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Science

Arts

Opinion

Weather

Mars Mission

Cornell Thrift

Vaccination Plan

Partly Cloudy

Cornell alumni lead the Perseverance Landing, carrying on U.S. space exploration. | Page 3

Nina Pofcher ’24 examines the benefits and nuances of thrifting online.

Cornell should offer clearer assistance in getting community members vaccinated, The Sun writes. | Page 5

| Page 4

HIGH: 45º LOW: 29º

Former S.A. Rep Pleads Guilty to One Charge Osai Egharevba ’21 pleads guilty to unlawful imprisonment; other charges dropped

By TAMARA KAMIS Sun Staff Writer

After months of hearings, Osai Egharevba ’21 pled guilty to one charge of unlawful imprisonment in a hearing on Friday morning in an online Ithaca City Court hearing.

Egharevba will complete one year of interim probation, and in the meantime, sentencing is adjourned. The other three charges that he faced — including one count of third degree sex abuse — have been dropped. Three orders of protection against Egharevba were also renewed.

In a previous Nov. 20 hearing, Ithaca City Court Judge Seth Peacock explained the context of the charges, which included multiple incidents of alleged physical and verbal harassment from January 2020 to November 2020, including touching someone’s breast without permission. After being arrested on Nov. 17, Egharevba was released with the promise to appear in court later. In a previous hearing on Dec. 10, Egharevba pled not guilty to all charges.

Egharevba was advised of his rights that he would give up by taking the plea deal, including the right to have a trial by jury, the right to challenge the prosecution’s evidence, the right to present evidence in his own defense and the right to remain silent. In addition, the judge informed him that this plea deal was the same as being convicted in a trial.

After Egharevba waived these rights, Judge Peacock

entered Egharevba’s guilty plea into the record.

“Do you admit that on Oct. 23, 2020, at about 12 p.m., at University Avenue in the City of Ithaca in Tompkins County, that you stood in front of [name redacted] and blocked her from proceeding, and grabbing her right hand and not letting her go, and that caused her to become alarmed and scared? Do you admit that?” Peacock asked. Egharevba pled guilty.

One of the women who pressed charges in this case, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for

Egharevba will complete one year of interim probation; in the meantime, sentencing is adjourned. her privacy, said she was disappointed that many of the charges were dropped.

“The fact that only one of them was addressed and then the rest got dropped — he pleaded guilty to one and then the rest were kind of just ignored — is not really the answer I wanted,” the woman told The Sun. She hoped ultimately that Egharbeva would change his behavior in the future and not reoffend.

“I want him to stop hurting other people on accident or on purpose because it’s not OK,” she said.

While she was not one of the people who pressed charges in this case, Leina Peterson ’22, who had filed a Title IX complaint against Egharevba last year, wanted

to be a witness if the case went to trial. In emails to an instructor from last year that Peterson provided to The Sun, Peterson alleged that Egharevba had harassed her on multiple occasions.

Peterson had hoped that the case would proceed to a trial so that Egharevba could hear the impact of his actions directly from the survivors.

“I honestly hoped that he would get to hear the victims speaking about the kind of harm that he’s caused,” Peterson told The Sun. “I feel like anyone, upon hearing the type of damage that they caused, they would feel some sort of guilt, some sort of remorse. They’d want to change at least to some extent.”

Cornell University, the University Title IX Office and the Cornell University Police Department declined to comment, stating that they have no information to share at this time. Egharevba, his defense attorney Patrick Cummings and Tompkins County assistant district attorney Heidi Paulino did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Members of the Cornell community may consult with the Victim Advocate by calling 607-255-1212, and with Cornell Health by calling 607-255-5155. Employees may call the Faculty Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) at 607255-2673. An Ithaca-based Crisisline is available at 607272-1616. The Tompkins County-based Advocacy Center is available at 607-277-5000. For additional resources, visit health.cornell.edu/services/victim-advocacy.

Tamara Kamis can be reached at tkamis@cornellsun.com.

Ithaca Beer Co. to Open on College Ave. Agriculture Hackathon

Restaurant slated to occupy former Collegetown Bagels corner

By JOHN YOON Sun Staff Writer

A second location of Ithaca Beer Co. will be the first to occupy the new Student Agencies Building that will open next fall, settling into the Collegetown corner that previously held the classic Collegetown Bagels.

At its new location, Ithaca Beer Co. will open for sit-down dining for lunch and dinner. Half

of the seating will be outdoors, which will be a smaller version of the beer garden at their current location, its design drawing inspiration from pubs and beer halls. “[The patio] is really one of the prime reasons we wanted that corner, because we really value the outdoors,” said Mari Mitchell ’98 M.A. ’01, co-owner and co-founder of Ithaca Beer Co. “[It’s See BEER page 2

BENJAMIN PARKER/SUN ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Collegetown corner | The Student Agencies building materializes, where a second Ithaca Beer Co. location is set to open.

Sows Seeds of Innovation Students brainstorm solutions to pressing issues

By FAITH FISHER Sun Staff Writer

In just 36 hours, participants in the 2021 Digital Ag Hackathon illustrated some of the ways an industry as ancient as agriculture can still benefit from modern, data-driven technological advancements.

From March 5 to March 7, over 200 students from the top five agriculture schools in the world participated in a series of workshops and networking events before competing for over $8,000 in prizes to help turn their innovative proposals into reality.

According to Prof. Steven Wolf, natural resources and environment, and Hackathon faculty chair, digital agriculture refers to a focus on data in the agricultural and food sectors.

“Agriculture and food are very old industries, and they are, up to this point, not particularly data

dense,” Wolf said. “Digital agriculture can create complementary resources that can be combined with human, experiential and locally based knowledge.”

The event was hosted by the

“My experience was fantastic. This hackathon literally changed my life.”

Shiang-Wan Chin grad Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture, with the support of Microsoft, Cargill and other corporate sponsors. In addition to Cornell, student and faculty guests hailed from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, University of São Paulo in Brazil, See HACKATHON page 2

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021

NEWS

Ithaca Beer Opens Second Spot Students Combine Tech and Ag BEER

Continued from page 1

a place] where you can go outside and kind of watch the world go by and have a drink, take a break for a moment.”

The Ithaca Beer Co. flagship location is just south of Buttermilk Falls and includes both a brewery and a farmto-table restaurant called the Taproom, which uses 60 percent of its produce from their on-site farm. The brewery offers a variety of different beer flavors, from Flower Power to Cascazilla, along with root beer and ginger beer.

Ithaca Beer Co.’s farm brewery license, required for any business to operate a brewery in New York State, now makes it easier to open additional locations.

According to Mari Mitchell, many factors motivated the co-owners to open this new location. With a location in Collegetown, the Mitchells can be even more accessible to students and closer to their son, who attends Cornell.

While the Mitchells have long dreamed of this opportunity, they said they are also nervous because of the pandemic and because many restaurants have, in general, struggled to stay open in the area.

The pandemic rattled Ithaca’s restaurant industry, with virus restrictions and limited indoor dining. Most restaurants have been forced to adapt, introducing Plexiglass screens, heated outdoor seating and extended takeout options.

“It’s certainly a nerve-wracking time to be doing something like this, but we were figuring that at some point … COVID will pass and get us back to some level of normalcy,” Dan Mitchell said. “I believe that the restaurant industry will come back, and when it does, we’ll be in a good spot and we’ll be able to take off from there.”

Ithaca Beer Co.’s management said they realize the risk of

the virus may linger in the fall.

The new location will include booths and will install colorful Plexiglas.

Student Agencies, a student-run corporation that owns the Student Agencies Building, first began demolition last June, and only had 14 months to reopen for the August opening date — demolishing the Chacona Block building once home to Collegetown Bagels. If Student Agencies misses this opening date, they will have lost the ability to pre-lease the 64 residential apartments for the upcoming fall semester.

“The pandemic only made [our schedule] more challenging, but the great news is I think through hard work and good luck, we are on schedule and on budget for an August opening,” said Kyle Karnes ’91, the CEO of Student Agencies.

When Student Agencies first announced its plans to renovate this building back in 2017, the company faced push back from students and community members. Many wanted to designate the building as a historical landmark. It was only through a 6-5 vote, with Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 breaking the tie, did the city vote against designation.

Karnes said that the building itself is important to Student Agencies and remains an iconiccorner for the community. For students reminiscing about the old CTB location, the Mitchells ask that the Cornell community give their new restaurant a chance.

“It’s the right location for Ithaca Beer to be and we kind of feel like it will bring a lot of excitement to that corner,” Mari Mitchell said. “I think it’s going to encourage a lot of outdoor eating with Collegetown Bagels across the street and just liven up that whole area, which will be really beneficial.”

Over 30 teams compete at 2021 Digital Ag Hackathon

Move it, Move It!” team, composed of Cornellians Whitman Barrett MPS ’21, Mina Barakatain MPS ’21, Lily Lin ’17 MPS ’21, Zenas Lim MPS ’21, China Agricultural University and the University of as well as Riske van Vliet of Wageningen and Christopher Prajogo of UC Davis. The team creatCalifornia, Davis.

Over 30 teams pitched their ideas to the judges, ed a model for developing countries to tackle food who ranged from affiliated professors to profession- spoilage during transport.

The virtual event allowed more students outside als and experts from the USDA, Microsoft, Infosys of Ithaca to attend than ever before. While last year and Dairy One. each university brought five to 10 students to the The judges assessed the students’ pitches across in-person event, this year, over 20 students from four categories: Novelty, Grand Societal Challenges, each attended.

Market Readiness and Data. The winner for each “Our team came from all different backgrounds, category won $1,500, with one team taking home and I'm grateful for how we came together to brainthe overall prize of $2,000. storm and create a solution to PicturePerfectFruit and such an important problem,” Unstuck Truck both took said Yvonne Chan ’21 who “My favorite part of the event home the awards in the on the Agfrica team.

“Market Readiness” catewas working on the project all worked Despite the 36-hour timegory. PicturePerfectFruit night and making 1 a.m. jokes frame, students who participitched a smart device to pated in the event developed with strangers that became be used in grocery stores lasting friendships. that predicts when produce lifelong friends “My favorite part of the will be perfectly ripe for event was working on the literaly overnight.” consumption. Unstuck project all night and making 1 Truck optimizes tractor Shiang-Wan Chin grad a.m. jokes with strangers that lending in Brazilian cane became lifelong friends litersugar farms. ally overnight,” said ShiangThe data award went to Wan Chin, a Ph.D. candidate Sprout, an app that helps those living in food deserts in systems engineering and member of team Agfrica. begin gardening.

As a past winner of the “Grand Societal Agfrica, another project that uses technology to Challenge” prize, Chin’s experience at previous address locust infestation in Africa, won the “Grand Digital Ag hackathons inspired him to pursue a Societal Challenge” prize. The innovation has the Ph.D. in computer and systems engineering with potential to recuperate $2.5 billion in crop damage, and alleviate the environmental and human costs of a focus in digital agriculture. This year’s event only confirmed his decision. locust swarms.

“My experience was fantastic,” Chin said. “This In the “Novelty” category, ScrApp took home hackathon literally changed my life.” the title. The team created an app that allows farmers who need feed for their animals to participate in Faith Fisher can be reached at a bidding system for food waste.

The overall winner was awarded to the “I Like to ffisher@cornellsun.com.

HACKATHON

Continued from page 1

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Science

The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021 3

SCIENCE

Big Red Alumni Lead Perseverance Landing

moving forward. Her team’s focus now is on exploration, which featured the late professor Carl Sagan discussing as they are responsible for assessing the health and safety discoveries on the universe and its makeup, for leading of the rover during landing and every day on Mars. her toward Cornell.

Aaron Stehura ’09 and Nagin Cox ’86 “We are the first of a three-part mission where we “On Sunday night, at the end of every Cosmos show stretched the bounds of all that they collect samples that will be brought back to Earth,” it would say ‘Carl Sagan, Cornell University,’” Cox learned on the Hill through the Cox explained. “None of that would happen recalled. “So I decided that I wanted to go to Cornell Perseverance Landing — a historical unless we landed successfully.”

University.” leap that will allow scientists to Stehura emphasized that his Cox attended Cornell with an Air Force better understand Mars through time at Cornell prepared ROTC scholarship. After graduating with a its geologic record. him for his work at the Jet B.S. in operations research and industrial The purpose of the robotic Propulsion Laboratory engineering and a B.A. in psychology, missions to Mars are similar to at NASA. she spent six years in active duty for the those that explored the Earth’s “Working on [the Air Force before joining NASA’s Jet moon, according to NASA. CUSat and Violet] Propulsion Lab. The objective of Perseverance project teams gave “I’m proud of the fact that I have is to shape national space policy me firsthand degrees from two different colleges,” to prepare for sending humans experience of Cox said. “Sometimes I’m not quite to Mars by 2030.

COURTESY what it’s like to sure which of my Cornell degrees I OF NASA According to Stehura, the pull a team together need more, the engineering or the rover will be traveling around Mars to work towards the psychology. Because these things for one Martian year — equivalent type of common goals are always about a team.” to 687 Earth days — to inspect its and to solve the types of Since graduating, Cox has surroundings, take pictures and collect challenging problems remained heavily involved with rock samples. Geologists and astrobiologists STEHURA ’09 that we have to solve both the Cornell alumni neton the perseverance team will then analyze at [Jet Propulsion work and the President’s these rock samples, which allow researchers to study the Laboratory] everyday,” Council of Cornell environment on the planet’s surface and its ability to Stehura told The Sun. Women. She credits support life.

The Jet Propulsion Cornell both for kickThe past eight years have culminated to “seven min- Laboratory, where ing off her career utes of terror” for Stehura and Cox, who have worked on both Cox and and for continuing Perseverance since 2013.

Stehura work, to contribute to “We refer to the landing as the seven minutes of terror develops the NASA misbecause it takes about seven minutes for the spacecraft t e c h n o l o g i e s sions with to get from the top of the atmosphere, down to safety used in the future engion the ground on Mars,” said Stehura, the entry, descent Perseverance, neers and and landing lead of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. such as the scientists.

In just these seven minutes, the Perseverance team c a m e r “Once saw their hard work come to fruition. a as on the Having been in the control room for four out of five rover and Cornellian, U.S. rover landings, Cox is a space exploration veteran. its overall always a Still, she said that during each landing, a palpable sigh design.

Cornellian,” erupts over the control room.

Cox said. “It’s still part of how Cox has “It is just as nail-biting and epic every time ... my dreamed of I define myself.” heart was in my throat,” Cox told The Sun. “When you working at NASA see us all jumping up and down when things were so since she was 14. She Milena Bimpong can be reached at joyous and happy, we were very relieved.” mbimpong@cornellsun.com. credits the documenPerserverance | Nagin Cox ’86 poses with past Cox, chief of engineering operations at NASA, said tary series Cosmos: Surita Basu can be reached at space exploration tags. that the landing was only the beginning of the mission A Personal Voyage, sbasu@cornellsun.com.

COURTESY OF NASA

By MILENA BIMPONG and SURITA BASU Sun Staff Writers

Astronaut Captain Scott Kelly Reflects on Lessons Learned in Space — to Cornellians.

The tiles — which protected the outside of the 172,000 pound spacecraft Captain Scott Kelly held up two tiles from thousands of degrees of heat during from the 2007 Endeavor shuttle souvenirs reentry of the Earth — were found faulty from his decades-long career in space that by the astronauts aboard during a routine highlighted the lessons he learned aboard check. And while the minor chips on the tiles caused no further COURTESY OF NASA damage, this discovery was a test of faith for the astronaut.

“Failure’s a part of life,” Kelly said in the Q&A session hosted by the Cornell University Program Board. “They help us see what we’re really, really capable of doing.”

Kelly underscored the importance of compartmentalizing his thoughts and emotions during his various space exploration missions.

“Know what you have control over and focus on that and avoid anyCOURTESY OF NASA thing else,” Kelly said.

The lesson was particuSpace Exploration | Captain Scott Kelly shared advice at a larly important during virtual Q&A organized by the CUPB.

By FEIFI HU

Sun Staff Writer

launches, as the shuttle would reach speeds of 17,500 miles per hour in under nine minutes.

Before becoming an astronaut, Kelly served as an aviator for the U.S. Navy, where he learned aircraft flight and landing skills that prepared him for his work at NASA. He has completed more than 250 landings on aircraft carriers to date.

Kelly’s career as an astronaut began with the 1999 Hubble mission, which was followed by his Endeavour mission in 2007.

Kelly also traveled to the International Space Station on multiple expeditions.

In 2012, Kelly was chosen to be part of the year-long mission to the International Space Station. The Soyuz TMA-16M launched in 2015, with Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko aboard — a mission that studied how prolonged time in space affects the human body.

Kelly spoke about pacing himself during the year-long space mission on the International Space Station and following a schedule that structured weekends differently than weekdays. When he returned to Earth, Kelly underwent various tests administered by NASA to gauge how his body had changed.

The results of the trip became part of NASA’s Twins Study, in which researchers

compared the differences between Kelly and his twin Mark, who was also an astronaut but did not take part in the year-long mission in space. One surprising discovery resulting from the study was that telomeres, the caps of human chromosomes, grow longer in space.

But Kelly’s many missions also took a toll on his physical health. Returning to Earth after a year in space, Kelly said his ankles swelled when he stood up after sitting, and he got hives and rashes when his skin grazed against anything.

While research underlying the causes of these skin sensitivities is preliminary, longer space missions are helping biologists understand the function of skin barrier and its role in fluid retention that reflect the common sensitivities astronauts experience when they return to Earth.

Regardless of the sacrifices, Kelly advocates for the importance and the relevance of space exploration.

“It’s who we are … We’re explorers,” Kelly said. “We develop technologies that we wouldn’t otherwise have when we try to do really challenging things.”

Feifei Hu can be reached at fhu@cornellsun.com.

A&E

4 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Behind the Seams of Digital Thrifting Platforms

DEIRDRE SCHOO/THE NEW YORK TIMES

NINA POFCHER SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Should we really be buying clothes online if there are all these unknown variables such as fit, texture, compatibility and condition? Is the disconnect with the actual item perpetuating irresponsible or unconscious shopping? Do you truly need more new clothes, despite how cheap they are?

Cornell Thrift is the answer to all of these questions. It is the perfect club to supplement fashion needs without overspending or buying new. Each year in Willard Straight, Cornell Thrift holds a pop-up thrift shop with a wide selection of free garments. The intent is not to distribute these garments to any ready owner, but to provide a way for students to sustainably obtain necessary garments.

However, due to COVID, this in-person event has been revamped on the website, Next Best. Next Best was started for Cornellians to buy and sell secondhand clothing. Rather than going to an in-person thrift store, students can simply take a picture of their garment and put it on the site. The site reads, “With no shipping costs and a 0% commission fee, we are tackling the 92 million tons of textile waste one item at a time.” You can browse the website, hold any item for up to five days and then arrange a time to meet with the seller and pick-up the garment. The mission of this platform was not to make a profit, but to promote sustainable fashion.

While students come to college with a wardrobe, they learn, over time, what they truly need based on the weather, how much they are walking to class, etc. Moving pieces from one student’s closet to another, rather than buying new, not only avoids waste, but also supports fellow classmates.

Currently, there are 61 items featured on the website, ranging from turtlenecks to winter coats to shorts. The prices are very generous, with most items around $1 to $2, some even free of charge. Some are even from Tommy Hilfiger, Madewell and more — high quality items for such a small price. In order to reduce the time investment of finding the perfect piece, you can hover over the picture of the garment, where a little description is given like “GAP White dress in excellent condition.”

By enabling people to refine their searches

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

via users and styles on the app, people on Instagram have called it “iconic” and “a steal.”

To promote on their Instagram, the club posts informative graphics that give insights into the harsh environmental effects of fast fashion: “fast fashion isn’t free. Someone, somewhere else is paying.”

They also post outfit pictures of people in their thrifted garments.

While the club has readily adapted to COVID, their expansion into the new digital age of thrifting begs the question: Does online thrifting change the true nature of thrifting by making it more of a commercialized, leisure act?

One point of in-store thrifting is that it is a thoughtful and interactive experience.

You walk into the store and your senses light up. Instead of scrolling on a website, you can feel the object’s texture, try it on and hold it up to other items to see if they match. Almost like panning for gold, you commit to looking through every item of clothing in hopes of finding “the one.”

Internet access is a commodity that not everyone has, and the whole point of thrift stores is that they are accessible. If people don’t have money to spend on clothes,

they might not have money to spend on internet access or phone data. The accessibility of online alternatives has catapulted thrifting into a commercialized market and has shifted the true in-house nature of it into any other streamlined shopping experience.

In the past few years, there has been a significant rise in the popularity of online thrift platforms like Depop, Poshmark, Thred Up and Rent the Runway. However, a lot of users aren’t actually promoting the sustainable nature of thrift shopping, but are instead using it as an opportunity to generate profit. The fact that people can curate their page to have a certain aesthetic or price point changes the original point of thrifting from a cheap alternative to shopping, to a way of becoming an “independent small business owner.” In this sense, it shifts the goal of buying secondhand from sustainability to profit.

Sometimes, these individuals buy a bunch of items in bulk just to resell them at higher margins. They get labeled as “vintage,” when they were actually from a year ago or less. Additionally, they might purchase oversized pieces — shirts that are three times their size or pants that are

overly baggy — either for the “aesthetic” or to upcycle into things that are more form-fitting and stylish. In most thrift stores, there is an unequal distribution of sizes: Items tend to range from XS-L rather than including larger and plus-size bodies.

When a person buys a garment that is clearly too big, just for the look, they are taking away from the people who go to thrift stores to buy pieces that fit their bodies of that size. Moreover, name brands like Forever 21 tend to attract smaller bodies, so people that are of a larger size may not be able to find pieces that fit them at cheap name brand stores, making thrift stores the more probable option.

Cornell Thrift is different because the pieces are coming from a college student’s closet and being sent to another student’s closet, creating an almost circular business model. However, their shift still reflects a broader change in how thrifting has become streamlined and a luxury for those either with time to go thrifting or the resources to browse online.

Nina Pofcher is a freshman in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at nlp47@cornell.edu.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021 5

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Julia Nagel ’24 Jyothsna Bolleddula ’24 Katherine Esterl ’24 Kayla Riggs ’24 Olivia Cipperman ’24 Sasha Abeyeva ’24 Spencer Nachman ’24

Matthew Samilow ’22 Nicholas Nguyen ’22 Odeya Rosenband ’22 Brendan Kempff ’23 Daniel Bernstein ’23

Jonna Chen ’23 Joshua Dov Epstein’23 Katherine Yao ’23 Roei Dery ’23 Wendy Wang ’24

Julia Haberfield ’23 Kayla Bouazouni ’23 Maddy Remington ’23 Megan Pontin ’23

Mira Driskell ’23 Isabelle Pappas ’24 Katie Lee ’24 Wendy Wang ’24

Monica Kim ’23 Aaron Snyder ’23

Alyson Wong ’23 Liam Monahan ’24

Srishti Tyagi ’22

David Dayan ’24

Winnie Yi Chow ’23 Julia Nagel ’24

Zoe Yang grad Michael Suguitan grad

Isabelle Pappas ’24

Lauren Auburt ’24

Sanjana Kaicker ’23 Andrea Serrano ’24 Clare Della Valle ’24 Grace Kim ’24

Nick Hoge ’24 Sadie Groberg ’24 Suzanna Moustafa ’24 Yvie Cai ’24

Emily Jacobsson ’22 Jenny Huang ’22 Pico Ross ’22

Ella Benjamin ’24 Kristen D’Souza ’24 Puja Oak ’24

Quianyue Yang ’22

Amaya Aranda ’23

Asha Patt ’23 John Yoon ’23 Louis Chuang ’23 Mihika Badjate ’23 Noor-e-jehan Umar ’23 Sarika Kannan ’23 Simran Surtani ’23

Opinion Board Robyn Bardmesser ’21 Alecia Wilk ’22 Andrew Lorenzen ’22 Christian Baran ’22 Emma Smith ’22

Arts Board Jessica Lussier ’21 Ramya Yandava ’21 Shriya Perati ’21 Ashley Ramynke ’22 Cecilia Lu ’22

Stephen Yang ’22 Tyler Brown ’22 Amaya Aranda ’23 Ashley Ramynke ’23

Charlotte Mandy ’23 Christina Ochoa ’23 Emma Leynse ’23 John Colie ’23

Sports Board Mike Seitz ’21 Raphy Gendler ’21 Faith Fisher ’22

Justin Suzzan ’22 Ken Choi ’22

Fei Fei Hu ’21 Natalie Monticello ’21

Sydney Oraskovich ’21 Tamara Kamis ’22

Mitch Hoy ’22 William Bodenman ’22

Science Board Milena Bimpong ’22 Omsalama Ayoub ’22

Photography Board Jing Jiang ’21 Yisu Zheng ’21

Haonan Peng ’22 Harry Dang ’22

Michelle Yang ’22 Lev Katreczko ’23

Blogs Board Livia Caligor ’21 Ella Schwartz ’23

Katriana Galloway ’23 Dylan McIntyre ’24

Brianna Johnson ’21 Katie Zhang ’21 Ruth Park ’21 Amelia Clute ’22 Isha Vaish ’22

Jack Waxman ’22 Melanie Metz ’22 Meridien Mach ’22 Peter Kaplinsky ’22 Rae Specht ’22

Harry Ducrepin ’24

Dining Board Sofia Siciliani ’22 Brooke Jaffe ’23 Gabe Schiffer ’23 Julia Lescht ’23 Sarah Austin ’23

Design Board Alicia Wang ’21 Ben Mayer ’21 Camilla Bacolod ’21 Dana Chan ’21

Elizabeth Klosky ’21 Priya Malla ’21 Sabrina Xie ’21 Sarah Skinner ’21

Tanushri Shah ’21 Yoo Jin Bae ’21 Annie Wu ’22 Claire Chen ’22

Multimedia Board Ashley Whitley ’21 Adam Wang ’22

Jenny Huang ’22

Noah Alpers ’22

Money and Business Board Alessandro Marchesani ’21 Angela Demaral ’21

Emma DiGiovanni ’21 Joshua Herz ’22

Ruthie Covo ’22

Amy Wilson, Office Manager S. K. List Robert Armstrong ’75 John Schroeder ’74, Alumni Advisor; Linda Holzbaur, Contractor

Assistant News Editor

Assistant News Editor

City Editor

Sun Business Office Sun Production Sun Delivery Sun Alumni Asso.

App Editor

Blogs Editor

Assistant Business Manager

Current Cornell Sun & Sun Alumni Association Employees & Contractors

Emily Park ’23

Brendan Klein ’24

AS NEW YORK STATE’S VACCINATION PROGRAM ramps up, many Cornellians are now eligible to receive their first dose under the criteria for Phase 1B. However, despite their eligibility, many students are facing obstacles in traveling to vaccination sites in Syracuse and Binghamton.

If Cornell truly wants to encourage health and safety, it needs a better plan to help its community receive vaccinations. Now, as dining workers, residential advisers and in-person instructors are eligible, the University should assist at-risk individuals by offering scheduling, transportation and informational assistance.

“I felt completely alone in trying to arrange my appointment to begin with,” said Selin Cebel ’21, a student manager at Green Dragon Café.

“Being an international student, I didn’t know how to find my way in scheduling this sort of thing.”

Cebel, who traveled to Syracuse for the vaccination last week, had to rent a car in order to receive her first dose. “Taking a public bus right now isn’t the best thing to do, especially when you’re going to get the vaccine, and so I had to rent a car from Central Ithaca,” she added. “But this was a big consideration, because I had to completely finance this myself, and I knew that both renting a car and taking a bus would be expensive.”

Students aren’t the only ones who feel abandoned. Prof. Allison Chatrchyan, earth and atmospheric sciences, described how, other than sending an email confirming her eligibility, the University did not offer any help in her vaccination process.

“I wish that Cornell could have worked with New York State or Tompkins County to set up an immunization clinic for in-person instructors,” she said. While Tompkins County recently opened a vaccination registry, it remains challenging to get an appointment. Luckily, after “sitting at [the] computer for hours and hitting the refresh button,” Chatrchyan was able to get an appointment at a site in Binghamton.

Over an hour outside of Ithaca, she said the commute would not have been possible without a car.

If you’re eligible, you should get vaccinated. It’s important, not only for your own health and well-being, but for that of those around you. It’s also an essential step toward achieving herd immunity, which is especially critical for those who can’t receive the vaccination due to compromised immune systems or inaccessibility. Although Cornell isn’t requiring its employees and students to get vaccinated, it recognizes that the vaccination is “key to the resolution of this global pandemic.” Now, it is the University’s obligation to put its words into action and meaningfully help its community receive the medical treatment it’s eligible for.

Alongside the logistical issues, institutional medical racism and a history of abuse further complicate the path toward a vaccinated population. Not only are Black Americans more likely to live in vaccine deserts, they are also experiencing higher rates of hospitalization and deaths due to COVID-19. In order to create a more equitable future, Cornell must account for the valid concerns of the Black community as it works to fight the pandemic’s racial disparities. This includes improving access to information, resources and vaccines.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize that Black individuals, such as myself, have genuine questions about the information that is being released from the medical community,” said Kayla Bouazouni ’22, a student manager at Rose Dining Hall. “We have historically experienced mistreatment and discrimination from the healthcare system, and I hope that the Cornell community acknowledges that there are real people with real concerns.”

Vaccines will not end the pandemic alone. But they’re a critical piece of the puzzle. As we approach the one-year mark since Cornellians were abruptly sent home from campus, we must do our best to protect and preserve this campus and the larger Ithaca community. That includes a more comprehensive and thoughtful vaccination plan.

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.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Opinion

These Upcoming Wellness Days, Try Something New I’m not going to tell you not to spend any parts of these days catching up on old work or doing whatever you’ve been putting off for a couple weeks. I’ll certainly be doing that at some point or another, and I can’t criticize you if you do the same. But I also know that work won’t be the only part, nor the defining part of your wellness days. There will undoubtedly be fun nights with close friends, maybe with drinks or games or whatever else you employ to entertain yourselves.

This is good and necessary.

But I recommend that in addition to (or even in supplement of) your regularly scheduled activities, you

Daniel Bernstein Feel the Bern Daniel Bernstein is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He can be reached at dbernstein@cornellsun.com. Feel the Bern runs every other Monday this semester.

I

t’s a simple message, but an old and important one.

And as we begin our middle-of-the-week weekend — a phenomenon really only relevant to our current moment in time — we celebrate the theme of “wellness.” What better way is there to work on our own wellness but by trying something new?

At Cornell, we often find ourselves stuck in the same ruts: promising to catch up on work, having the same worries, falling into the same habits and finishing the weekend in the same place we started. With the pressures of classes, jobs and extracurriculars, it can be difficult to try new things.

This is especially true now. Because of the pandemic, it feels harder than ever to meet new people, make new connections or do things outside your comfort zone — or, at the very least, outside of what we’re used to.

However, these two days in the middle of the week are an opportunity. They give the ever-so-valuable gift of time.

But I recommend that ... you do something you’ve never done before. Break the barrier of trying new things that can often feel so rigid, especially during a pandemic. do something you’ve never done before. Or, at least, something different. Break the barrier of trying new things that can often feel so rigid, especially during a pandemic.

In fact, take a second to think about the last time you did something that doesn’t fit into your normal routine. Have you eaten a certain kind of food that you wouldn’t usually? Have you visited any new places or hung out with anybody you didn’t know before? Have you picked up any new hobbies?

I know for me, it’s been hard to remember the last

time I tried anything new. I feel like I never leave my house or see people other than my closest circles. I miss the excitement of meeting new people face-to-face and I miss the thrill of spontaneous adventure. It won’t be perfect, but given the increased freedom these next two days, I’ll try to recreate some of those feelings.

I’m going rock climbing. One of my friends and I have been talking about doing it for a little while now.

It’s something that I did a couple of times when I was a kid at camp, but as a college student it still feels new.

Perhaps for you it’s also an activity like that — maybe you will go hiking or skiing or bird watching.

But the new activity you take up could also be as simple as watching a movie you wouldn’t otherwise consider watching. Or driving to a park or local place to which you’ve never been. Or seeing a friend who you haven’t spoken to in a while. It doesn’t have to be brand new, either. The idea is just to change up your routine.

I think shaking things up during free time is an important part of caring for our own wellness. A little change can help you get out of a rut you might otherwise be stuck in, break out of bad habits and have you quicker on your feet. A study from Harvard Health showed that picking up new activities can help your thinking skills. A new experience can also help with overcoming fears and embracing creativity. There are real, proven benefits that come along with trying something new.

There’s something to relish about embracing uncertainty. I don’t mean a scary uncertainty either, or really anything daunting for that matter. The simple question of, “Will I like rock climbing?” is uncertain, and I’m excited to find out the answer. I like to think, though, that with the right attitude, whether I enjoy the act of climbing or not won’t matter — I’m already anticipating the refreshing, long-lost feeling of trying something new, and I know that that will be good enough.

Get your work done if you have to and spend time with your friends if that’s what you’re used to. But branch out and try something new, too. It will help your wellness on these wellness days.

The Death of the Acquaintance

Michaela Bettez Bet on It Michaela Bettez is a senior in the College of Engineering.

She can be reached at mbettez@cornellsun.com. Bet on It runs every other Monday this semester.

A

n acquaintance was once someone who you could run into as you rush through Ho Plaza on your way to class and chat, or attempt to catch up with over the roar of a frat party’s Spotify playlist. Maybe they were even a friend of a friend, or an ally when you frantically needed help on your problem set the night it was due.

Without these relatively inconsequential interactions, Cornell’s campus is no longer a community of interconnections, but a set of isolated bubbles. An unfortunate, but not unexpected consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic lasting as long as it has is the death of an entire class of friends.

The loss of the acquaintance is just another symptom of the loss of the campus space and sense of community we’ve experienced over the last year. While study spaces remain open and some classes proceed with hybrid instruction, students who choose to return to Ithaca see a campus that’s just a shell of its previous vibrance. Under the threat of disease and strict regulations, the far fewer students who still frequent campus are solemn and somber, hunched over their work. Places that used to have a constant hum of chatter, like Duffield or the second floor

of Mann Library, are now nearly silent.

A part of this loss is from the disconnect of emotion from other students you see around campus. While you used to be able to just smile at an acquaintance, masks make it physically impossible. Another factor is not being able to recognize people easily — the only way I can identify somebody now is by squinting at their face for an uncomfortably long time, which I generally try to avoid.

How can you greet someone you can’t even recognize when they walk past you?

Without being able to sit within six feet of classmates, or likely even be in the same room as them during class, it’s nearly impossible to find new study partners. If I find myself in a class without friends, I can usually at least try to befriend someone sitting near me. But for the past two semesters, I’ve pretty much resigned myself to figuring out a class alone if I don’t know anyone going in — an issue assuredly worse for first years who entered college alone.

On one hand, the introvert in me is almost relieved not to have to risk even the slightest bit of awkwardness in uncharted social waters. Prior to lockdown, I felt a constant pressure to know everyone, do everything, and have more friends than I could feasibly keep track of. Keeping only to close friends has given me a surprising amount of comfort. Instead of feeling guilty for not living my college experience to its fullest on a Friday night without plans, I can relish a quiet night of cleaning my apartment and watching whatever television I want.

But it comes at the cost of knowing that as a

An unfortunate, but not unexpected consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic lasting as long as it has is the death of an entire class of friends.

Although it might be too late for me, I fervently hope that the next generation of Cornellians is able to find their acquaintances, for all the awkward silences in conversations and uncomfortable wondering if you’re close enough to stop and chat. second-semester senior, there are likely no more connections and friendships for me to make here at Cornell. I’m here to take my classes, play Pictionary with my friends on a Friday night and maybe meet a few lab partners along the way.

Because at the end of the day, we’re worse off for our inability to make new connections. All friendships begin as strangers — I wonder who I could’ve begun a lifelong friendship with if quarantine had never happened. And while it’s true I probably could’ve tried harder to maintain connections, it’s brutally difficult to build something from almost nothing online. College is about shared experiences — the same city, similar classes and some mediocre dining food around a table in RPCC. But these days, we have little left to share other than the same Zoom screen.

Although it might be too late for me, I fervently hope that the next generation of Cornellians is able to find their acquaintances, for all the awkward silences in conversations and uncomfortable wondering if you’re close enough to stop and chat. It’s there that we find the most meaningful friendships, unique perspectives and unexpectedly fun times.

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 “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name.

(Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021 7

Puzzle #327

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8 The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, March 9, 2021

138th Editorial Board

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

138th Editorial Board

MARYAM ZAFAR Editor in Chief

JOYBEER DATTA GUPTA

JOHNATHAN STIMPSON

PETER BUONANNO

JASON HUANG

Business Manager

Managing Editor

Associate Editor

Web Editor

KRYSTAL YANG Advertising Manager

MEGHNA MAHARISHI

PALLAVI KENKARE

NIKO NGUYEN

Opinion Editor

Design Editor

BORIS TSANG Photography Editor

CHRISTINA BULKELEY

Asst. Managing Editor

EMMA PLOWE

BENJAMIN VELANI

ALEX HALE

CAROLINE JOHNSON

KATHRYN STAMM

SEAN O’CONNELL

Arts Editor

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News Editor

News Editor

News Editor

ANIL OZA Science Editor

EMMA ROSENBAUM

MAIA LEE Money & Business Editor

JOHN COLIE

DOMINIC LAW Asst. Dining Editor

LEI ANNE RABEJE

Science Editor

CATALINA PEÑÉÑORY

MADELINE ROSENBERG

MEGHANA SRIVASTAVA

OLIVIA WEINBERG

Asst. News Editor

Asst. News Editor

Asst. News Editor

Asst. News Editor

EMILY DAWSON Asst. Sports Editor

LUKE PICHINI Asst. Sports Editor

BENJAMIN PARKER Asst. Photography Editor

HANNAH ROSENBERG Asst. Photography Editor

BRIAN LU Asst. Arts Editor

DANIEL MORAN

MEI OU Production Editor

ALICIA WANG

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