book it’s based on, re-watching a movie by the same director, whatever will help me think. But then the writing, I don’t know ... Sometimes it takes me two days, sometimes it takes two hours.

The sad thing is that no one can ever tell the difference. You can labor and sweat for days for something and it’ll come out okay.

Or you can write something in two hours and it’ll set people on fire.

SUN: In regards to non-film arts these days, the big question is: Have you watched Breaking Bad? A.S.: Oh yeah.

SUN: Cool. Everyone at The New York Times, like Dave Itzkoff, that’s all they talk about. Including me, that’s all I talk about.

A.S.: Yeah that kind of dominated the whole late summer, early fall. It was the big cultural story.

SUN: Everyone was saying that nothing in movies can top this, that this is the best thing that’s going on right now. And as much I love Breaking Bad, I think they’re different. You have multiple, multiple episodes and hours of one story and then you have a movie. Gravity is different than Breaking Bad. A.S.: I agree, they’re different. One of the reasons that television is exciting these days is that it’s realizing a potential that’s been latent for a long time. It’s coming into its own as an art form in a way that it very rarely has in the first 60 years of its existence.

It’s expanded the boundaries of long-form narration.

But you’re right, they’re totally different things. Television has improved as a visual medium as well, partly because everyone has these widescreen TVs so you can do much more cinematic compositions. All of Breaking Bad was shot in 35mm and it’s very cinematic in that way. But they’re different things, different process-

es of storytelling. There are some ways I think television is more cautious and still a bit more formula-bound than movies. Not commercial Hollywood movies, but if you look at cinema around the world, there’s stuff that’s being done and tried that you won’t find on American television.

SUN: Yeah, but then you have the people who are excited about TV who are not going to be seeing — uh, what’s a go-to example — they’re not going to be seeing Amour. They like Christopher Nolan movies, stuff that challenges them yet is still not too out there.

SUN: ... If you had to pick one, what living filmmaker do you connect with and find yourself consistently impressed with time and time again?

A.S.: There’s more than one. The way you phrased it makes me think of Pedro Almodóvar. His world is always one I’m happy to visit and I’m consistently intrigued by.

SUN: I only got into him recently and I love his work because he does the whole political and cultural type of context that people want nowadays but he does it in a fun way, without simplifying or being pedantic. I love it.

A.S.: His sense of narrative and color and emotional range he can get within a single movie. He can be screamingly funny and sublimely melodramatic. He’s one of my favorites.

SUN: You’re going to be [at Cornell Cinema] Wednesday to speak about The Sweet Smell of Success. Why is that movie the one you want to talk about?

A.S.: Well I didn’t pick it, they invited me. [Laughs] It is a movie that is one of my favorites and has been for a long time. It kind of had a revival in the late ’80s or early ’90s, when it was rereleased and got a lot of attention. It has a lot of edges. Like a lot of movies that were released in the ’50s that we now regard as masterpieces, like The Searchers or Vertigo, it was too strange or too sour for the mainstream audience. Sweet Smell of Success is a movie about journalism, about the newspaper industry, about celebrity. It’s a movie about power and ethics. And it’s a great movie about New York, the New York world that is long gone but still fascinating.

SUN: Do you look at past decades, like the ’50s or ’40s or ’70s, and wish you were a film critic then? Or do you find our time exciting and rewarding enough on its own?

A.S.: I’m not one for nostalgia. I mean, sure, to review Citizen Kane would have been thrilling in some way. But I think this is a very exciting time. It’s also a somewhat terrifying and dispiriting time to be in the media, where you don’t know what the future of your job is. But it’s a very exciting time for film. I certainly read the critics of the past and like the movies of the past.

But I never wish I was in that era.

SUN: The appreciation of movies are very nostalgic in a way.

Everyone talks about the great movies of the past, and we love to watch them. We have The Criterion Collection and others for that.

A.S.: Yes, there’s a lot of dwelling on the glories of the past at the expense of the present, which always looks a lot more shabby and ordinary. We forget our picture of the past is incredibly selective. There were a lot of terrible movies that came out in all of those decades but we just forgot about them. ... You go back and look at the ’70s or ’50s or whatever your Golden Age was, and you’ll find reviews of Taxi Driver, or Mean Streets or The Godfather, but you’ll also find hundreds of movies that just sound terrible or mediocre. At the time, even at the height of the glories of the New Hollywood, people were complaining.

SUN: Of course. People are always complaining.

A.S.: There were critics writing about how things were in decline. It’s always a matter of perspective.

Zachary Zahos is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun.com.

A&E

Swinging Singles

Wednesday, November 6, 2013 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 15

Ásgeir “Torrent” Video Released Nov. 4 Anglophones are depressingly stubborn about their music tastes. Even some of the most dedicated listeners write off music outside their native tongue, forcing many talented, popular artists to do what Ásgeir is doing. Icelandic sensation Ásgeir Trausti Einarsson, now referred to simply by the mononym Ásgeir, is arguably the hottest pop star in his home country. His debut LP from late 2012, Dýrð í dauðaþögn, caused huge ripples in the Icelandic music world, filling the nation’s headphones and stereos with his unique brand of melodic nouveau folk. Since international success is all but unattainable for those who sing in Icelandic, Ásgeir chose to divert his attention from developing new material.

Instead, with translating help from John Grant, he created a complete English

remake of his debut, entitled In the Silence, due in January.

“Torrent,” a single off the upcoming album and the English remake of “Nýfallið regn,” remains as stunningly beautiful as the original. A twinkling, lonely piano gives way to smashing drums and uplifting, ethereal vocals. As emotionally powerful as the crescendoing instrumentals are, Ásgeir’s angelic voice is the true star. This time around, the production was tweaked ever so slightly, making the mixing on “Torrent” a touch cleaner and richer, but the translation seems aesthetically unnecessary. The lyrics, although now comprehensible to English speakers, are overly flowery in true Icelandic style, and the foreign accent makes the reverbwashed vocals difficult to parse anyway.

Sadly, supporting the English remakes reinforces the unfortunate, anglo-centric state of affairs in world music, but either way, Ásgeir merits international stardom. Hopefully In the Silence will give him the recognition he deserves.

— Mike Sosnick

Top Tracks Week of Nov. 3 1. “HOLDING ON FOR LIFE,” BROKEN BELLS 2. “Y.A.L.A.,” M.I.A. 3. “YOU’RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH,” BLOOD ORANGE 4. “LISTEN AND WAIT,” GRIZZLY BEAR 5. “I MISS YOUR BONES,” HOSPITALITY 6. “CAR CHASE THEME,” FATHER JOHN MISTY 7. “Dope,” Lady Gaga 8. “NO WOUND,” SEBADOH 9. “JAMAICA PLAIN,” KURT VILE 10. “PULASKI AT NIGHT,” ANDREW BIRD

To stream the entire Swinging Singles playlist online, visit our Soundcloud playlist at this link: http://ow.ly/oxgeO

T

Slow TV Is the Best TV

his past Friday, I was bedridden from a stomach flu that I would not wish on my worst enemies. While feverish and vomiting, I took solace and comfort in watching National Knitting Evening, seemingly endless TV program on Norway’s public broadcasting channel NRK2.

I say “endless” because although the broadcast was technically 12 hours long, it hardly seemed to matter how long the event was. National Knitting Evening was a continuous TV-marathon-like broadcast of people knitting. Some knit sweaters, which was great to stare at because Scandinavia is very serious about sweater patterns. Others knit mittens, scarves and bowl covers.

There were a couple of hosts that walked around interviewing people as they knit, and when finished making the interview rounds the program would cut to viewersubmitted photos of people knitting.

There was even a Twitter ticker on the bottom that streamed tweets about knitting.

The livestream also had an English translation, so I could comprehend and get engrossed in the program.

I’m not being sarcastic here: this was engrossing stuff, and maybe some of the best TV I’ve seen all year. Maybe it’s because I loved Bob Ross — The Joy of Painting as a kid, but I doubt it. 1-million Norwegians have been captivated by similar Norwegian television programs in the past, from a 7.5 hour-long broadcast of a train journey to a 134 hour live broadcast of a ship cruising along the Norwegian coast. One-half and two-thirds of Norway tuned into those broadcasts respectively, and the cruise broadcast became social media fodder. In that broadcast, there were several marriage proposals, competitions held between cities to see who had the best welcoming ceremony, and several wacky stunt-persons who became celebrities overnight.

All these programs are part of the category of “Slow Television,” where live

broadcasts are shown in their entirety at a leisurely pace. The earliest and most familiar example of this for American audiences is the Yule Log, where footage of a bright, burning fireplace set to holiday tunes was broadcast every Christmas in New York City. It’s just a log burning — that’s it. But there was something comforting in its ordinariness, especially for many New Yorkers who didn’t have fireplaces. So why not extend the concept into other things, like the entirety of a train ride, or people knitting?

The highlight of National Knitting Evening was at midnight, when a sheep was brought into the studio and sheared of its wool.

Several Norwegian women began to spin this wool into yarn and knit into a men’s size sweater. They were racing against the clock to beat the world record for the fastest knit sweater, set by an Australian team at around 5 hours. When they passed that mark and it was apparent they did not beat it, the women got up to

Kai Sam Ng You’ve Got to Be Kitsching Me stretch, applauded for the Australian record breaks, and promptly returned to knitting.

Even though the work seemed rote, it was clear that they moved their fingers when knitting different parts of the sweater or feeding the wool to the spinner

NILS AXEN / SUN STAFF ILLUSTRATOR

that they with great care and intense focus.

It was the perfect mix of comforting predictability and just enough variation to keep things interesting.

After they failed to break the world record, the show moved into a more leisurely pace (if that’s possible). Even though they were still working just as quickly, they spoke more. Subjects of discussion included how they were knitting through the night and into the morning, speculation over whether the Australian team knitted so quickly because they knitted in the daytime and not the night time, and different philosophies of the spinning wheel. One women offered a story about how her old spinning wheel broke, and she had her teacher fix it. At around half past six in the morning, the women broke into fits of uncontrollable laughter because “there’s so much lanolin in the sweater that it will be both water and wind proof ” and the sleeves were probably uneven. One comment the translator pro-

vided: “We’re at the ten hours mark now, and I have watched all ten hours of it. Stay with us!”

There is something charming about the mundaneness of Slow TV that makes its programming so refreshing. You get to examine every detail at your own pace because nothing is edited out, you don’t feel endlessly inundated with stimulation and everybody is peacefully doing their own thing. This is far in contrast with all of American TV. The American TV industry seems to have a severe allergy to anything ostensibly “boring,” and PBS is latenight fodder because it is old-timey.

Norway’s Slow TV programming proves that assumption wrong. Maybe it’s time to copy them.

Kai Sam Ng is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He can be reached at kng@cornellsun.com. You’ve Got to be Kitsching Me runs alternate Wednesdays this semester.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

16 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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

ACROSS 1 Lies as a whole?

5 King who raged to Edgar on the heath 9 Turbaned Punjabis 14 Matty or Felipe of baseball 15 Puffs additive 16 Pistons great Thomas 17 Hog product 18 *Madonna 20 Leave openmouthed 22 Gets under control 23 *Ivy League professional school 26 PC brain 29 Skier’s challenge 30 Tuna holder 31 Sci-fi hybrid 33 Running or jumping 36 Mideast flier 37 *Fruity dessert with sweetened crumbs 42 Wrath, in a hymn 43 Writes to, nowadays 44 Green stuff 47 Transfer __ 48 Orchestra site 51 Say more 52 *“The Lord of the Rings” genre 56 Liszt or Schubert 57 Plaque honoree 58 Prize for an aspiring musical artist, perhaps from the first word of the answer to a starred clue 63 Avatar of Vishnu 64 Congo critter with striped legs 65 Golden St. campus 66 Grace ender 67 Concise 68 Use FedEx, say 69 Male deer DOWN 1 Versailles attraction

2 Los __: Manhattan Project site 3 Pink shades 4 Invasive vine 5 WC 6 Actor Roth 7 Arterial trunk 8 Kingly 9 Like the village blacksmith’s hands 10 Philosophies 11 Rio automaker 12 Laugh syllable 13 Shunning the spotlight, maybe 19 Computer that may use Snow Leopard 21 Toastmaster 24 Caustic comeback 25 Accustom (to) 26 Firearms pioneer 27 Backside 28 Hard to look at 32 Nectar collectors 33 High spirits 34 Pierre, e.g.

35 Friend of Snow White

37 Verdi opera with pyramids 38 Nudge 39 Tex’s bud 40 NPR correspondent Totenberg 41 Short on taste 45 “__ Melodies”: Warner Bros. shorts 46 Tablet debut of 2010

48 Land on an isthmus 49 Chemical relative 50 Oppressive ruler 53 River near Karachi 54 Austerlitz native 55 Holy ark contents 56 Dandies 58 Decompose 59 __ out a living 60 One may be hired 61 Onetime ring king 62 Track circuit

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

11/06/13

Sun Sudoku

Puzzle #1: All aboard

Get your message out in

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)

Circles and Stuff

By Gareth Bain (c)2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

COMICS AND PUZZLES

The CorneDaily Sun

by Robert Radigan grad

11/06/13

Doonesbury

by Garry Trudeau

Mr. Gnu

by Travis Dandro

Strings Attached

by Ali Solomon ’01

2733606 M-F 9-5

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013 17

SPORTS

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

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

Standard Rate: $3.40 per day for first 15 words, 32 cents per day per word thereafter. 5 or more consecutive insertions, $3.15 per day for first 15 words, 30 cents per day per word thereafter.

Commercial Rate: $5.20 per day for first 15 words, 33 cents per day per word thereafter. 5 or more consecutive insertions, $5.00 per day for first 15 words, 31 cents per day per word thereafter.

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N.Y. Yanks See Rise In Taxes

NEW YORK (AP) — Derek Jeter’s new contract has increased the Yankees’ luxury tax payroll to $97.71 million for seven signed players next year. That leaves New York with about $80 million to spend on the rest of its roster if the team wants to get under the 2014 tax threshold.

Jeter and New York agreed Friday to a $12 million, one-year contract. Major League Baseball determined its value for purposes of the luxury tax is $12.81 million.

The Yankees’ captain, injured for most of this year, was playing under a three-year contract with a player option for 2014 that wound up being worth $9.5 million and was replaced by the new salary.

Baseball’s luxury tax uses the average annual values of contracts as defined by the sport’s collective bargaining agreement.

Determining Jeter’s payroll figure for the tax is complicated by the option and the new salary, and New York may contest his 2014 evaluation

Olympic Torch Off To Space BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — For the first time in history, the Olympic torch will be taken on a spacewalk.

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics torch will be sent to the International Space Station on board a Russian spacecraft this week and astronauts will then carry it outside the station. Here’s a look at the Sochi torch.

The Space Chariot

The torch will travel into Earth’s orbit with the next space station crew, who blast off early Thursday from the Russianoperated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin, NASA’s Rick Mas tracchio and Koichi Wakata of Japan are heading to the space station on a Russian Soyuz rocket that has been emblazoned with the emblem of the Sochi Winter Games.

Flames in Space

For safety reasons, the torch will not burn when it’s onboard the space outpost. Lighting it would consume precious oxygen and pose a threat to the crew.

The crew will carry the unlit torch around the station’s numerous modules before taking it out on a spacewalk.

A Torch First

The Olympic torch has flown into space before — in 1996 aboard the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis for the Atlanta Summer Olympics — but it has never yet been taken outside a spacecraft.

18 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013

SPORTS

Nets, Bulls, Knicks, Hawks Will Dominate the NBA East HOROWITZ

Continued from page 20

the addition of Luis Scola. Indiana will certainly be in the mix to win the East.

The Brooklyn Nets had a solid first season in 2012-13 thanks to a solid core of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brooke Lopez. Now, after a mega-deal with the Celtics, the Nets also have Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, making it a team built to win right now. I think Brooklyn gambled by hiring recent retiree Jason Kidd as its coach — coaching is very different from playing, and getting all of the team’s stars to work well together will certainly be a challenge. But if Kidd succeeds, the Nets will be a very dangerous team when the playoffs arrive.

The Bulls finally welcome Derrick after picking up Josh Smith. The Bucks are Rose back to the lineup, and if he can stay certainly good enough to earn a spot, just healthy along with Luol Deng and Joakim like they did last season.

Noah, Chicago has a lot to look forward The Western Conference also has a too. host of quality teams that will battle to Picking up Andrew Bynum and Jarrett lead the conference. The Clippers, Jack will give Kyrie Irving Thunder, Rockets and a stronger supporting Grizzlies all seem capable cast in Cleveland, and Don’t be surprised if of winning the confercoach Mike Brown is Cleveland returns to ence, and any one hot hoping to finish what he streak in the playoffs the playoffs. started in his second tour could lead one of them to of duty as Cleveland’s the finals. Keep your coach. Don’t be surprised eyes out on the Warriors if Cleveland returns to the playoffs.

— Stephen Curry and David Lee welcome The Knicks and Hawks are certainly the dynamic Andre Iguodala into town, good enough to reach the playoffs, but I and Harrison Barnes could be morphing think the rest of the Top-8 is anyone’s into an elite NBA player. I don’t expect game. Detroit could return to the picture them to win it all just yet, but the Warriors

are sure to be a fun team to watch come playoff time.

Hopefully Dwight Howard can settle down and just focus on basketball in Houston, where he will benefit from the creative play of James Harden. Durant and Westbrook are eager to finally go all the way. The Clippers are undoubtedly the best team in L.A., and if new head coach Doc Rivers can help the talented Deandre Jordan reach his potential, L.A. may see the perennial little brother playing for a title.

With all of these storylines coming together, basketball fans are in for a memorable season. Enjoy.

Ben Horowitz can be reached at bhorowitz@cornellsun.com.

N.Y. Yank Used Drugs, NYT Says NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez tested positive for a banned stimulant in 2006, The New York Times reported Monday, an accusation denied by a representative of the legal team for the New York Yankees’ third baseman.

The newspaper cited two unidentified people involved with baseball’s drug-testing program.

Baseball’s joint drug agreement specifies the discipline for a first positive test for a banned stimulant is six additional unannounced drug tests over the year following the violation. A second stimulant violation would result in a 25-game suspension.

Rodriguez’s legal team accused MLB of leaking the allegation of a positive test, using a statement and making a filing to arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.

Lanny Davis, a former Clinton administration official working for Rodriguez’s legal team, denied the player tested positive, the Times said. James McCarroll, a lawyer for the three-time AL MVP, did not address whether Rodriguez had a positive test, only that he was not banned.

“Alex Rodriguez was never suspended for use of stimulants or any violation of the MLB drug program,” McCarroll said in a statement. “The fact that MLB has resorted to leaking federally protected medical information about a player speaks volumes of the weakness of their case against Alex — and their desperation to secure a win in the arbitration, at all costs.”

MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred declined comment.

“We were not the source for this story,” MLB said in a statement. “We honor our joint drug program and never publicly disclose player test results until it’s publicly announced.”

In a statement Monday night, Davis called for a government probe into MLB’s methods.

MLB has admitted paying for documents and Rodriguez’s lawyers have claimed baseball’s representatives have intimidated witnesses.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, November 6, 2013 19

SPORTS

FIELD HOCKEY

Red Takes On Green in Final Game of Season

By SYDNEY ALTSCHULER Sun Staff Writer

Cornell will wrap up its 2013 season Saturday in Hanover, N.H., where the squad will take on Dartmouth. Both teams currently hold the third place spot in the Ivy League conference with identical records of 3-3. The Red aims to conquer the Green and clinch second place.

The Green holds a substantial lead in the series with the Red, boasting a 22-111 record. In 1998, the Green began an eight-game winning streak that carried the squad until 2006, when the Red

finally turned the tide with five consecutive wins. Over the past two seasons, however, Cornell has fallen to its Ivy foe in consecutive one-goal games, including one overtime contest.

Despite all this, the Red has reason to be confident going into Saturday’s game.

Cornell has had a very successful season so far, leading Dartmouth with a 9-7 overall record compared to the Green’s 79 on the season. Moreover, with its combined four goals and six assists against Brown and Syracuse, the Red exceeded 100 points in a season for just the sixth time in program history. Its 101 points to

BRIAN STERN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Scoring machine | Senior midfield/forward Hannah Balleza is third overall in Cornell history with 35 career goals. She needs just one more goal to tie for second place.

date is the fifth best single season perfor- the seniors off with pride, according to mance in school history. Additionally, senior forward Elly Plappert. the Red’s head coach Donna Hornibrook “Going into the Dartmouth game has proven to be an outstanding leader. the team is very determined to finish She maintains a 5-4 record against the season on a high note,” she said.

Dartmouth and plans to extend the lead “We have worked extremely hard on game day. The Red needs just one throughout the season to make the more win to achieve double-digit victo- progress that we have made, and we ries for the season, a first for the squad want to show that. Our senior class is since the 2010 team went 11-5. If the not going to go out without a bang, and we know that we Red succeeds, have the entire team Hornibrook will snatch her sixth 10- “Going into the Dartmouth behind us on that.”

This season has win campaign during seen many team her 10-year Cornell game the team is very members break pertenure. sonal records and Still, Cornell is determined to finish the develop into confipreparing for a battle season on a high note.” dent and aggressive with a formidable players. Talent on the o p p o n e n t . Elly Plappert Red is widespread.

Dartmouth is curFreshman forward rently riding on a lot of positive momentum as the squad has Katy Weeks has had one of the best clinched three of its four last games, freshman seasons in Cornell history with including Ivy contests against Columbia 20 points on seven goals and six assists. and Harvard. Dartmouth’s junior for- She ranks fourth overall in Cornell hisward Ali Savage, who ranks sixth in the tory for points by a rookie. Senior nation and leads the Ivy League with Hannah Balleza ranks third overall in 2.44 points per game, will definitely pose Cornell history with 35 career goals. If a threat. She sits in 10th place nationally she can net one more goal, she moves with .94 goals per game. The Red’s into a tie for second place. Senior Elly defense must be ready to withstand extra Plappert has also made a name for herpressure from the Green’s high attack and self in the NCAA field hockey commucommunicate effectively in order to be nity. She is playing the best season of her career and currently ranks second on the competitive in the contest.

The Red has proven it has the skills to team in goals (7), third overall in points beat a talented team, however, as well as (17), and fourth in assists (3). the backbone to prevail under the pressure that accompanies a high-stakes Ivy season closer. Cornell is determined to Sydney Altschuler can be reached at close out the season with a win and send saltschuler@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Prepared for Season After Tough Pre-Season Training “The team is feeling strong and excited,” Hallowell said. “Everyone looks forward to racing, and this year it’s obvious we’re all ready to get back into it. It feels season,” Hallowell said. “This weekend will be a good great to be pumped and ready to start the season.”

The Cornell swimming and diving teams see this test for us, especially with so many Ivy meets in the weekend’s home opener against Boston College as an next month.”

The men’s off-season training was tougher than opportunity to start the season off in a positive manner. The Red has training vigoroususual, putting the team in a much ly in the off-season in order to have stronger position this season, “This weekend will be the level of success that it have been according to Satterthwaite. hoping for.

“I think this year’s off-season “I’d say after handling the toughtraining has been tougher than in a good test for us.” est pre-season we’ve ever had, and previous years so going into the increasingly harder workouts in the meet season the team as a whole will Thomas Hallowell weight room — [we] still haven’t be in much better shape than recovered from the aggressive usual,” he said. “I think that the team is more excited than ... before to start racing and Halloween workout — we’re ready to take on the beating some teams in the Ivy League. I think we all three upcoming meets, even this early in the season,” feel good and are ready to get some victories against Douglas said. our real rivals.”

Overall, the men say they feel ready to face their John McGrorty can be reached at future competition. jmcgrorty@cornellsun.com.

SWIMMING

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Rowers Head to Winter Training ROWING

Continued from page 20

was a good experience that will help the team going into this crucial period of the season.

“The Cornell Regatta played an important role in kicking off winter training,” he said.

“Though it may have been our last regatta of the fall, it is the start in our preparation for the spring.

This winter will make or break our performances, and it is important that we as a team take advantage of it.”

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

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ninth place. The women’s varsity eight boat finished in 23rd, once again the strongest finish out of all the women’s boats entered in the race.

Saturday’s competition allowed all three teams to give some younger rowers experience with different lineups in a competitive atmosphere. The coaches have encouraged the younger rowers to push themselves in order to create depth across all

class levels, according to Hills.

“Coach Smith is constantly changing the boats around, forcing the rowers to understand that they are all at the same level, [and] capable of the same feats,” he said. “This will allow for more collective efforts throughout the season, ridding the team of any sort of dependence on ‘key rowers.’”

The Cornell Fall Regatta marked the end of the fall season and the beginning of winter training for all three programs.

According to O’Neill, the regatta

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ROWING

Rowers Storm Cayuga Lake At Home Contest Cornell has successful end to fall season with boats in Top 25

By TUCKER MAGGIO-HUCEK Sun Staff Writer

The Cornell rowing programs played host to four other universities in the Cornell Fall Regatta this past weekend.

The annual 5k regatta included nearly 50 boats from Cornell, Syracuse, Ithaca College, Bucknell and Hobart.

The heavyweight, lightweight and women’s boats braved the brisk fall morning in two races. These races, which took place on Cayuga Lake, were the Red’s last chance to compete against other boats until the spring.

“I was very In the first race, all three programs had a impressed with my boat finish within the times. The boat’s performance.” Top-25 heavyweight team had six boats finish in the Pierre Hills Top-25, including a win by the freshman eight boat. Their time was six seconds faster than the second place finisher, the Syracuse freshman eight. The freshman eight B boat placed fourth, followed by the four A boat whose time was sixth best in the session. Many of the boats contained new lineups, which made the times exciting, according to sophomore Pierre Hills.

XIAOYUE GUO / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Fresh out of water | The men’s heavyweight freshman eight boat finished in first place at the Cornell Fall Regatta on Saturday. The boat’s time was six seconds faster than second place Syracuse’s freshman eight boat.

“I was very impressed with my boat’s performance,” he said. “We had only practiced in the lineup once before the race, [so] it was difficult to predict how we were going to perform. We stayed focused and improved throughout the piece.”

The lightweight team had three boats finish in the Top25, with the freshman eight boat putting in the strongest performance and earning fifth place. The freshman eight B boat was the next best finisher for the program, completing the race in 18th place. The women were also able to get in the Top-25 with thier varsity eight boat’s 24th place finish, the highest finish of any women’s boat in the first session.

The second session included fewer boats, and the

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Swimmers Ready to Face Boston

By JOHN McGRORTY Sun Staff Writer

This weekend, the Cornell men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be competing at home against Boston College. Coming off of a very fast and competitive scrimmage last weekend against

XIAOYUE GUO / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Diving in | The Red feels prepared to kick off its season with a meet against Boston College this weekend.

the University of Buffalo, the Red looks to continue to gain speed and be successful against Boston College.

“Going into the meet against Boston College, I think the team is feeling really good,” junior freestyle Timothy Satterthwaite said. “We had a scrimmage last weekend against University of Buffalo and saw some really good times, especially from the freshmen. We should have some super close races with BC, which always leads to fast swims.”

The Red hopes to be extremely competitive and to improve upon its times in order to be strong against Boston College.

“The team is feeling prepared to take on a new school and confident in ourselves,” junior diver Thomas Hallowell said. “We all feel good after our scrimmage with Buffalo and are excited to prove ourselves.”

On the women’s side, the Red is looking to improve and continue to bring a strong work ethic and energy to this weekend’s competition.

“After our scrimmage with Buffalo we are ready to up the ante with B.C., really bringing the energy,” junior backstroke and fly swimmer Bethany Douglas said. Douglas said she is confident the Red has made the necessary preparations throughout the off season to encourage future success.

“Our team came back to campus fit and strong after summer break,” she said. “We got right into mid-season workouts in September to make up for a few lost weeks at the end of the season, with Ivies being sooner than last year.”

The men also spent an ample amount of time training during the off-season.

“We have spent a lot of time in the gym and in the pool, and we are feeling strong going into the See SWIMMING page 19

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coaches changed the lineups in some cases in order to evaluate their rowers in different situations. The lightweight program had three Top-10 finishes that highlighted the second race of the day. The lightweight varsity eight came in first place by more than four seconds over Hobart’s heavyweight varsity eight.

“The lightweight varsity 8 had a very impressive performance, taking first place overall in a field of heavyweights,” freshman Daniel O’Neill said.

The heavyweight freshman boats also had Top-10 finishes. The freshman eight’s time placed them in seventh, and the freshman eight B boat came in close behind in See ROWING page 19

Time for Tip-Off

’ve already used this space on two occasions to preview the NFL and NHL, so why not continue with a look at the NBA’s 2013-14 campaign? Last season did not fail to disappoint, featuring a tough seven game battle unfold between the smart, veteran San Antonio Spurs and the star-

action. Ray Allen and Shane Battier are one year older and could easily suffer slight drops in production. They’re counting on Greg Oden to be their anchor down low, but he’s never been able to stay healthy and produce consistently. Of course they have Lebron, but his days in Cleveland clearly

Ben Horowitz Guest Column studded Miami Heat. The Heat took the title, its second in a row, in front of a beaming Miami crowd. The team has its eyes on the three-peat, but a number of teams from both conferences are set to stand in its way.

I think the Heat will fall short of another championship, primarily because it has some serious concerns.

Dwyane Wade is nursing some injuries which caused him to sit out from some preseason

showed that he needs substantial support in order to win championships.

I don’t think the Heat will even reach the finals — they’ll likely fall in the Eastern Conference playoffs to the Nets, Pacers, or Bulls. The Pacers fought the Heat to a decisive seventh game in last year’s playoffs and could be even better this year with the return of Danny Granger and See HOROWITZ page 18