INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 137, No. 55
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021
n
8 Pages – Free
ITHACA, NEW YORK
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Cornell will host an antiAsian racism “interactive teach in“ on May 7. | Page 3
Let the stars decide your next food order from Collegetown Bagels.
New head coach Connor Buczek ‘15 describes the challenge of heading an athletic team with no season. | Page 8
| Page 4
HIGH: 45º LOW: 30º
Seniors Recount College Experience in New Podcast By NOOREJEHAN UMAR News Editor
From homesickness, to imposter syndrome to deciding on a career path, incoming freshmen face a wave of challenges. WIth her new podcast “Dear Cornell Freshmen,” Anna Canny ’20 hopes to
create a platform that validates the hardships first-years face. Before it became a podcast, “Dear Cornell Freshmen” was a letter writing campaign started by a group of seniors in 2016. They would write letters to their freshmen year selves, reflecting on their
four years on the hill, recounting funny anecdotes and giving their younger self advice. These letters were a way for current freshmen to realize that the struggles they were facing were universal. Canny was one of See PODCAST page 3
BEN PARKER / SUN SENIOR EDITOR
Voting | As elections approach, the Student Assembly is using new strategies to increase voter turnout.
S.A. Elections Face Challenges With New Elections Director By ELI PALLRAND
roughly 1,600 people about voting in the election. Voter turnout operations have also changed, Following elections marred by low turnout, with Mehler utilizing the resources of Cornell technological-failure-induced recount and Votes and using college deans, professors, complications regarding disqualification of department heads and student organization candidates, the S.A. will hold it’s spring 2021 leaders to encourage the people in their netelection from April 27-29 — with a new works to vote. Elections Director at the helm. On the physical side, posters and stickers Responding to a 16.85 percent undergrad- have been put up everywhere from dining uate turnout in the fall, and frequent scandals, hall napkin holders to dorm TVs to COVID Patrick Mehler ‘23 is revamping voter turnout testing sites. efforts, broadening candidate recruitment and Mehler has also changed the makeup of the diversifying the elections committee. elections committee by removing restrictions During the last election, the election direc- on who could serve on the 10-member body, tors were limited to promoting engagement and adding a representative from each college through email blasts to organizations and and more underclassmen. word of mouth because of the The new committee has hybrid semester. The lack of also clarified issues of can“People might be campaign slogans written in didate disqualification — chalk around campus, in-perfrustrated with how if a challenge is launched son campaigning and the specifically S.A. is acting, before voting the candiimportance of social media date in question will be but it’s rarely apathy.” made running for office even removed if the.However, harder this year, S.A. presiif a challenge occurs after Patrick Mehler ’23 dent Cat Huang ‘21 said. voting, then votes for the But in February, the disqualified candidate are S.A.tapped Mehler as its new reallocated based on the elections director. Mehler is the co-founder of preferential voting system as if the candidate Cornell Votes, who spent the fall and summer had not been on the ballot in the first place. registering and educating voters for the 2020 With these reforms, Mehler said that he’s U.S. presidential election. He is also a rela- not fighting disengagement but the feeling tive outsider to the S.A., having never been that students aren’t informed enough on the a member — which is unheard of in recent candidates to participate. years. “People might be frustrated with how speMehler has had to deploy an array of cifically S.A. is acting but it’s rarely apathy. new tactics because of physical distancing It’s usually either a lack of information, a lack limitations on campus. He’s been recruiting of feeling informed enough to make a decision candidates from spaces like the college of or just general confusion,” Mehler said. engineering, where national election voting According to Moriah Adeghe ‘21, former data indicates that students typically don’t director of elections and executive vice president, vote and working with campus leaders, like existing candidate-created resources lack accessible project team leads. information, making it difficult to engage voters. From project teams and class teaching assistants alone, Mehler said he’s contacted See S.A. page 3 Sun Staff Writer
ASHLEY HE / SUN FILE PHOTO
Throwback | Seniors share college lessons in new podcast for freshmen. Above, a student is ensconsed in the A. D. White Libary.
Student-Created Application Streamlines Course Schedules CoursePlan helps plan course semesters By SARAH YOUNG
to concretely plan their college career and give them space to grow as their interests change. On top of providing students Many students have to juggle a course schedule that fills with a tool that can sort and requirements, caters to interests schedule classes based on distribution requireand avoids conmajor flicts. A team “I think [CoursePlan] ments, requirements of Cornell stuhonestly is game and minor dents have crer e q u i r e m ents, ated a solution: changing for me.” CoursePlan also CoursePlan. offers individual According Althea Bata ’24 course informato a statement tion and reviews shared with The Sun by CoursePlan team, which from past-students. These features, according to is a part of the Cornell Design Tech Initiative, the app wants to to give students the ability See APP page 3 Sun Staff Writer