INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 135, No. 60
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019
n
12 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Cost of Exercise
West Virginia
Drought Snapped
Snow Expected
With two-thirds of gym classes charging a fee, students can rack up a hefty bill fulfilling their P.E. requirements. | Page 3
Take me home, internet poetry, writes Associate Editor Katie Sims ’20.
Capital region sweep secured women's hockey its first regular season title since 2012-13. | Page 12
| Page 6
HIGH: 26º LOW: 18º
NASA Lander Tracks Red Planet’s Weather NASA / JET PROPULSION LAB
COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Rush slows | Participation fell 22 percent for fraternities and 16 percent for sororities — though retention increased.
Rush Attendance Falls to 4-Year Low By HUNTER SEITZ Sun Staff Writer
The spring 2019 recruitment period saw the lowest number of participants in four years for both the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council. But the retention rate for new members — the percentage of people who joined a Greek organization having attended rush week — also reached a fouryear high for fraternities and a two-year high for sororities. This year, Greek life saw a 22 percent decline in fraternity rush participants — 556 this year, down from last year’s 717, according to data provided to The Sun by Kara Miller, director of fraternity and sorority life. Sororities also experienced a 16 percent
Another opportunity | A Cornell researcher helped to launch the latest NASA mission to Mars, which beams daily weather reports to Earth.
drop in rush participants — 645 people, down from last year’s 768. As the number of participants declined, the percentage of people who ended up joining a Greek house rose. The retention rate for spring 2019 was 84 percent for fraternities and 74 percent for sororities, up from 67 and 73 percent, respectively, from the previous year. Recent policies implemented by university administration could explain the decline in fraternity rush numbers, according to IFC Executive Vice President of Recruitment Nick Smith ’20, arts writer for The Sun. “I think we talked a lot of [the decline] up to
The most recent NASA mission to Mars, the InSight Lander — short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport — will broadcast daily weather reports back to Earth for at least the next two years from the Elysium Planitia plain on the red planet. However, the main mission of the lander is to map the interior of the planet using a wide array of techniques, primarily seismology. “We don’t really know that much about the core of Mars. The
See RUSH page 4
See MARS page 4
Crisis in Venezuela
By HUNTER SEITZ Sun Staff Writer
C.U. Prof Tapped for U.N. Role Prof. Muna Ndulo to help combat sexual abuse within U.N. By SHIVANI SANGHANI Sun Staff Writer
Facing a tide of sexual exploitation allegations levied against the organization’s peacekeepers, the United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres recently tapped Cornell Prof. Muna Ndulo to help stem the growing crisis, according to a Cornell Law School press release. Ndulo — “an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of constitution making, governance and institution building,” according to his faculty bio — will join the United Nations Civil Society Advisory Board to advise Guterres on implementing measures to prevent sexual exploitation committed by U.N. peacekeepers and hold
“The most critical step is to make sure that home countries punish the perpetrators.” Prof. Muna Ndulo MERIDITH KOHUT / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Venezuelan protesters clash with military forces clinging to power. President Maduro recently sparked outcry after blocking foreign humanitarian aid over the weekend.
perpetrators accountable for their actions. The United Nations has wrestled for many years with the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse among its soldiers, with 145
allegations of abuse by UN soldiers reported in 2016 alone. Between April and June of 2018, the U.N. received 70 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse PROF. NDULO across all of its operations, Farhan Haq, U.N. deputy spokesperson, previously announced. In an effort to combat sexual exploitation and abuse, Guterres previously promised to establish a committee to tackle the record-high reports of sexual mistreatment across the globe. In his report to the Security Council on “Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation: A New Approach,” Guterres vowed to enable the U.N. to more closely interact with civil society, external experts and non-governmental organizations. Ndulo said that during peacekeeping missions, foreign soldiers deployed by the U.N. often engage in sexual exploitation See UNITED NATIONS page 5