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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 136, No. 67

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‘This is really an extraordinary situation for us’ Citing Outbreak, Admin Cancels Classes

By JOHNATHAN STIMPSON and MEGHNA MAHARISHI Sun Managing Editor and Sun Assistant Managing Editor

Cornell became the latest university to announce that it would go digital after spring break, following a wave of colleges nationwide that have canceled in-person classes due to the

COVID-19 outbreak.

The sudden closures represent an unprecedented decision in Cornell’s history — reflecting the seriousness of an epidemic that, in just a week, spiraled from a handful of cases to hundreds See ADMINISTRATION page 5

Students Confused, Frustrated

By SARAH SKINNER AND GIRISHA ARORA Sun Senior Writers

“OMG. I was ready for it, until I wasn’t ready for it.”

Jack Tracey’s ’20 initial reaction mirrored that of many other students to the Tuesday afternoon news that Cornell’s

last five weeks of spring classes would be moved online, a decision in line with other institutions across the country in response to the spreading COVID-19 outbreak.

With the University urging students to stay in their “permanent” homes after spring break, for some seniors like

Tracey, their last day of classes at Cornell ever will be March 27.

As students digested the implications, they expressed concerns about the financial burden and logistics, mixed reactions about the timing of See STUDENTS page 3

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN FILE PHOTO

Moving out | Students are expected to leave campus before the beginning of Cornell’s spring break on March 27. Classes will transition to online formats by the end of the break.

Student Abroad Contracts COVID-19

By SEAN O’CONNELL Sun News Editor

A Cornell student studying abroad in Spain tested positive for COVID19, and is currently recuperating in a Madrid hospital.

The student, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear he would face negative stigma after returning to the U.S., discussed his experience with COVID-19 in an email to The Sun. “The first few days in the hospital were the toughest,” wrote the student,

who initially suffered from a high fever and cough.

The student first came down with a fever on March 3 and went to the Hospital Universitario Madrid, where he was diagnosed with bronchitis and sent home. Two days later, he went

back for a checkup after his fever — which at one point hit 104 degrees — did not go down. During this second visit, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized.

See CORONAVIRUS page 3

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020

News

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By MEGHNA MAHARISHI Sun Assistant Managing Editor

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Student Assembly candidates Cat Huang ’21 and Uche Chukwukere ’21 confirmed Wednesday night to The Sun that they would be suspending their campaigns due to the COVID-19 outbreak — which on Tuesday prompted the University to announce a shift to online classes and ask students to leave campus at the start of spring break.

“In light of the recent news, I have decided to suspend my presidential campaign so I can focus my resources and platform on sharing information and resources to help students who are struggling with the news,” Huang, the current S.A. executive vice president, wrote in a message to The Sun. Chukwukere, who currently serves as an undesignated representative at-large, echoed similar sentiments, saying that he saw a “general amount of panic, fear and frustration,” following President Martha E. Pollack’s announcement to close classrooms.

“A lot of students, at this point in “I have decided to suspend time, need a my presidential campaign lot of support, espeso I can focus my cially from resources and platform on students sharing information.” that are in leadership Cat Huang ’21 positions, it just was not appropriate to continue campaigning,” Chukwukere said.

Huang and Chukwukere will not actively campaign for president, which includes promoting their platforms on social media and on campus.

It is unclear if the other S.A. presidential candidate, Dillon Anadkat ’21 will suspend his campaign.

Anadkat did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has prompted a

flurry of cancellations at Cornell. All events with at least 100 people have been canceled and plans for graduation ceremonies remain unclear as students living on campus have been asked to leave when spring break begins. Classes are also expected to be completely online by the last day of in-person instruction, March 27.

All Ivy League spring sports have been can- “A lot of students, at this celed because of point in time, need a lot the outbreak — of support.” which has sickened 1,240 people Uche Chukwukere ’21 in the U.S. as of Wednesday night.

Campaigning for S.A. elections kicked off last Tuesday, and most recently, there was a candidates’ debate on Monday.

The S.A. was supposed to host a candidate’s forum on Wednesday, but it has since been canceled.

While certain candidates have suspended campaigning, elections are currently set to go on as scheduled, with online voting slated to open on March 16 and end on March 18.

However, like much of Cornell, even that is uncertain: at its Thursday meeting, the S.A. will vote on whether to suspend elections, postponing them to the fall semester, according to Lydia Zhang ’21, director of elections.

All candidates running for positions on the S.A. have been contacted about the prospect of suspending campaigns and canceling elections for the spring semester, Zhang wrote in a message to The Sun. Most candidates are in favor of this initiative, according to Zhang.

According to S.A. president Joe Anderson ’20, the S.A. will still vote on fossil fuel divestment at its March 12 meeting, and will continue to have public meetings until spring break. The S.A. executive committee will decide on whether to host meetings on Zoom after spring break.

Meghna Maharishi can be reached at mmaharishi@cornellsun.com.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020 3

News

Uncertainty Lingers as Classes Transition to Online Faculty, administration work to implement virtual classes STUDENTS

Continued from page 1

the announcement and thoughts about the actual feasibility of online classes.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Currently, 46 percent of students live on campus.

Students who wish to stay in Cornell housing after spring break will have to petition the University on a case-by-case basis. All undergraduate students are expected to leave, but plans by the administration to enforce the decision on students living off campus remain unclear.

According to the University’s statement, dining halls will remain open to accommodate students in Ithaca, but there will be “severely limited on-campus activities.”

Most students interviewed by The Sun Tuesday evening who live off campus said they probably would not leave Ithaca due to the financial and logistical burden it would cause.

For senior students such as Tracey who have now spent the better part of four years living away from their “permanent” homes, this decision has set off an “identity crisis.”

“I live here. More than half of my life is established OLIVIA WEINBERG / SUN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR in an apartment in Ithaca,” Tracey said. “Sure, I have a Zoom calls | Thousands of classes will be moving to some variation of an online format, which could include Zoom defined ‘permanent home,’ but my shit’s here. So it’s like, video conference to recreate lectures online. The format of these classes will vary on a case-by-case basis. where’s home?”

Changing Reality President Martha E. Pollack recognized this disruptive Akanksha Jain ’20 has concerns about returning home While some students appreciated that the University to Singapore, and said her first thought when she opened effect of transitioning online in her email, but urged students and faculty to abide by the new measures to protect made the decision two weeks before spring break — other the email was concern for fellow international students.

“For Americans it sucks, but there’s ways to get around the community, especially those who are most vulnerable. schools, such as Harvard, made similar moves with less “We are asking students to miss out on the enormous than a week’s notice — others questioned the need to it,” she said. She said she will likely end up staying in value of face-to-face instruction and on the camaraderie cancel at all.

Ithaca or with family elsewhere in the U.S..

“It’s just weird. Like it went from like zero, to like The Office of Global Learning sent out an email to of their peers,” Pollack wrote, but stressed the health getting kicked off campus in a span of two or three days,” international students around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday concerns involved.

The sudden email announcement added new stressors said Collette Schissel ’20. morning, reassuring them that if they cannot easily return Schissel also expressed concerns about the policy’s home, the campus residence and dining halls will be open during a prelim-heavy week, students said.

“I’m still panicking from effectiveness if students from a controlled campus envithrough the rest of the semester. when I first read the message,” ronment begin traveling worldwide amidst an outbreak.

They additionally advised “I feel like this could be wrong too,” she said. “But if Grace Zheng ’23 told The seniors working to secure their “I can’t imagine I’ll get the same Sun an hour before her 7:30 we have been here on campus since January, isn’t it riskier Optional Practical Training — which is used to allow students to experience or grades or anything that p.m. Computer Science 1110: to leave if we’ve all been here?”

While the Cornell administration has expressed hopes Python prelim. Zheng said that work in the U.S. after obtaining I would have gotten if I were here.” she had spent much of the last to hold some Commencement activities, students mourntheir degree — to not depart for few hours trying to find a stor- ed the loss of big-ticket spring events such as Dragon the remainder of the semester Lia Sokol ’23 age unit for her belongings and Days, Senior Days and this month’s Denzel Curry featurbecause in order to be eligible, communicating with friends, ing Rico Nasty concert. students must be in the U.S. with As of early Wednesday, pulling her attention from the F-1 status and have a valid I-94 a GroupMe called “martha encroaching exam. document.

“If we have been here on Faculty are currently moving to transition lectures can’t make us leave” had While some students’ homes are thousands of miles campus since January, away, others are only traveling a few blocks to follow online, but students are concerned about how classes with over 2,400 members. The Cornell’s advice — such as Madeline Turner ’23, whose hands-on work or a practical component are going to be group included memes isn’t it riskier to leave if about the COVID-19 outfamily lives in Ithaca. Despite living only minutes from affected. we’ve all been here?”

“Engineering courses are not very well suited for break, plans for an alterher professors, all her classes will be online. nate Slope Day and groups “I’m gonna be like in my room, in my childhood bed- online. We rely on office hours and TAs and in-person Collette Schissel ’20 collaboration — writing a lot,” said Tilka Persaud ’21, events including “Tag room, by myself,” Turner said. at Kroch [Library]” and And with the cancellation, some first-year spring admit who studies chemical engineering.

Persaud is disappointed that she will miss her lab for “Purge.” students like Lia Sokol ’23 will spend only 10 total weeks “Senior year is supposed to be like your most fun the rest of the spring, joking that she’ll probably have on campus during their freshman years.

“We just got here,” she said. “And now we’re leaving.” to read a handbook on valves to substitute the time she semester … and now it kind of feels like you’re missing out on that, which kind of sucks,” said Ely Giroux ’20. would have spent there instead.

Academic Challenges Arise Beyond classes in STEM fields with lab work and “I’m gonna try and just continue business as usual as Sokol said that — having spent only a few months attending Cornell classes — she wasn’t ready to transition hands-on architecture studio classes, hotel school classes much as I can, but obviously we’re gonna have to make online, and worried about non-lecture components such like Introduction to Wines where students taste around some concessions, sort of trying to preserve safety for people.” as office hours. She also expressed concerns about her tran- six varieties of wine per lecture will also be impacted.

“Obviously not everyone will be able to taste if they’re script, and whether Cornell would denote the semester’s Louis Chuang ’23 contributed reporting to this article. not here. [Prof. Cheryl Stanley]’s like, do I drink the wine special circumstances on her permanent record.

“I can’t imagine I’ll get the same experience or grades on camera? Is that worse for them?” said Tracey, who is a or anything that I would have gotten if I were here,” Sokol teaching assistant for the class.

Sarah Skinner can be reached at sskinner@cornellsun.com. said.

Girisha Arora can be reached at garora@cornellsun.com.

Student Quarantined and Recovering in Madrid CORONAVIRUS

Continued from page 1

After being given this diagnosis, the student remained in the hospital for a few days and began gradually feeling better.

However, amid concerns that he could have been exposed to the coronavirus, he was tested and not allowed to leave the facility.

He reported feeling “anxious to get out of [the hospital] because I could barely eat the hospital food, didn’t feel like I was being treated as fairly as possible and nobody was giving me any information,” he wrote. “I was just stuck in the dark won-

dering when I’d be released.”

The student ultimately tested positive for COVID-19, which often has similar symptoms to pneumonia. But the news of a definitive answer came as a source of ease for him.

“I changed my frame of mind to be that there’s nothing I can do now but wait it out,” the student wrote, adding that his fever and cough had subsided over the previous two days.

Spain has been one of the countries hit the hardest by the coronavirus, having so far reported over 2,200 confirmed cases and 55 deaths.

The student was not alone during his

hospitalization. He remained in contact with his parents and girlfriend during his hospitalization through frequent phone calls and received visits from friends and Cornell faculty, who often brought food for him.

The student will remain in the hospital for the remaining eight days of the 14-day COVID-19 isolation period.

After this period, he wrote that he will “[book] the first flight I can find out of Madrid,” adding that “hopefully the borders or the airport won’t be closed, because I’m very ready to get back to the States.”

Potentially complicating matters, in a Wednesday evening address, President

Donald Trump announced that as a part of the “most aggressive” response to a virus in “modern history,” all non-essential travel to continental Europe would be suspended. It is unclear how the executive order will affect American citizens attempting to return home.

“I now know what it’s like to have [Coronavirus] and it’s honestly not as bad as people are making it out to seem,” the student wrote. “But the fact of the matter is it can happen to anyone and I just got unlucky.”

Sean O’Connell can be reached at soconnell@cornellsun.com.

4 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020

News

Outbreak Worsens, Leaves Local Store Shelves Empty Despite shortages, owners plan to keep businesses open

By CATALINA PEÑÉÑORY and LIAM GALEY

almost $80 — if they can find them at all.

Wegmans Food Market, which operates one of Ithaca’s largest grocery stores, directed Nationwide, big box and local conve- The Sun to a March 10 statement, where it nience stores alike have seen their shelves acknowledged that customers “are stocking emptied by shoppers preparing for the pros- up on paper products and a variety of food items, particularly those with a longer shelf pect of a prolonged epidemic.

Although Tompkins County has yet to life.”

In addition to hand sanitizer and wipes, confirm a case of the coronavirus, those trends have been mirrored in Ithaca — where stores across the country have also reported normally abundant staples like hand sanitizer running out of basic household items, like toilet paper and bottled water, as fears of have become hard-sought commodities.

For instance, College Avenue’s 7/11, a potential lockdowns and protracted crisis commonly frequented chain among Cornell swell.

As a result, Wegmans — like a number students, reported running out of disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer, with no clear of other retailers — has begun rationing certain products, limiting purchases of certain timetable for their return. items to one to three per customer, depending on the item. For “We’re going to see how this whole instance, Wegmans shoppers will situation goes. We’re going to be open now only be able to purchase only pack of bath tissue per trip. until we are forced to decide otherwise.” oneWith coronavirus shopping trends “mimicking what we see Adwin Carrero leading up to a weather event,” Wegmans’ statement read, the According to Adwin Carrero, manager of chain said that it has committed to “increasthe Collegetown shop, “I think everyone’s ing orders based on demand to meet the alarmed and buying them out.” While the needs of our employees and customers.”

Walmart’s Ithaca Supercenter also echoed store has placed orders to re-stock, there’s still uncertainty over “how the product the experience of Wegmans, writing in a Tuesday statement that paper products, orders are set,” he told The Sun. As confirmed cases of COVID-19 grow cleaning supplies and other items have been rapidly nationwide, so too have shortages of in high demand. The store encouraged shopproducts designed to help fight the spread of pers to consider online delivery as a means to the disease. As a result of the sudden spike in limit contact among large groups of people.

But even as events, transportation and demand, shoppers in New York City have reportedly found bottles of Purell listed for colleges face cancellations nationwide, Sun Assistant News Editor and Sun Staff Writer

MICHAEL SUGUITAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Empty shelves | This empty Wegmans shelf was originally stocekd with microwavable ramen noodles. However, Ithacans have begun stockpiling food, leading to shortages in local stores.

Ithaca’s stores remained committed to servicing the area’s community.

Since warnings of a potential outbreak had first begun, Carrero and his employees have taken precautions such as swabbing counters and disinfecting areas that were often exposed to customers’ hands, like the store’s trademark slurpee bar and condiments section.

Planning to continue these measures indefinitely, Carrero hopes to face future uncertainty with a brave face: “We’re going to see how this whole situation goes,” he told The Sun. “We’re going to be open until we are forced to decide otherwise.”

Likewise, Wegmans said that the supermarket is continuing to follow their “strict food safety policies and procedures” by going “above and beyond what is required,” such as adding additional hand sanitizer stations and increasing the frequency of store cleanings.

Walmart also encouraged sick employees to stay home, while also saying that it would revisit the company’s signature 24/7 store hours policy in an effort to accommodate additional, overnight disinfectant efforts.

But Universal Deli-Grocery, another Collegetown staple, has seen a different experience. Mian Khalil, owner of the longtime convenience store, claimed that the reality of the virus has been exaggerated.

“I think people are overreacting,” he said.

“People die every year from the flu, 20,000 this year. People are in Ithaca, it’s very safe.”

Still, Khalil said that his store was sold out of the “few bottles” of hand sanitizer it carries, noting that “it’s not just us — everyone is out.”

Catalina Peñéñory can be reached at cpenenory@cornellsun.com. Liam Galey can be reached at lgaley@corellsun.com

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020 5

News

Cornell Closes Classes in Response to Outbreak Unprecedented move will ask students to move out by beginning of spring break ADMINISTRATION Continued from page 1

reported across New York State.

According to a March 10 statement from President Martha E. Pollack, all classes will be held online after spring break and faculty members must soon begin transitioning to virtual alternatives. Classroom teaching is permitted until March 27, after which courses must be taught digitally for the rest of the semester.

“This is really an extraordinary situation for us, that we have to consider the health and safety of our community in such a strong way,” Vice President of Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi told The Sun in a phone call. “This decision is significant and has lots of consequences to it.”

As classes move online, campus events with more than 100 people are prohibited, a policy that upends some of the University’s staples. Men’s and women’s hockey will play largely spectator-less as they compete in the playoffs, while Cornell Days, a chance for admitted students to tour campus, was cancelled outright.

The fate of Cornell Fashion Collective’s annual show is unclear, and a final determination on how grad- u a tion will be conducted has yet to be made.

While some graduate students may be allowed to continue research on-campus, all undergraduates are asked to return to “their permanent home residence” at the start of spring break, according to the newly announced policy, though under “essential” circumstances, exemptions may be possible.

The historic move — which will likely have implications on everything from housing to graduation plans — leaves in its wake a reeling campus, with students, faculty and administrators alike forced to traverse uncharted territory.

Although the plan makes clear a need for swift action, the practical logistics of shifting over 13,000 students on to a largely untested mode of teaching — while cutting the semester short by four weeks — is one that leaves a host of unsolved questions.

For instance, according to Deputy Provost John Siliciano, there are “no easy answers” as school deans and academic departments figure out how to administer finals, or teach majors, like Architecture, which are heavily dependent on physical studios.

Classes composed of students that span dozens of time zones across the globe also may pose an obstacle.

“We’re going to have to think differently about how we do everything,” added Lisa Nishii, vice provost for undergraduate education. The hope is that by providing an over two-week-long transition period, some of these obvious challenges may be addressed.

After Pollack announced Cornell would shift to online instruction, she emailed the Cornell community on Wednesday, explaining the University’s rationale for closing

its doors for the remainder of the semester after spring break.

In the email, Pollack wrote that one of the major reasons the administration decided to close Cornell was to mitigate any potential spread of COVID-19 — which the World Health Organization has now deemed a pandemic — on campus. Pollack explained in her email that social distanc-

OLIVIA WEINBERG SUN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Virus | As of early

Thursday, there have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tompkins County.

ing initiatives were the best possible means to avoid any outbreak on campus.

Students are currently expected to move out of campus by the start spring break, but in the event there is COVID19 outbreak on campus, the University would accelerate its timeline, Pollack wrote.

While younger people typically recover from COVID19, Pollack added that the University had to account for immunocompromised students and older faculty and staff with underlying conditions — populations that would be the most vulnerable to the virus.

“We need to act as a community to protect the whole community,” the email read.

Although Cornell’s new COVID-19 policy encourages students to complete the semester remotely, Lombardi noted that there will likely “be some number that we will

need to support” on campus, particularly those who cannot travel home due to the virus’ spread.

How many students ultimately fall into that category, Lombardi said, will determine what level of dining and support services are maintained. Despite a likely significant decline in the number of students residing on campus, the University does not have plans to terminate any full-time employees.

Opportunities for student employment will depend on the population of campus remaining after spring break.

But for those who do leave campus — and have already paid for semester-long meal and housing contracts — it has yet to be determined how, and if, proration of fees will be implemented.

On Wednesday, along with Pollack, Lombardi sent an email to Cornellians, providing a list of campus resources for students to reach out to amidst the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding COVID19. Lombardi also wrote that students living in on-campus housing must fill out an accommodations form for housing and dining needs

by March 13.

Lombardi also touched on the importance of the community supporting each other during the COVID-19 pandemic in the email.

“We are, and always will be, linked by being together at Cornell in this moment,” Lombardi’s email read. “We need to withhold judgement and seek to understand and support each other.”

The University’s March 27 deadline for ending in-person classes is notably later than other schools that have announced similar plans, a decision mainly driven by when Cornell’s spring break falls, according to Sharon McMullen, assistant vice president of student and campus life for health and well-being.

“Our peer institutions that are moving more precipitously, have earlier spring breaks,” McMullen told The Sun. “And so what we recognize is that if people leave campus to go away on spring break, they are more likely to be exposed to coronavirus in an area that has more disease circulating than does Tompkins County.”

Harvard University, for instance, asked its students to vacate campus by this Sunday, while Columbia University has already made the switch to online teaching. Both schools are situated in cities that have so far reported at least dozens of cases.

But according to Lombardi, with the way coronavirus “is tracking around the U.S. and globe,” the administration will continue to monitor the situation “very closely, day-by-day.”

While Tompkins County has investigated three individuals for possible exposure to the virus, none have tested positive so far. If that changes, however, Lombardi said he recognizes that “things may evolve and may cause us to have to reconsider” the current transition timeline.

Meghna Maharishi ’22 contributed reporting to this article.

Johnathan Stimpson can be reached at jstimpson@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Told Faculty to Shift Learning Online; the Process, Professors Say, Isn’t as Easy as It Sounds

By SHRUTI JUNEJA

with The Sun. “I will be spending the spring break staying in — making those videos for online instruction.”

Schertz, who teaches American Sign From small language courses, to large lectures and hands-on laboratory classes, Language I and II, a program that just instructors have been forced to quickly recently began in fall 2019, emphasized that adapt and readjust their teaching plans for in any kind of language course, “students the rest of the semester as a result of the would benefit from continued interaction University’s response to the COVID-19 with each other,” and so she “would need to set up some turn-taking protocols when all outbreak.

The reaction includes an unprecedented 17 students are in the ‘same virtual room.’”

Following Tuesday’s announcement, move to virtual instruction as a precautionary measure against contagion — a process Cornell has made resources available through that is easier for some departments and the Center of Teaching Innovation to help professors comclasses than others.

“I have always “We are doing our best to maintain plete the transition of classes, a advocated the use the quality of teaching." process that must of the flipped classbe complete by room concept by Prof. Mark Sarvary the end of spring posting instrucbreak on April 6. tional content One of the first steps suggested is for online and then using the time in the classroom for interactive activities,” said Prof. faculty to take a readiness quiz, which will Brenda Schertz, linguistics, in an interview help instructors determine the feasibility of Sun Senior Writer

delivering course materials and assessments Genomics have explored the “theoretthrough Canvas or other online mediums. ical and practical aspects of biological The technology at the center of the tran- experimentation using the new and exciting technology of sition of lectures online is CRISPR/Cas9,” accordZoom — a cloud-based video conferencing tool that “I will be spending the ing to course instructors includes features such as spring break staying in Prof. Kristina Blakepolling, breakout rooms and molecular biol— making those videos Hodek, a variety of audio options. ogy and genetics, and A basic meeting on the for online instruction.” Prof. Michael Goldberg, platform can host up to molecular biology and Prof. Brenda Schertz 300 participants, while a genetics. They told The larger meeting option for Sun that it was “unfortuup to 500 is also available. nate” that students who Even before the move to cancel classes, have been working hard on interconnectCornell provided Zoom free of cost for all ed experiments during the semester “will current staff, students and affiliates. not be able with their own hands to push However, virtual instruction poses these projects past the goal posts.” unique obstacles to laboratory classes, as students who have been working on To read the rest of this story, please visit semester-long lab experiments will not be cornellsun.com. able complete these projects virtually.

For example, students in BIOMG Shruti Juneja can be reached at 2801: Laboratory in Genetics and sjuneja@cornellsun.com.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020

Dining Guide

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Dining Guide A Spicy Take on Chronic Pain Your source for good food

By BROOK JAFFE Sun Contributor

One of my earliest memories is of being five or six and having my father, a spicy food fanatic, make me eat one of the dried chilis that comes in kung pao chicken. That was the day I learned that the best antidote to a mouth on fire is not water or even milk, but mouthfuls of plain, steamed white rice.

It was also the beginning of my own descent into what my mother felt was madness. From then on, my dad and I were like a cult, only instead of a god we worshipped capsaicin. We went to fancy hot sauce stores on

vacation. My dad joked that he wanted to be buried in a casket shaped like a habanero pepper.

I became known for casually snacking on whole jalapeños at lunch. We were insufferable.

Then, one morning in the summer of 2018, I woke up to a blinding pain in my lower abdomen. Over the next weeks and months, the pain moved around and changed quality, but it never completely faded. My doctor literally shrugged at me. A different doctor asked if I was seeing a psychiatrist. Finally a specialist mentioned IBS, Crohn’s, endometriosis and about ten other possibilities before handing me ... peppermint supplements. She

also told me I was probably eating too much beef (I was a vegetarian at the time).

Most chronic illness patients are accustomed to recommendations like these. It seems like the more poorly understood a disease is, the more “lifestyle changes” we are told to make — whether it’s by doctors, other patients or well-meaning strangers giving us unsolicited advice. For Crohn’s disease, the no-no list includes red meat, alcohol, saturated fats, nuts and carbonated drinks.

People with endometriosis can consult countless websites telling us to avoid caffeine, gluten and chocolate. Supposedly, garlic can trigger lupus flares.

The problem with this is that for many of us, refusing all the foods we actually like eating while trying to make a point of consuming more flax seeds is an excellent way to suck the remaining joy out of a life that too often feels joyless. Eventually, a time comes when it doesn’t feel worth it anymore. For me, that was when I was told to cut out spicy food. I did, because the pain was incredible and I was willing to try anything. For almost a year, I ate nothing with more than a hint of spice, and I did notice small improvements. The constant cramps were slightly less intense. The ache in my back was maybe a little duller.

But one day, home for Thanksgiving during my first semester at Cornell, I found myself sitting in a Japanese restaurant with my grandmother, staring at a bowl of ramen and a bottle of sriracha.

Suddenly, all I wanted to do was drown the noodles in enough hot sauce to turn the broth red.

So, even knowing that I would regret it later, I did. And I ate the entire thing. And it was delicious. There were consequences, of course. I spent about an hour that afternoon curled on my bed in the fetal position.

Surprisingly, though, I had no regrets. Yes, my body’s reaction did feel like a punishment, but eventually shame becomes exhausting.

The issue with dietary restrictions as a treatment for illnesses that have no treatment is

that they are usually based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence, and they play into a depressingly common attitude among able-bodied people that chronic pain is somehow within our control; that choices we’ve made are what made us sick.

The reality for most of us is that regardless of how much kale we eat or how many French fries we don’t eat, we will always be in pain.

Some people may find that cutting out dairy helps, and if it’s worth it for them that’s great.

But I once had a doctor tell me, in one breath, to try to eat more fiber and also limit foods that were particularly high in fiber.

It’s depressing, confusing and often contradictory, and that’s why I gave up.

Since Thanksgiving, I have, for the first time in my life, become one of those insufferable people who eats whatever they want. Sometimes that means ordering way too much ice cream at the Dairy Bar and eating it all. Sometimes it means getting the mac and cheese from Zeus or eating seven egg rolls in one sitting even if it might make me sick. Sometimes it means eating doritos at ten in the morning.

But, mostly, it means having all the hot sauce I can get my hands on, even if it might make me feel a little worse. If I am going to be in pain no matter what, I’d rather my food have some flavor.

While I was working on this piece, my editor asked if I have any foods I use as medicine.

Through this, I realized that I don’t. Physically, nothing has ever worked. Not the peppermint supplements, not the flax seeds, not the fiber. Emotionally, though, I guess the best medicine is all the foods I’m not technically supposed to eat. In a body that almost always feels out of control, it can be empowering to decide not to let sickness dictate my entire life. I may not be able to fix what’s wrong with me, but I can eat a straight chili pepper, and no one (and no illness) can stop me.

Brook Jaffe is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at bgj24@cornell.edu.

BENJAMIN VELANI / DINING EDITOR

Week 1 Winners March Madness

Thursday, March 12, 2020 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 7

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT On the Groundbreaking Portrait of a Lady on Fire

EMMA PLOWE, RUBY QUE AND KATIE SIMS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR AND COLUMNISTS

No film has ever moved me as Portrait of a Lady on Fire did.

The film is a slowly unfolding love story set in 18th century France, featuring painter Marianne (Noéme Merlant) hired to paint her subject Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) secretly, solely by memory of observation. The film is intimate and jaw-droppingly beautiful. I turned to arts columnists Katie Sims ’20 and Ruby Que ’20 to discuss what made the film so unique, emotional and memorable; here are our thoughts.

Sims: Conflict with social norms and secrecy are easy and common plots for queer love stories. I was sure going in that Portrait of a Lady on Fire would play this game, with outbursts about Héloïse’s impending marriage and the unfairness that their love must be secret and end, but those conflicts were underplayed. Instead, it focused in on the growth of their relationship. It was refreshing; the frustration of secret queer love is already well established in film, and there are other stories and aspects to tell. Portrait of a Lady on Fire didn’t break the mold, but it bent and stretched it to make room to tell a better story

Initial reactions?

Sims: I made the delicious but shortsighted decision to have Cinemapolis’s salt, sage and nooch popcorn for dinner and regretted it as soon as the film started. The film’s sound was arresting, and I disrupted it with my clumsy paws rustling the bag for a few savory kernels. Even — especially? — just following clacking footsteps around the room was lively and crisp.

The shifts between the calm indoors and roaring winds were striking and revealing. I’m not usually one to notice sound, but Portrait of a Lady on Fire is just as rich aurally as it is visually.

Plowe: When I remember my experience of the film, I first remember Katie’s popcorn crunching. More importantly, I also remember the silence in between crunches; the film emphasizes moments of silence because the soundscape — and lack of a soundtrack — helps the audience understand the mental landscapes which the characters of the film occupy. Héloïse tells Marianne that she has only heard church music, which informs the weight of the film’s quietness.

Que: One thing I kept thinking about during the film is how often they look at each other; not to initiate a conversation — not to pass judgement, not to demand attention — they look at each other simply because they want to, because they can. Director Céline Sciamma declared the film “a manifesto on the female gaze”, but it’s also about the lover’s gaze. How the world could be shaken by the simple acts of looking, appreciating, and ultimately understanding.

On the same note my favorite scene is perhaps when Marianne sets out to paint Héloïse’s portrait again after her first failed attempt. Héloïse poses as the subject, yet she is also painting Marianne’s image at the same time. “If you look at me, who do I look at?” She calls the painter closer to where she sits and asks. They see each other, with great attention and unmistakable tenderness. How else would you notice another person’s mannerisms as small as an eyebrow raised?

What struck you about this film as different from other cinema featuring LGBTQ stories?

T

his is how my Tuesday went down.

I woke up to go to a voiceover recording session for my thesis film.

Was almost late to my seminar on Walter Benjamin where I presented a piece titled “Left-wing Melancholy.” Ran to a talk I was excited about only to find that it had been canceled. Noticed a sign on the auditorium door saying that some exam had been moved online. Didn’t give it much thought and walked back to Zeus.

So around 5pm, I was sitting at a table with a friend mindlessly scrolling through my phone. A link that previewed “University Statement” popped up in one of my many group chats and I opened it, somehow having a bad feeling about it already.

We all know what was in that statement.

“What are we gonna do?” I asked my friend. He hesitated for a second, then told me he needed to call his parents.

The confusing part was how the message started circulating in private texts about half an hour before it got sent out as an official announcement in email. In some of my group texts and a Cornell subreddit, a few were questioning the credibility of the statement, which only added to the already heightened sense of uncertainty. But everyone started reacting nevertheless - the table next to us joked that they could probably stop cramming for an

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

COURTESY OF NEON AND LILES FILM

about how Héloïse and Marianne get to know each other.

Que: Katie makes an excellent point about how queer stories often draws conflicts from the us vs. them narrative; the fight against the heteronormative society is definitely a profound one, but queer love, at its heart, is no different than any other kind of love. I loved how in Sciamma’s world the women are completely by themselves. The men that are mentioned are so distant and irrelevant, whether it be the suitor in Milan or the father whose name Marianne has to use to gain recognition. And when I said “the women” let’s not forget the young maid Sophie, whose addition is an absolute delight. When the hostess of the house leaves the island, the three young women establish this beautiful rapport among themselves. Marianne

and Héloïse take care of Sophie as she goes through the unpleasant but necessary abortion, and the trio cook, dine and read together. I know this is supposed to be a love story, but how beautiful is a feminist utopia?

Plowe: The absence of sex scenes absolutely surprised me. A French lesbian story without gratuitous scissoring? Impossible!

The director seems to mock the audience’s expectations for semi-pornographic content; an extreme closeup shows one of the lovers’ fingers rubbing some kind of hallucinogenic drug into the other’s armpit, a shot which is at first shocking and confusing. The shot catches us on our own desire to see sex.

Instead, the sex the women share gets to belong to the characters and not the audience, and the story focuses on the intense emotional repurcussions of intimacy rather than the almost irrelevant physical mechanics of sex. I agree with Ruby’s interpretation of parts of the film as becoming “feminist utopia,” and it’s a utopia not meant for consumption (in the way that another feminist uptopia of Themyscira in Wonder Woman is, for example) but for the act of sharing an often hidden aspect of humanity.

Did any aspect of the film stick with you after watching it?

Sims: The way the film begins with the actual “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” painting is perfect. That painting and Marianne’s reaction to it tells you volumes about how Marianne sees Héloïse, more than many other scenes of Héloïse and Marianne together. It’s a joy to meet Héloïse in a painting that shows her fittingly, before we see Marianne struggle to coerce Héloïse’s image onto a canvas for a suitor.

Que: I couldn’t shake the imagery of Héloïse standing on the stairs in her white nightgown. She looks as delicate as a mere reflection in a pond that could disappear the moment it gets disrupted. In a previous scene where the three women read the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Héloïse proposes the possibility that maybe Eurydice had told Orpheus to turn back to look at her. Marianne thinks differently, that Orpheus “doesn’t make the lover’s choice but the poet’s.” He had chosen the memory of her over a life with her.

To read the rest of this article, please visit cornellsun.com.

Emma Plowe is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She currently serves as Arts & Entertainment Editor on The Sun’s board.

She can be reached at eplowe@cornellsun.com Ruby Que is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at rque@cornellsun.com. Katie Sims is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at ksims@cornellsun.com.

‘Know that I Am with You’ impending exam, a lot of people pulled out their phones and started calling families like my friend did, another friend yelled at me from across the atrium, “Ruby!” His voice was full of the usual excitement, “we are fucked!” I squeezed out a smile and waved back.

Above him, posters advertising various Arts and Sciences events rolled across the big screen in Klarman. Someone was quietly sobbing into the phone on a corner bench. I looked at her, then around. For a moment I felt so completely lost that I thought of this dream I had been having since I was a child. In the dream, I am on this giant ferris wheel just lifting off the ground, but I am by myself. Everyone else I care about - and the people change over the years - are staying behind. I scream their names at the top of my lungs, but none of them can hear me.

“You good?” My friend had gotten off the phone. “Yeah.” I excused myself because I was late to a group dinner, and on my way there I called a close housemate who’s off-campus this semester. They sounded completely content with life and told me about an evening date. How lovely. I got to the restaurant. There seemed

to be nothing else to talk about but the recent announcement, and someone at the table made a joke about how our generation can take over when all the old people die off from the virus. I felt disgusted and interrupted her. The rest of the dinner was a haze. I left early to go to a film and on my way to the cinema ran into a group of friends, all of us seniors. Hugs were deemed too risky and we bumped elbows. I learned that the Cornell Fashion Collective show this Saturday, which I was supposed to model in, had also been canceled. I texted my designer asking if she was okay.

At the cinema we watched American Psycho, a perfectly absurd film that should’ve taken my mind off of the subject. It didn’t.

Screenwriter and actress Guinevere Turner gave a wonderful Q&A that Escape was witty and insightful. People were laughing at her jokes all around me. Messages kept coming in on my phone. I whispered to the friend sitting next to me, “I might start crying.” He put his hand on mine.

By the time all was finally over and we were out in the residue cold again even

Ruby Que

though it was spring, I felt exhausted.

Pretending that we can keep business as usual is just not quite possible anymore.

Things will have to change; how we feel, how we interact, how we move around in this world. Many of the memes and news articles and opinion pieces have already pointed out the myriad implications of the new policy. I am incredibly saddened, both by the tangible threat of COVID-19 and the political malaise in this country and beyond. For me, an international student, graduating senior with a film thesis, and member of a coop which is technically campus housing, things are to be figured out for sure. I had a half-finished column about experimental cinema, but publishing something so socially irrelevant felt somewhat wrong, a sentiment my fellow columnist Andrea Yang had mentioned at an earlier stage of the crisis.

This is not to spread the feeling of melancholy that Benjamin acidically attacked but to say, to quote an email I received late last night, “know that I am with you.” Years down the line we may still remember this day. I hope the kinder gestures are what stay with us.

Ruby Que is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Escape runs alternate Thursdays this semester. She can be reached at rque@ cornellsun.com.

Opinion

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Letter to the Editor

Re: ‘Through coronavirus and cancellations, Cornell is home’

Independent Since 1880 138th Editorial Board MARYAM ZAFAR ’21 JOYBEER DATTA GUPTA ’21

Business Manager

PETER BUONANNO ’21

Associate Editor

MEGHNA MAHARISHI ’22

Assistant Managing Editor

Editor in Chief

JOHNATHAN STIMPSON ’21

To the Editor:

Managing Editor

KRYSTAL YANG ’21 Advertising Manager

JASON HUANG ’21 Web Editor

Editorial

Through All, Cornell Is Home YOU CAN ONLY LIVE CORNELL ONCE, and our time is being cut short.

On March 10, Cornell President Martha Pollack told the campus community that — in an effort to “minimize future community spread” of the COVID-19 in Tompkins County — the University would move to virtual instruction for the remainder of the semester.

Since the emailed announcement, reactions across campus have varied wildly. Some professed relief regarding the extra month and a half of summer vacation, while others sobbed uncontrollably upon receiving the news that they would have to leave their home far above Cayuga’s waters. This is to be expected. The lives that Cornellians lead away from campus are vastly different and students have had limited time to cope with the realization that their Cornell experience is to end, suddenly, two months earlier than expected.

Cornell’s shift towards virtual classrooms follows several other major universities — including Harvard, New York University, Princeton and Columbia. Despite the general outcry following President Pollack’s announcement, the reality of the virus is sobering.

According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center Reports, there have been over 118,000 confirmed cases (of which around 64,000 have recovered) globally. Over 1,000 of these are in the U.S.; 173 of the domestic cases are in New York State.

Further, according to the University’s demographics report on the class of 2023, 33.7 percent of freshmen hail from New York. Many of these students will be heading home to communities already affected by COVID-19. The same can be said for the 11 percent of freshmen returning to the West coast or the 11.1 percent who are international (if travel restrictions even allow their safe return).

In this time of uncertainty, immense change and fear, it is essential that the Cornell community binds together in support of each other — and this message is echoed in Pollack’s announcement. Moving forward, students, faculty and administrators alike must remember to uphold the innately Cornellian values of empathy and compassion.

For students: Understand that your reality is different from the realities of your peers.

You may be heading home to a community unaffected by COVID-19, while your suitemate may already be personally affected. You may be heading home to a safe and loving home environment; your friends may not. Indeed, you may be heading home — your friends may not have that luxury. Now more than ever, be neighborly to each other. Help each other get home (if you can) — or help each other find home upon our hill.

If you are an underclassman, recognize that your senior friends are losing their final semester, the proud culmination of arguably the most formative four years of their lives.

Comfort them, and remind them that they deserve to be celebrated.

To the faculty: Students know how hard you are working, and will continue to work, to make sure that we have an adapted curriculum. We understand the importance of your safety as well, and we will certainly be patient during this significant academic change. But it is important for you to be understanding of your students as well: All Cornellians are about to navigate a major life disruption. Many are losing their only home by being asked to leave Ithaca, and the submission of a reading response by 5 p.m. on Thursday may be the furthest thing from their minds.

Finally, to the administration: Before any request is made, it is important to acknowledge that the University’s timely and responsible action plan can be lauded.

When looking back upon the history books in coming decades, every single Cornellian ought to be proud when reflecting on this episode: for once, wellbeing was the top priority of the administration.

This is not to say the plans are infallible — many Cornell community members are unable to get home due to travel restrictions. And many people, even if they are able to make it to their “permanent residences,” are not returning to a safe environment, perhaps due to familial, societal or health reasons.

The University has an obligation to ensure that Cornellians who must remain in Ithaca are safe. Cornell should collaborate with the Cayuga Medical Center and other surrounding hospitals in case of a local outbreak. Cornell should ensure that students who must remain in University housing are provided with an adequate living situation, that student employees are provided with all possible fiscal and emotional support. And, finally, Cornell should realize that it is inevitable that students — undergraduates, in particular — will return to Ithaca for the months of April and May. According to the University, nearly 52 percent of Cornell undergraduates live off campus, and over 90 percent of graduate and professional students do so as well. At a school where the class of 2023’s average need-based grant award from Cornell funds is $43,122, it is unsurprising that students who are paying exorbitant rents in Ithaca may choose to remain in their off-campus housing. For this reason, the “enhanced cleaning procedures” that are expected to begin on March 11 must continue long past spring break.

Further, many staff members are unable to do their work remotely. So, if for nothing else, the University must remain operational and proactive in preventing the spread of COVID-19 for their sake.

The highest priority, for this administration, is to keep its community informed. A lengthy email can be effective, but this community — a fabric of human beings with fears, ambitions, emotions and experiences — needs the support, the faces and the voices of other human beings. Answer the questions students have: about graduation, visas, reimbursements, time zones and final exams. For those questions that are presently without answers, solicit the voices of the students and staff.

This is a strange and scary time to be a Cornellian; in fact, it’s a strange and scary time to be a human being. Take care of each other, help each other find solace and, above all else, make sure that you cherish these final two weeks on campus this semester.

The above editorial reflects the opinions of The Cornell Daily Sun. Editorials are penned collaboratively between the Editor in Chief, Associate Editor and Opinion Editor, in consultation with additional Sun editors and staffers. The Sun’s editorials are independent of its news coverage, other columnists and advertisers.

Thank you for publishing your editorial, “Through Coronavirus and Cancellations, Cornell is Home.” As a proud Cornell alumna and staff member at another higher education institution that made the same difficult decision as Cornell to suspend in-person classes, I appreciated your understanding and analysis of the situation and your advice to the campus community. I am incredibly sad for the seniors and graduating students who will not have a chance to say goodbye to the Hill in the same way that generations of Cornellians did before them. I am worried for the faculty and students who are not able to easily adapt to the new technologies that we are adopt-

ing on the fly and am disappointed that your educational experience will not be as rich and fulfilling as you had expected.

However, I know that the Cornell administration, and many other college and university administrations, grappled with one of the most difficult decisions they’ve had to make, and I think they made the correct choice. There are so many unknowns, but the prudent move was to react swiftly to the global pandemic to mitigate the devastating effects we are starting to see across the globe. I hope when we look back at this time, we will not only think about the experiences we missed out on, but appreciate how our actions contributed to the resolution of this crisis.

Rachel Gordon ’08

Letter to the Editor

Dear Cornell, from a senior To the Editor: “We are a strong community and one in which we support each other.” This was the phrase that most caught my eye in the email sent on March 10 to the Cornell community regarding the disappointing changes coming about as a result of coronavirus. These changes are devastating to many of us, especially seniors. It struck me as tonally discordant for that phrase to slip out of an email that otherwise insensitively detailed the steps Cornell will be taking to wash its hands of any future outbreak without explaining much in terms of rationale.

While I’m sure there is a rationale, I want to take a moment to highlight the confusions we have as a student body, the intense disappointment we had in learning this news and how important it is to consider, very carefully, what exactly future versions of these decisions will mean for us, especially seniors graduating in May. We have many questions, mostly concerning the thought process behind the decision. If there aren’t any cases in Ithaca yet, why should we leave campus to return to other parts of the world that are either already dealing with COVID-19 on a much larger scale or are just as likely to have cases pop up soon? If concerns over students’ safety is at the heart of this, shouldn’t we strongly encourage students not to leave, no matter what, and only require that students who absolutely must leave not return? It is impossible to know when and at what rate coronavirus will spread across the country. It is understandable to cancel large group gatherings and educational experiences off campus. But encouraging people to leave entirely seems like a knee-jerk reaction, with an explanation that doesn’t seem to be rooted in a desire to protect our community members.

I am sure there are answers to our questions. I want to be clear that I do not at all doubt the competence of those in charge. However, having learned a bit about community engagement from my urban studies degree, I will say with confidence that telling us a “team of leaders” consulted with “experts” is not remotely convincing. We are Cornell students. And we’re your community members. If we’re going to receive crushing news, we need a proper explanation.

If we consider ourselves a “community,” we should not make decisions like a corporation. But, just for the sake of argument, let us consider Cornell as a corporation, and thus also consider the financially absurd situation forced on students by that corporation’s decision.

As we’re all aware, the prospect of virtual education is laughable.

We did not spend tuition dollars for

recorded lectures from our professors.

We paid all this money to brush shoulders with the nation’s brightest. We worked this hard to have access to the 19th largest research library in the United States.

And what happens to people who have paid for housing and food already?

They have to petition to be sheltered and fed? What about students who return to spaces that are housing insecure or food insecure? What happens to them? We understand the risk involved with people living together in dense spaces, and the complications regarding Tompkins County’s limited healthcare infrastructure and how these factors would influence the decision that was made. But just being told to leave seems wildly insensitive, and more the method of choice for a corporation to cover its rear end than a “community” to make a decision that takes all of its members into account. This verdict has put my low-income, housing-insecure and work-study friends at great risk. The email absolutely should have detailed avenues and resources to help those individuals.

However, the point of writing this was not to simply enumerate the ways in which the announcement left us confused and saddened. I mean only to highlight that there are elements of this that seem rash, and that vastly undervalue what Cornell means for students, especially undergraduate seniors who are on the precipice of reaping the rewards of doing our absolute best in school since we were small children.

These last months are just about everything to us. Our friendships, our futures, our final projects — as a community, these last months hold our most important rituals, events and memories, ones we’ve looked forward to for years and that our families would do anything to share with us. We want nothing more than to say goodbye properly.

Final performances, sporting events and club socials are already gone for many seniors just because of the decision already made. In the time since the email hit our inboxes I’ve heard dozens of stories of the things lost due to this decision that mean much more than credit hours or a diploma ever will. I encourage students, and especially seniors, to share those stories.

But most of all I beg this administration to think very carefully about its crucial next decisions, to incorporate community members into making those decisions and to share with community members precisely why decisions are made, with sensitivity to the fact that we, especially seniors, have never been more proud to be at Cornell and have never been more excited for what is to come in these final months far above Cayuga’s waters.

Nathan Revor ’20

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020 9

Opinion

Jaewon Sim | Trustee Viewpoint

A

Let’s Rethink How We Prepare Cornellians for a Life After the Hill

s does every year, in just two months, a new cohort of Cornellians will finish their studies and venture out into the world. Regardless of what the future holds for them — joining the workforce or seeking a graduate or professional degree — 3,500 Cornellians will be starting a new, exciting chapter of their lives. But how is Cornell readying its students for what lies beyond?

Not many students are aware of the intricacies of the career counseling system at Cornell. For starters, it is Cornell Career Services that has the daunting task of helping students find employment or pursue graduate and professional studies. But CCS isn’t the only campus office that does this: When students think “career advising,” it’s probably their college offices that first come to mind. In the aggregate, 60 advisers, coordinators and assistants in 8 offices located in 14 different buildings advise Cornell students on career-related matters. In Cornell’s convoluted hierarchy of career services personnel, it’s unclear what’s more difficult: finding a career path or finding an adviser to help you identify that career path.

As another class departs for a world beyond the classroom and recruitment season approaches for those who

Not many students are aware of the intricacies of the career counseling system at Cornell. remain, Cornell must make a bold commitment to reimagining how we prepare Cornellians for life after the Hill.

Cornell is not unique in its struggles to meet the high expectations of today’s students, but we face unique organizational challenges. For instance, Arts and Engineering colleges’ career directors report to CCS — which in turn reports into a university vice president — and they

receive financial support from the central University.

Simultaneously, these directors have a dual reporting relationship to their respective college deans, who report to the provost. In contrast, four other colleges have directors that report just to their deans. But Dyson and the Hotel School have two layers of dean-reporting: once to their respective school deans and then to the Business college dean.

Career advising is a difficult enough task, but Cornell’s advisers are disadvantaged and overburdened when our human and financial resources are scattered all across hundreds of acres. In a decentralized and convoluted reporting and budgeting structure, new and innovative ideas die, responsibilities are diffused and advising efforts are duplicated. With a dozen independent decision-makers that run career offices out of their budgets, it is incredibly difficult for a central career advising entity to step up, take the helm and act as a control tower for reforms that are much needed.

Given this structure, it does not come as a surprise that career advising remains a mystery to many undergraduates. Instead of spending time and effort to capitalize on the University’s investments in career services, Cornellians do so navigating the entanglement of college and university offices. On numerous occasions, students have come up to me to ask why we have both college advising offices and a central career service office.

Many times, students haven’t even heard of Barnes Hall.

For students in Cornell’s multidisciplinary colleges, the current advising model presents additional challenges.

For example, it would be fair to say that most architecture majors intend to pursue a career in architecture. But for a college as diverse as Arts and Sciences — that houses 40 majors ranging from chemistry to Africana studies — a

mere affiliation with the school does not reveal much about one’s career interests. This reality constrains the Arts college to keep its advising efforts broad and “exploration-focused,” while other colleges devote significant resources to narrowly tailored and practical counseling.

So, a truly practical solution that works for every

In re-envisioning career counseling at Cornell, let’s not feel beholden to our current college-based approach, but think freely and broadly.

Cornellian — and not just ones in specific colleges or majors — will inevitably involve a career services organization that transcends college boundaries. Let’s take our cue from peer institutions, like the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University, which unite their advising efforts under a single central department. We’ve already seen the savings and synergies that we can achieve when Day Hall takes leadership in consolidating services that are duplicated by each college. When we pool our dispersed, college-owned resources for the common good of the University, we result in an institution that is greater than the sum of its parts.

In re-envisioning career counseling at Cornell, let’s not feel beholden to our current college-based approach, but think freely and broadly. What works or doesn’t work in our current model? If we could build one from scratch, what would an ideal career services system look like? As we reflect on how Cornell prepares our graduates for a world beyond the Hill, I welcome an open discussion on career advising at the University.

Jaewon Sim is an undergraduate student-elected member of the Board of Trustees and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Comments may be sent to opinion@cornellsun.com. Trustee Viewpoint runs every other Thursday this semester.

Elijah Fox | What Does the Fox Say?

A

Play Nice Until This Is Over

s we received news this week that our university, along with many others across the country, will be shuttering its classes in a bid to slow the rise of a global pandemic with danger not seen in over 100 years, we are reminded of the need for stable leadership.

For a minute there, we thought we’d had it. Bernie Sanders won the most votes in the first three primary and caucus states, a feat unique in the history of major party competitive primaries. Support for progressive policy was on the rise. The ascendent left seemed poised to at last take our place at the forefront of national government. But as it stands, we are losing the fair fight of the Democratic primary and moving into an

attacks and go easy each other.

First, Biden. The former vice president has been pretty good at running a positive campaign thus far. He has strongly stood by the principle of challenging ideas not people, and has always tried to focus his messaging on the end goal of staving off the existential threat of a loss in November. His challenge to the central plank in Sanders’ platform, Medicare for All, has been the old-school critique of its extraordinary cost.

I disagree with this concern, as even rightwing think tanks have discovered that said extraordinary cost falls significantly below what our private system currently devotes to health care, but it is by no means disingenuous.

Biden’s proposal,

Cries that this process was rigged against Sanders by an establishment elite are foolish. election that will be anything but fair. Cries that this process was rigged against Sanders by an establishment elite are foolish, and likely demonstrate a racial blindspot. Joe Biden is surging to the nomination on the overwhelming support of Black Americans exercising a right to choose the nation’s leader, in the face of rampant voter suppression.

For the good of the exhausted country and the warming world, Sanders’ and Biden’s campaigns and supporters must drop all

after all, would guarantee universal coverage through the creation of a public option.

Biden’s team runs afoul when his surrogates play into the hostilities of the primary.

Hillary Clinton’s attacks on Sanders — who at the time was the frontrunner — were both uncalled for and extremely dangerous. Had Sanders carried on to secure the nomination, Clinton’s attacks would be efficiently converted into ammunition for the ruthless political right in battle for victory.

The Sanders operation has long worked in a similar fashion to Biden’s. On stage — whether debate or interview — the Vermont senator precedes every criticism of his top competitor with phrases close to “I like Joe” or “Joe is a good friend of mine.”

When criticising his opponents’ policy prescriptions, his rhetoric has leaned heavily on not good enough, embracing the spirit of the plans while insisting that his were the ones to most effectively relay that spirit. But as his fortunes took a turn for the worse, Sanders’ rhetoric has devolved into a negativity that harms the Democrats moving forward.

The latest ads coming out of the Sanders corner seek to highlight the differences between the two top contenders regarding their history with trade and social programs.

It may seem that he is trying to move voters away from a candidate he feels has worse odds in the general election. His supporters flooding the internet with posts and memes shredding the former vice president might believe they are doing the same.

But FiveThirtyEight, which once predicted Sanders entering the Democratic convention with the greatest number of delegates, now predicts, with over 99% certainty, Joe Biden doing the same. As it stands, attacking the front runner who will likely lead the party, or a popular runner-up whose supporters we need, is a far greater service to the Republican Party than it is to one’s candidate of choice. Voters from different flanks of the party must begin building goodwill with one another. Joe Biden may not be our favorite, but he’s likely the one we’ve got and it’s past time to stop the attacks against him.

As sea levels continue to rise, we are reminded of the need to bring a respect for science back into the Whitehouse. As our nation teeters on the brink of recession just as we are about to enter the workforce, we are reminded that Republicans hamstrung the government’s ability to fight recession by driving the deficit to a trillion dollars for the sole purpose of putting more money in the hands of the already wealthy.

As the 2016 election loomed, President Barack Obama called Democratic running mate Tim Kaine to deliver a stark message: “Tim, remember, this is no time to be a purist. You’ve got to keep a fascist out of the White House.” But it is not the pragmatic Virginia senator who needs to hear this message, it is the activists and voters of America.

The left have already won the ideological fight. If nominated, Biden will run the most progressive platform of any presidential candidate in a generation, if not history.

To help welcome Sanders supporters into the fold, Democrats must stop all attacks against him. To avoid damaging the presumptive Democratic nominee, Sanders supporters must rely on positive campaigning.

Progressives, Biden will be a one-term president. Let’s put our champion at the top of the ticket in four years. But for now, catastrophe looms on all fronts. We have no choice but end the intra-party conflict, restore democracy to America and to win.

Elijah Fox is a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He can be reached at efox@ cornellsun.com. What Does the Fox Say? runs every other Thursday this semester.

10 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020

Comics and Puzzles

Sundoku 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 “sigle numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name.

(Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

Pizza Rolls

Puzzle #404

LASER

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The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, March 12, 2020 11

Browning Readies for First NCAA Start

’19, Cornell’s leading netminder for about an hour and a half away.

What’s more — should the Red make Browning’s first two years with the Red. Continued from page 12 Boissonnault — The Sun’s 2019 Female the Frozen Four, her family’s drive would be gotten more into the ocean-type stuff, because Athlete of the Year — backstopped Cornell fewer than six hours to Boston University’s I had to,” Browning said. “But the Marine to its first Frozen Four since 2012 last year. Agganis Arena.

“My sister heckles me a lot,” Browning Her other accomplishments include teachprogram is more on-land-type things.”

“I think that we’re really fortunate to have ing Browning to braid her hair so that it said. “But it’s in that loving kind of way that the opportunities that we have in the United wouldn’t get in her face during games and makes you want to be better.”

After all, it was Browning’s sister’s influStates,” she continued. “And I thought that aiding the younger goalie in perfecting her [joining] the military was a great way to juggling technique. The juggling helps Browning get her eyes “warmed up” defend them.”

“One of my teammates actually did a Upon arriving on East Hill, Browning’s before games.

Browning earned six starts over study, and she said I play better ... when transition was not so smooth. With ROTC, hockey and the pursuit of an engineering Boissonnault last season, getting a my parents are at the game.” degree, Browning found herself victim to taste of the responsibility that comes many late nights as she attempted to balance with being the Red’s goaltender. But Lindsay Browning three of the most time-consuming endeavors this year is the first time Browning is between the pipes for the playoffs. on campus.

And soon, Browning will see the “I didn’t sleep at all — you can ask the ence that led her to try hockey in the team,” she said. “I kind of walked around like national stage in the NCAA Tournament.

Cornell, which has boasted the No. 1 first place. Browning’s mother played hockey a zombie all the time.” ranking in the nation when she was growing up and one day took But with experience for five weeks now, will Browning and her older sister to an open came an improved ability “Sundays are my happy be rewarded with home- skate. After that, the two were inspired. to manage her time. She “My sister decided to play hockey and, of ice advantage for the first learned to portion off her days. I go to the ASPCA round of the NCAAs when course, I wanted to do everything that my days, giving her full attenthe Red hosts Mercyhurst older sister did,” Browning said. “She played tion to one activity at any animal shelter and volungoalie, so, naturally, I wanted to play goalie given time. Now, Browning teer there ... It’s probaby at Lynah Rink.

For Browning, who hails too. So she never got to have anything to gets her sleep and has a one of the best things I’ve from Penfield, New York, herself.” daily routine down.

A Cornell team that is on its way to the “Start with ROTC, then done — it’s probably more just outside of Rochester, academics, then hockey, for me than for the dogs.” having the chance to play national tournament should feel lucky that a postseason hockey within classic case of sibling rivalry brought its goalthen go to sleep, repeat,” driving distance from her tender to the sport of hockey.

Browning said.

Lindsay Browning Browning is set for her first-ever NCAA family is no small benefit.

And not only does she “One of my teammates Tournament start in goal Saturday at 2 p.m. sleep — she even has free actually did a study, and against Mercyhurst in Lynah Rink. While time.

“Sundays are my happy days,” Browning she said I play better — like, my stats are spectators will not be allowed in the stands said. “I go to the ASPCA animal shelter and better — when my parents are at the games,” amidst COVID-19 fears, the game will be free to stream online. volunteer there … It’s probably one of the Browning said.

Teammates conducting studies on the best things I’ve done — it’s probably more for conditions potentially influencing one anothme than for the dogs I hang out with.”

Junior goaltender Ally Dalaya introduced er’s performances is, without a doubt, quintBrowning to volunteering at the shelter. Her essentially Cornell. And the results are good Christina Bulkeley can be reached at mentor, though, was Marlène Boissonnault news for Browning, whose home is only cbulkeley@cornellsun.com.

BROWNING

Bulldogs Withdraw, Red Moves to Lake Placid Cornell and Clarkson both receive byes MEN’S HOCKEY

Continued from page 12

But such unpredictability is the nature of a global pandemic.

Though the subject of Cornell’s potential withdrawal has come up within the team, there is no clear answer as to what the future will hold.

“I’m really not in a position to answer [whether Cornell will forfeit], I don’t really know,” Barron said. “I should hope not. We’ll see how things go — as far as I know, our plan right now is to keep playing.”

No word has come out on whether the ECAC semifinals and championship game will be played without spectators. Meanwhile, the NCAA announced on Wednesday that all of its tournaments — hockey

in January after multiple weeks without games, is hoping that that positive experience will carry over into this second hiatus.

“Vegas was probably one of the better games we’ve had this year, so we’re just kind of treating [the two bye weeks] like we would Christmas break,” Barron said.

“Vegas was probably one of the better games we’ve had this year.”

Morgan Barron

Clarkson, as the No. 2 seed in the ECAC Tournament, will be the other team to go to Lake Placid on March 20 without playing any other playoff games prior.

“I’m really not in a position to No. 11 Princeton will answer [whether Cornell will travel to take on No. 3 Quinnipiac. No. 8 Colgate forfeit], I don’t really know. I will face No. 4 Rensselaer.

The Engineers were preshould hope not.” viously slated to take on Harvard.

Morgan Barron The ECAC semifinal is currently scheduled for included — will close their doors March 20 at Herb Brooks Arena to fans in an effort to promote in Lake Placid, N.Y. social distancing.

The team, which played in the Christina Bulkeley can be reached at Fortress Invitational in Las Vegas cbulkeley@cornellsun.com.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Sports Abrupt ending | The Ivy League announced the cancellation of all spring sports amid concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sun Sports Editor

Spring Sports Cancelled

By RAPHY GENDLER & LUKE PICHINI Sun Senior Staff Writer and Sun Assistant Sports Editor

The Ivy League announced on Wednesday that all spring athletic practices and competitions are canceled through the remainder of the academic year amid further developments in the outbreak of COVID-19.

According to the league’s release, individual institutions will decide whether winter teams will participate in postseason play.

Cornell women’s hockey will play in a mostly-empty Lynah Rink this weekend. Meanwhile, the men will move on to the ECAC semifinals following Yale’s withdrawal from the ECAC Tournament.

“My initial reaction, the reaction of the whole team, was just — it was “We knew that it was just shock,” said Jonathan a possibility ... but we Zacharias, a never thought it would sophomore pitcher on the actually happen.” baseball team.

B e c c a Becca Jordan Jordan, a junior on the sailing team, expressed her shock at the news.

“We knew that it was a possibility and we joked about it for a few days, but we never thought it would actually happen,” Jordan said. “Honestly, at practice, the seniors were like, ‘what if this is our last time ever putting on our pinnies as college athletes?’”

After spending her semester abroad in the fall, the announcement was difficult for Jordan, who was excited about the upcoming season.

“It was a big decision to go abroad and be away from the team, but I was so excited to get back,”

Jordan said. “Getting ready and gearing up for nationals at the end of spring was really exciting … but I know that I am in a way better position than the seniors because I still have another year. It’s not like my entire career is gone.”

Both Jordan and Zacharias expressed remorse for the seniors, who saw their collegiate careers come to an unexpected end.

“We had a great group of seniors this year with a ton of leadership,” Zacharias said. “Many of them were working their way back from injuries, so the fact that they put all that time into rehabbing and to [have the season] cut short like this is kind of hard — all of our hearts go out to the seniors.”

“Our seniors were up for pretty big awards, and that might fall through,” Jordan said. “We’ve just tried to put our sadness away and be there for them and do whatever they need. We’ve all been hanging out a lot today, and we’re all trying to spend time together.”

Men’s lacrosse had a 5-0 record and recently ascended to the No. 2 ranking in national polls. The team was scheduled to face No. 6 Yale on Saturday in its first Ivy game. Multiple spokespeople from the team declined to comment.

While the news has been difficult, it has brought the teams closer together.

“If there’s any silver lining, it shows how important we are to each other and how much we all care about each other,” Jordan said.

Christina Bulkeley ’21 contributed reporting to this article.

Raphy Gendler can be reached at rgendler@cornellsun.com.

Luke Pichini can be reached at lpichini@cornellsun.com.

12

Red Off to Lake Placid, Yale Out of Playoffs

By CHRISTINA BULKELEY

BORIS TSANG / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

THURSDAY MARCH 12, 2020

“It was a goal of ours to make it [to Lake Placid], but this is certainly not the way we wanted it to happen. We all were looking forward to playing games this weekend and especially our last games at Lynah for the year.”

Cornell seniors expressed ahead of the last home game of the regular season that they considered the ECAC quarterfinals to be their real Senior Day. Back in late February, it was unfathomable that the Red wouldn’t play in front of the Lynah Faithful until next fall.

The constant changes are just one more stressor for a team preparing for playoffs that

Yale men’s hockey today became the second Ivy League team to pull out of the ECAC Tournament, following Harvard’s lead amidst COVID-19 fears, the league announced Wednesday evening. In response, the ECAC re-seeded the playoff field, with top-seeded Cornell and No. 2 seed Clarkson receiving another bye weekend and a spot in the semifinals at Lake Placid.

The No. 7 Bulldogs were slated to play at No. 3 Quinnipiac for the ECAC quarterfinals this weekend. Cornell, which already had a bye for the first round of the playoffs and was scheduled to face No. 11 Princeton in the quarterfinals, will get yet another weekend off.

BORIS TSANG / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR In a matAnother bye | The Red will have another week off ter of days, following Yale’s withdrawal from the ECAC Tournament. the Red’s weekend plans have undergone multi- seem like they will never arrive.

“I’m trying to keep off my ple dramatic transformations.

Cornell announced on Tuesday phone because it feels like every that spectators would be barred 10 or 15 minutes, it’s different from Lynah Rink for the ECAC tweets or emails or text mesquarterfinals against Princeton sages coming through,” Barron — now, that series won’t hap- said. “It’s mayhem … It’s dispen at all. Suddenly, the team appointing, the situation sucks has discovered that it’s already but, you know, like I said, played its last game on home we’re going to control what we can control and just be ready ice.

“It’s a little bittersweet, I to play when we get a chance think, obviously,” said junior to play.” forward and captain Morgan See MEN’S HOCKEY page 11 Barron on Wednesday night.

A Star Goaltender and ROTC Cadet, Browning Prepares for Big Stage

By CHRISTINA BULKELEY Sun Sports Editor

between two colleges that had offered her a spot on their rosters at the time, didn’t see joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps at either one as appealing an option as going to a military academy. But that brief hockey-free stint made her realize that she wasn’t ready to let go of the sport.

In her first year as the everyday starting goaltender for Cornell women’s hockey, junior Lindsay Browning set a single-season program record with 12 shutouts, was named Ivy League Player of the Year and conceded only one loss on home ice all season. But in high “I was going to quit hockey and school, she almost go to a military academy. And so I walked away from hockey altogether. quit hockey for two weeks and then The aspiring came crawling back to him.”

Marine was ready to leave her sport Lindsay Browning behind to pursue another calling.

“I told [Cornell And, further, Derraugh’s reachead] coach [Doug Derraugh ’91] I was going to quit hockey tion to her return to hockey and go to a military academy,” showed Browning that Cornell’s Browning said. “And so I quit program was the best fit for her.

“The way Coach supported hockey for two weeks and then me, really, through everything, came crawling back to him.”

Browning, who was deciding even quitting temporarily — I

BORIS TSANG / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Record-breaker | Junior goaltender Lindsay Browning has shined on the ice, notching a program-record 12 shutouts this season.

think that that really sealed the deal for me,” Browning said.

So, Browning made her decision to come to Cornell and join the Naval ROTC program to get the best of both worlds in playing with an elite hockey program while simultaneously training to join the armed forces.

But the 5-foot-3 Browning — who admits to not liking ships “at all” and getting seasick — didn’t envision herself in the Navy. Originally planning to join the Army, she realized she wanted to become a Marine after exploring her options.

Her commitment to holding herself to the “highest standards,” in her own words, led Browning to her goal of joining the Marine Corps. She was just unlucky enough that the Marines’ collegiate program is housed within Naval ROTC. “I’ve since [coming to college] See BROWNING page 11