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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015

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Raising the Bar

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Prof. Cheryl Stanley ’00 talks about her passion for wine and her journey to Cornell. | Page 3

Natalie Tsay ’18 previews the many animated shorts coming to Cornell Cinema this weekend. | Page 11

Task Force to Focus On a‘Global Cornell’

The gymnastics team posted its highest overall score of the season at Penn this weekend. | Page 16

Doctor who?

University seeks to expand international presence

By ZOE FERGUSON Sun Senior Writer

University officials announced Monday that a new task force will address ways to diversify Cornell’s global impact.

Comprised of seven faculty and staff members, the Task Force on Cornell’s Global Presence and Partnerships aims to “enhance” the University’s international presence.

Fredrik Logevall, vice provost for international affairs and founder of the task force, said he will address “crucial” issues of internationalization.

“I believe the task force will per-

form a crucial task as we work on many fronts to strengthen this thing we call Global Cornell,” Logevall said. “I felt it important to have a small group sit down and give close consideration to the issues involved in expanding and enhancing the University’s global presence.”

Logevall said the purpose of the task force is to examine whether or not Cornell should institute a physical presence in several international cities. The team — whose small size Logevall said is intended to invite “close consideration” of globalization issues — will also consider how See GLOBAL page 4

SAMANTHA BRIGGS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Prof. Shawkat Toorawa, Near Eastern studies, better known as Dr. T, discusses three things worth knowing at The dr.T ProjecT: A Cornell HiTchhiker's Guide To CulTure at Willard Straight Hall's browsing library Tuesday evening.

Cornellians Gather for Slope Snow Bash

By MADELINE COHEN Sun Staff Writer

At “Humans of Cornell’s” first ever Snow Bash Tuesday, more than 50 students braved the cold — wearing snow boots, hats and gloves — to throw snowballs, make snow angels and roll in the snow on Libe Slope.

Jenna Galbut ’14, the creator of Humans of Cornell, a Facebook page

DARIEN KIM / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Snow day | Jenna Galbut ’14 embraces the winter weather at Humans of Cornell’s first ever “Snow Bash” on Libe Slope Tuesday.

which promotes community engagement with posts of portraits and interviews of members of the Cornell community, described the event as the first of its kind and “super successful.”

“It seemed like everyone had a great time, and everyone was happier when they left than when they came,“ Galbut said.

Galbut said she was struck by the idea to create the S n o w

Bash after she noticed several of her Facebook friends “complaining about the snow and being miserable.”

“I thought to myself, ‘This is really sad. The snow is so beautiful and we don’t celebrate it,’” she said.

“We should take the time to just appreciate this beautiful, fresh powdered snow, and in general, appreciate our surroundings and let go and have fun with each other.”

Galbut said that Tuesday, the only clear day Ithaca has seen recently, was a perfect day for the Snow Bash.

Many members of the Cornell community expressed their excitement about the event.

Lily Sullivan ’18 said after hearing about the snowball fight on Libe Slope, she “immediately ran down” to the event. “[The Snow Bash has] been snowy, cold and playful and I have snow all over me,” Sullivan said.

Cornell Police Chief Kathy Zoner said she participated in the Snow Bash because she needed “a break from the winter blues like everyone else.”

“I saw it was a Humans of Cornell event, and I wanted to come frolic, so I did,” Zoner said.

Daniel Oodelsky ’16 said the event was unique because it sucSee SNOW page 4

Cornell Tech Dean Named To Corning Board of Directors Cornell Tech Dean and Vice Provost Dan Huttenlocher was named to the Board of Directors of Corning Incorporated, a glass and ceramics manufacturer, on Tuesday.

Huttenlocher, who has served in various academic positions at Cornell since 2000, will join the finance and audit committees of the board, according to Corning.

Huttenlocher is the 14th member to join the board, which also includes Donald Blair, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Nike, Inc., and Robert F. Cummings, Jr, vice chairman of investment banking for JPMorgan Chase & Co. HUTTENLOCHER Huttenlocher’s new position on the Corning Board of Directors will not be his first finance-related position. He also serves as a director and chair of the investment committee of the MacArthur Foundation.

According to the University, Huttenlocher also holds several academic titles at Cornell, including professorships in the computer science department and in the Johnson Graduate School of Management.

As the founding dean of Cornell’s applied sciences campus in New York City, Huttenlocher oversees the new graduate school’s academics, degree programs and research, according to the University. Previously, he served as the dean of computing and information science.

Huttenlocher will serve on Corning’s Board of Directors until April, when he will stand for election for a one-year term.

Corning Inc., which is headquartered about 40 miles away from Ithaca in Corning, New York, develops and produces specialty glass, ceramics, optical fibers and cables.

— Compiled by Sofia Hu

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Today

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

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Daybook Today

Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., Auditorium, Boyce Thompson Institute Dreer Award Seminar: Cool-Season Viticulture in New Zealand 12:15 p.m., 22 Plant Sciences Building

LEPP Theory: Composite Higgs Models Seminar 2 - 3 p.m., 401 Physical Sciences Building

Tomorrow Give a Gift from Your Heart: 10th Annual Blood Drive 11 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., G01 Biotechnology Building The End of Conventional War in Latin America: The Peru-Ecuador War and its Impact 12:15 - 1:30 p.m., G08 Uris Hall Personalis Sequencing and Interpretation Platform for Disease Diagnostice and Research 12 -1 p.m., G01 Biotechnology Building

Pro Wrestling Star Caught Cheating at Wing Bowl PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Professional wrestling star Mick Foley was ejected from the Wing Bowl eating contest Friday after stuffing uneaten chicken wings into a fanny pack.

People following the event on social media dubbed Foley’s attempt at boosting his wing total “inflate gate,” a play on the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots' deflated football controversy.

Chicago’s Patrick Bertoletti won with a Wing Bowl record 444 wings in 26 minutes. He edged out 2014 champion Molly Schuyler, of Bellevue, Nebraska, who eclipsed her record 363-wing mark with 440 wings.

The fan-favorite Foley, who's known in the ring as Mankind, said after his ouster that he didn’t want to overstuff himself and get sick, like other competitors.

“I didn’t want that to be my legacy,” said Foley. “So I stretched the rules. I thought people would appreciate that, right here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!”

Wing Bowl started in 1993 as a way for Philadelphia's long-suffering sports fans to blow off steam before the Super Bowl. About 20,000 people gathered at the Wells Fargo Arena — home of the Philadelphia 76ers and

CD & RECORD FAIR Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 10 A.M. – 5 P.M.

123 E. State St. • On The Commons DEALERS SELLING & BUYING ALL TYPES OF MUSIC:

100,000 CDs, DVDs, RECORDS, etc. FOR SALE Bargains & Rarities

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

Dr. Akunzule, Versatile Veterinarian in Ghana 6 p.m., Lecture Hall 1, Veterinary College

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Philadelphia Flyers — to drink beer and watch scantily clad women serve competitors wings.

Dogs Bark ‘I Do’ This Valentine’s Day LOS ANGELES (AP) — When pet owners dress up their dogs in miniature white dresses and tiny tuxes, some believe the barks that signal “I do” reveal true puppy love.

These animal lovers say their pooches can feel real longing for other pets, but experts aren’t so sure. Most people agree a wedding is just for fun or charity when the groom is drooling and the bride’s gown needs tailoring for her tail. After all, “you may now lick the bride” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

The doggy nuptials are gaining attention as Valentine’s Day approaches and people find new and unique ways to pamper their pets. “Pet marriage or weddings are for people,” said Dr. Bonnie Beaver, executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and a professor at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Owners host weddings because it makes them feel good, she said, though most get planned for dogs instead of cats. People can’t know what dogs are thinking, but studies have shown they do experience emotion.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015 3

NEWS

Professor Cheryl Stanley ’00: the woman behind the wine

By MOLLY KARR Sun Staff Writer

Prof. Cheryl Stanley ’00, food and beverage management, teaches one of the most popular courses at Cornell: Hotel Administration 4 3 0 0 : In t ro d u c t i o n to Wines.

Open to all students aged 18 and over from all majors across the U n i v e r s i t y, Stanley spends each semester sharing her extensive knowledge and passion for wine.

Stanley said her love for the beverage industry began in her hometown of Walnut Creek, California, where she took a job as a hostess at Crogan’s Bar and Grill.

“Brewers would come in — and this was the mid-’90s in California, so the beverage industry was on fire — [and] I would just listen to their stories,” Stanley said. “I would watch the bartender and how he was selling drinks and mixing drinks. Each wine and drink had a story behind it, [and] spending time at Crogan’s was like storytime.”

Having interned for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts the summer before her senior year of college, Stanley said she worked there after graduating from Cornell and began by pairing nightly wine selections with the specials on the menu. “[One day], my dining room manager told me, ‘I don’t want to do the wine list anymore. Here you go.’ And I was 21 at the time,” Stanley said. “Later in my career, I worked the floor as the sommelier and dining room manager. So, I would talk with the

PHOTOS BY MICHELLE FELDMAN / SUN SENIOR EDITOR

guests. I would open, decant, everything.”

When the opportunity arose to work as the wine director in a leading California restaurant with a $1 million wine inventory, The Wine Cask, Stanley said she took the chance.

“I got to learn a whole different side of the industry through working there,” she said.

Stanley, who has since taken her place at the front of the classroom after accepting a teaching position at Cornell in 2013, said she believes it is an honor to be teaching the introductory Wines course.

“I took over from the teacher who I actually was the T.A. for back when I was in school — it was intimidating at first,” she said. “I was a nervous wreck my first class, because not only was I up in front of 600 students, but I was on stage with my wines professor.”

Stanley, who said she knew from an early age that she would be attending Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, said her “love affair” with the University began when she was 10 years old.

“I just knew where I was going to go — there was no question,” she said.

However, Stanley said teaching was not in her original career plan.

“I thought I was going to be in operations for the rest of my life,” she said. “But I actually did a lot of training in operations — instructing others about which wines to buy and how to

work the floor. So it was a surprise, but not a surprise as well.”

Before Stanley returned to her alma mater, she traveled the world, taught at the Culinary Institute of America, became a certified sommelier and started Cheryl Stanley Restaurant Consulting.

Stanley said being able to travel for work as well as exploring the culture of wineries in different countries has been one of her favorite parts of working in the industry.

“There’s an emotional high of being in a place and tasting the wine,” Stanley said. “I drove through [France] for the month — I traveled with my mom. We drove across the massive central to Bordeaux, where I saw the oak forests that you know would be used for [aging] barrels.”

Now back at Cornell, Stanley said she hopes all students will “keep [their] mind[s] open,” adding that Wines is not just a course for students in the hotel school.

“Knowing wines is a life skill,” Stanley said. “It is like golf. It is a social sport. If you’re going to be a doctor, lawyer, business owner or entrepreneur, you are going to need to entertain. Knowing wine gives you that step up in conversation.”

Molly Karr can be reached at mkarr@cornellsun.com.

Three Professors Named Weiss Presidential Fellows

By SAMANTHA ACRICHE Sun Staff Writer

lems trees face in urban areas.

“I have been working with hybrid oaks [which] we created here in 2004, and evaluate trees for drought tolerance, alkaline soil tolerance and ease of transplanting,” Bassuk said.

Bassuk added that she developed C.U. Structural Soil, which can support pavement while still allowing tree roots to grow.

Bassuk said she hopes to continue teaching and researching and is excited to see what her students accomplish in

President David Skorton named Prof. Nina Bassuk ’74, horticulture; Prof. Rajit Manohar, electrical and computer engineering; and Prof.

Marie Caudill, nutritional sciences, as Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows, a designation given for exceptional undergraduate teaching on Friday.

Potential candidates for the Weiss Fellowships can be nominated by students or faculty, according to the University.

After a rigorous selection process, winners receive $5,000 a year for five years.

“I was really surprised to learn that I had been named a Weiss Fellow,” Bassuk said. “My understanding is that nominaCAUDILL BASSUK ’74 MANOHAR tions come in from students, which makes it particularly significant for me.” the future.

Over her 34 years at Cornell, “I enjoy seeing my students grow Bassuk said she has studied the prob- and integrate the information we

teach to improve the urban environ“Receiving the Weiss Presidential ment,” Bassuk said.

Fellow Award was one of the highManohar also said he found the lights of my Cornell career,” Caudill achievement to be meaningful. said. “I felt intensely proud to be Manohar, the associate dean for research at Cornell Tech, “Receiving the Weiss said he was nominated by Prof. Clifford Pollock, also a Presidential Fellow award was Weiss fellow, for his contribuone of the highlights of my tions to the undergraduate computer-engineering proCornell career.” gram.

“I was thrilled at having Prof. Marie Caudill been selected by my colleagues for this honor,” Manohar said.

Manohar said he conducts nominated by my former students and research in the area of efficient, privileged to be included in this group low power computation. of distinguished undergraduate teach“The most recent work we ers.” completed, in collaboration with On campus, Caudill teaches an IBM Research, was an electronic upper level nutrition and disease chip that implements models of course. She is also studying how nutrineurons, synapses and their con- ent intake promotes mother and child nections for efficient classification nutrition and overall well-being. tasks,” Manohar said.

Caudill said she is honored to have been both nominated for and selected Samantha Acriche can be reached at sacriche@cornellsun.com. as a Weiss Fellow.

4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015

NEWS

Task Force Stresses International Presence

Seven member task force heeds Skorton’s call to globalization in various urban centers GLOBAL

Continued from page 1

to pursue “partnerships with institutions abroad.”

“A number of universities have opened offices or study centers overseas. A few have even created full campuses,” Logevall said. “At present we’re not inclined to pursue the latter course, but that still leaves several possibilities for the task force to consider.”

The task force will be chaired

by Prof. Alfonso Torres, veterinary medicine, who is associate dean for public policy at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Logevall said he is “delighted” that Torres will chair the task force, which has not yet met — the team’s first meeting, sched-

Although Cornell is not cur- tional development would most uled for Monday, was cancelled due to snow. rently pursuing the construction likely center on urban environTorres said the “ultimate goal” of full campuses in foreign cities, ments rather than rural areas. of the task force is to “continue Logevall said the University must “I believe that, in the coming to enhance the internationaliza- be more connected to other decades, major urban centers will tion efforts” that Cornell has countries. be even more important than “We live in a globalized world. they are now, as conduits of ideas, already undertaken.

“The task force will strive to As such, the global should infuse knowledge, and people,” he said. gather, consolidate and “Whether Cornell analyze opinions and should have a physical “Many of us at Cornell were ideas from a wide range presence in some of of faculty and adminis- inspired by President Skorton’s call these world cities is an important question to trators from all of to greater internationalization.”

Cornell academic units consider.” to provide recommendaProf.

Timothy Prof. Timothy DeVoogd DeVoogd, psychology, tions on the best way to move forward on these said work has already issues,” Torres said. begun to advance According to Logevall, the almost everything we do at Cornell’s globalization, but creatimportance of the newly formed Cornell,” he said. “We need to be ing more partnerships is vital. task force lies in the University’s connected in concrete ways to the “Many of us at Cornell were increasing social interconnected- world beyond U.S. shores.” inspired by President Skorton’s ness.

Logevall added that interna- call to greater internationaliza-

tion. At many levels, people have been working to achieve this over the last few years,” DeVoogd said, who is a member of the task force. “Increasingly, we're becoming aware that doing so needs to be strategic for Cornell — we need to seek out the partnerships and collaborations that best bring value to our students, our faculty and our research.”

According to Logevall, the task force will work to help Cornell consider potential next steps in the globalization process.

“It’s a great big world out there, and we’re already involved in it in myriad ways,” Logevall said. “Where should we go from here?”

Zoe Ferguson can be reached at zferguson@cornellsun.com.

‘Humans of Cornell’ Takes to Libe Slope To Celebrate Snow

DARIEN KIM / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Frolicking around | Jenna Galbut ’14 and Police Chief Kathy Zoner participate in Humans of Cornell’s first-ever Snow Bash.

SNOW

This event was part of her effort to get Cornellians to “connect with each other,” according to ceeded in bringing students Galbut.

“Some people walk around together.

“It’s as simple as a bunch of col- campus with a large number of lege students getting giddy for a people surrounding them, yet, moment in their life, forgetting sometimes, they still feel isolated about internships or prelims,” and alone,” she said. “This is the type of event that makes you realOodelsky said.

Rudy Gerson ’15 said he decided ize we’re never alone.”

Galbut added to come to the Snow Bash, saying “This type of event that she thought event was sucthere was nothing makes you realize the cessful because it he would rather do.

“People should we’re never alone.” helped members of the community play more often — Jenna Galbut ’14 form bonds with people at this each other. school take them“The best thing was that … selves too seriously, including me,” Gerson said. “We don’t have jobs people came in timid and alone yet, so we should be more sponta- and left elated with new friends,” she said. neous and have more fun.”

Galbut said given that that this Galbut said it was “pretty incredible” that such a large group event was a “test run,” it “far of people came to the slope to exceeded” her expectations.

“Now I know that my other relax, enjoy the snow and meet ideas of events to bring people new people.

“To take thirty minutes out of together will be fun and successyour schedule and not go to your ful,” she said. meeting or not do your homework or study immediately is a pretty big Madeline Cohen can be reached at deal for a Cornell student,” she said. mcohen@cornellsun.com.

Continued from page 1

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015 5

NEWS BRIEFS

Gap in Bachelor’s Degree Attainment Doubles, Report Finds LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gap in bachelor-degree attainment between the nation’s richest and poorest students by age 24 has doubled during the last four decades, according to a report released Tuesday.

The percent of students from the lowest-income families — those making $34,160 a year or less — earning a bachelor’s degree has inched up just three points since 1970, rising from six to nine percent by 2013.

Meanwhile, college completion for students from the wealthiest families has risen dramatically, climbing from 44 to 77 percent.

“It’s really quite amazing how big the differences have become between those from the highest and lowest family incomes,” said Laura Perna, a University of Pennsylvania professor and executive director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy, one of the two organizations that published the study examining college costs and degree attainment.

The study comes amid renewed debate on college affordability spurred by President Barack Obama’s proposal to make two years of college free. If adopted in every state, the proposal would benefit a projected nine million students each year. It would cost taxpayers an estimated $60 billion over 10 years — a price the Republican-controlled Congress is likely to be hesitant to embrace.

Carl Heastie Elected Speaker Of New York State Assembly ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Carl Heastie was elected speaker of the New York state Assembly on Tuesday, making him the first African-American to hold the powerful position.

Heastie is a Democrat from the Bronx. He succeeds Sheldon Silver, who resigned after being charged with taking nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks.

Democrats hold a more than two-thirds majority in the chamber, and Heastie easily won the post over Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb. As a protest, two lawmakers cast their vote for Preet Bharara, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney who has criticized Albany’s backroom culture and whose office is prosecuting Silver.

After the vote, Heastie repeated his promise to make ethics overhaul a priority.

“We will change the cynicism into trust,” he said. “Our state deserves a government as good as its people.”

The Assembly’s only other business Tuesday was the passage of a resolution honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Heastie noted the coincidence.

“Thank you, Dr. King, for

making this day possible,” said Heastie, who is also the first speaker from the Bronx.

The speaker is one of the most important positions in state government. Heastie will direct the flow of legislation, set committee assignments and direct budget negotiations with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Republican-controlled state Senate.

Four other lawmakers initially sought the speakership but quickly backed out as Heastie locked up support.

The 47-year-old Heastie was first elected in 2000 and has led the Assembly’s Labor Committee for the past two years. He is a former budget analyst in the New York City Comptroller's Office. He also leads the Bronx Democratic County Committee, a post he has said he will leave now that he is speaker.

Silver led the Assembly for 21 years before his resignation. The Manhattan Democrat has said he expects to be exonerated and intends to keep his seat in the Assembly. Silver attended Tuesday’s session, casting a vote for Heastie from his new desk in the furthest row from the speaker’s seat.

After Police Killings, a Debate Over Grand Jury Secrecy NEW YORK (AP) — For centuries, grand juries have held some of the criminal justice system’s best-kept secrets. But their private process has come under extraordinary public scrutiny after recent decisions not to indict police officers in the deaths of unarmed men.

Calls for more transparency have sounded in Congress, statehouses and editorial pages, mixed with notes of caution about forswearing secrecy that can safeguard witnesses and the accused.

The debate has “been more exposed in the last three months than ever,” says Robert Weisberg, a Stanford University law professor who specializes in criminal justice.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week proposed a limited lifting of the grand jury veil when police kill unarmed civilians, and next week a New York City judge will consider whether to release transcripts of a grand jury’s

investigation into Eric Garner’s chokehold death. Proposals to replace grand juries with preliminary hearings in open court, at least in some police killing cases, have recently been floated by lawmakers in Washington and Missouri.

The prosecuting attorney in Ferguson, Missouri, took the unusual step last month of letting the public read grand jury transcripts in the shooting death of 18year-old Michael Brown. The D.A. in Albuquerque, New Mexico, recently said she’d take a murder case against two officers to a preliminary hearing, instead of a grand jury, because of public frustration with the secret proceedings.

To skeptics, the closed doors can leave important questions unanswerable in a prosecutor-driven process where judges have limited involvement and defense lawyers can’t ask questions.

OPINION

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Caroline Posner |

Your Campus on Drugs

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Editorial

Working Towards C.U.’s Carbon-Free Future

LAST THURSDAY, PRESIDENT DAVID SKORTON publically released a report prepared by Cornell’s Climate Action Plan Acceleration Working Group outlining steps the University must take to become carbon neutral by 2035. The commitment to achieve a zero carbon footprint originated nearly eight years ago when the University pledged to achieve carbon neutrality on the Ithaca campus by 2050. More recently, Skorton advanced the carbon neutrality date to 2035. We applaud the administration and those involved in the climate working group for releasing the recommendations Cornell must take to become more sustainable and urge the University to release a plan with concrete steps it will take to meet its accelerated carbon neutrality goal.

The report — released weeks after scientists warned that 2014 was the hottest recorded year on the planet — outlines six priorities among a set of 16 recommendations. Its “key milestones” include creating a “comprehensive” campaign to inform Cornellians and promote research and engagement in the Climate Action Plan, requesting that the Board of Trustees adopt “higher energy standards” for new construction projects and advancing Cornell’s “Hybrid Enhanced Geothermal-Bioenergy System Demonstration” project, which could decrease the University’s carbon footprint by more than 38 percent. The report claims that meeting these six recommendations within a year after its publication is necessary to “remain confident in the 2035 target date.”

If this claim holds true, we press the administration to prioritize these proposed initiatives.

Within the past year, Cornell has worked towards decreasing its environmental footprint by activating its Snyder Road Solar Farm in September, proposing to build an additional solar farm in Seneca, New York, and agreeing to purchase all of the electricity produced by the proposed Black Oak Wind Farm. However, as the working group’s report notes, switching to more sustainable energy options is only one piece in achieving total carbon neutrality. Cornell’s Climate Action Plan outlines comprehensive steps the University intends to take to decrease its ecological impact, but that plan was created with the intention of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. While President Skorton has said some of the proposed recommendations are currently underway, we urge administrators to inform Cornellians in a timely manner what concrete steps the Ithaca campus will take in order to comply with the 2035 target.

We are confident the University will take the necessary steps to invest in a more sustainable future on campus, but call upon the administration to remain transparent as it works to meet its ambitious goal.

I am about two-thirds of the way luxuries of time or emotional wellness. through writing a column on Adderall, the Take me for example. My high dose of newest addition to my list of daily drugs, Lexapro has made my life unspeakably betwhen I reread the suicide note posted on ter. But it also impacts my sensation of emoFacebook by my friend Luchang Wang ’17. tions, makes me drowsy at earlier hours than It says that she couldn’t wait for new med- my friends, makes reaching orgasm more ication to kick in while remaining in school. difficult and makes my nightmares frequent It sounds desperate. I wonder if my voice and painfully realistic. Adding a stimulant to sounded desperate through the phone when the mix when I was diagnosed with ADHD I implored Yale Health to let me see a psy- this November meant flirting with insomchiatrist to increase my dosage. When they nia, headaches and relapses into anxiety. I said I had an appointment in three days. can’t forget a dose of either med without When I pushed my mother to call my psy- experiencing symptoms of withdrawal or chiatrist in Florida that night because three discomfort. It’s possible I’ll take these meddays was too long. ications for the rest of my life.

I spend a lot of time talking about my None of this should suggest that seeking emotional health, but I’m still hesitant to psychiatric help isn’t necessary. The benefits bring up my history with psychiatric med- of my successful treatment far outweigh the ication. Words like ‘antidepressant’ and challenges of medication. In fact, I might ‘benzodiazepine’ tend to evoke a visceral describe psychiatric pharmacology as the reaction, an unsettling in your gut that closest thing to magic I’ve ever known. My makes you want to change the topic or con- life and the lives of people I love have been verse in hushed tones. We’ve sanitized terms improved or saved by the right meds, somelike ‘therapy’ and ‘mental health care’, but thing close to miraculous in the religion of suggestions of pharmacology — aside from science. jokes predicated on popular stereotypes Rather, I’m insisting that the full burden about Prozac and Xanax — remain part of of medication must be understood so that the crude, unpretty reality of mental illness. we can eliminate further hardships on stuPerhaps it’s that a prescription, in popu- dents seeking psychiatric treatment. A few lar culture, forms a demarcation between kind professors offered me extensions when the romantic archetype of depression-neu- starting Adderall meant I couldn’t sleep or roticism and the stereotype of an asylum eat on a regular schedule, when my depresinpatient. When I bring up my expanding sion wasn’t under control, when breaklist of medications, I’m through anxiety got invoking an entire popthe better of my abilular history of mental ity to attend section.

My life and the lives of illness. I’m drawing on To others, I’ve lied our collective memories suggested alterpeople I love have been and of Winona Ryder in nate forms of physical Girl, Interrupted and improved or saved by the illness. Our world Norman Bates from remains more sympaPsycho. As a result, our right meds, something thetic to the stomach conversations about flu than to an attenpsychiatric meds are close to miraculous in the tion deficit, more sterile and distanced. familiar with a bad religion of science.

We can wax philosophcold than an anxious ical about our antidemind’s dark, irrapressant generation or tional thoughts. speculate on over-prescription of certain But when finding the right medication pills, but only so long as we’re guarded by and dosage takes weeks or months or years distance and disapproving tones.

— like in Luchang’s case — the institutional It’s obvious that a decent portion of Yale framework for accommodation must be students is on some regimen of psychoactive stronger. Expecting that a mentally ill studrugs, so our ironic unease with psychiatric dent fight for her own support is equivalent medication might be comical if it weren’t so to expecting that a physically disabled stuincredibly dangerous. Luchang’s point about dent attend class in Klein Biology Tower her medication is a resounding, unambigu- without an elevator, only easier to disregard. ous reminder that our school lacks a suffi- If we expect to see change from our school cient understanding of the impact of psychi- and society, we must make our struggle atric drugs on the lives of its students. impossible to ignore. I will write about my When I learn a friend is starting a new mental illness and treatment until every psychiatric treatment, a good part of me is Facebook friend and Twitter follower and thrilled. The other part, though, is wary and classmate can recite the milligrams of apologetic. Starting medication for the first Lexapro I swallow in the morning, if that’s time is hard; switching medications, which what it takes. Because I deserve more than usually means that the previous drugs have this halfhearted, sanitized discourse about failed, is often harder. These medications mental illness. Luchang deserved more. have side effects that differ from the drugs we take for other illnesses. They demand Caroline Posner is a sophomore at Yale in Berkeley patience from people who don’t have the College.

Guest submissions may be sent to opinion@cornellsun.com.

Letters to the editor must be in response to a piece in The Sun and under 600 words, while guest columns can be on any topic chosen and should be under 900 words.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015 7

OPINION

Christo Eliot |

The Tale of the Dingo at Midnight

Billy Lenkin |

The Graduation Game

Talking About The Weather T

he last time I looked at or consciously checked an item off the infamous “161 Things Every Cornellian Should Do” was towards the end of my freshman year. I was a member of one of two factions in a group of friends trying to collectively check off the most items as a team or else take a bath in the bathtub in the Donlon bathroom. I humped over to the bell in the Plantations, banged it like an idiot and did not have to use the Donlon bathtub. Looking back as a senior, one unchecked item on the list stands out as particularly provocative and exhilarating — number 78: Hook up with your T.A. Although mechanical engineering is typically associated with killer parties and an overall rockstar lifestyle, most of the teaching assistants have Y chromosomes. Then, the T.A. for a liberal studies course in my final semester at Cornell — who I sincerely hope does not read this publication — turned out to be a beautiful and interesting student in a creative graduate program. It was all tremendously exciting.

This column is not going to be an explanation of whatever scheme I may or may not put together to try and cross number 78 off the list. I write about what I know, and today is not “Sex on Thursdays” for The Sun. In fact, this column would not even involve my lovely and enchanting teaching assistant had she not engaged me conversationally last week.

Remarkable, right? I had just come off rush week, where I spent upwards of four or five hours a day being forced to speak with freshman futurebros who were often difficult to connect with on any level beyond the standard rush week “What’s your major,” “What dorm are you in” and “How much money does your father make a year before taxes?” line of questioning. That is to say, my small talk and meaningless banter game was as sharp as ever. If there were two things I was most ready for, they would be low pressure behavioral job interviews and the exact moment I needed to casually interact with a fair lady like her in class.

My mouth was starting to taste like foot and a lot of pennies, which I am sure is a common physiological phenomenon for engineers trying to chat purposelessly with a pretty girl.

Without getting into too much detail (this still is not a Sex on Thursdays column), the conversation was going down a pretty promising path: “Are you a freshman?”

“No, I am actually a senior.”

“Are you an art student?”

“No. Actually I am a mechanical engineer — you know, for the rockstar lifestyle…?”

My mouth was starting to taste like foot and a lot of pennies, which I am sure is a common physiological phenomenon for engineers trying to chat purposelessly with a pretty girl. During rush week, I saved “So, where are you from?” for only desperate times; it was usually about 45 seconds into each conversation. It may not be the most provocative or exciting, but if you have ever tried to get into a hot tub that already has an occupant or two, you know it is one of the safest questions you can ask in an uncomfortable social situation. For the sake of her privacy, all I will say is that she is from somewhere roughly equatorial. Somewhere hot (not a euphemism). For those of you not already aware, few people consider Ithaca to be a hot place. What an interesting juxtaposition of climates — why not talk about the weather?

Bringing up the weather is considered in some circles to be something of a conversational faux pas. Not unlike “Where are you from,” some people believe talking about the weather can only go so far. It does come up exactly zero times in the list of 36 questions The New York Times’ Mandy Len Catron believes you can ask someone to fall in love with them after all. I am of the opinion that those people are small-minded.

Weather is perhaps the basis of one of the most fundamental human experiences: being comfortable or uncomfortable. It is hard to ignore blustery winds and blowing leaves in the fall, almost everyone can tell when it is raining and even people who don’t believe in global warming will sweat outside on a humid day. Years and years ago, monkeys turned into people (a rough interpretation of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution), and people started putting people into boxes based on the way they looked, what they believed, where they came from and any number of other things. Regardless of what boxes people put themselves or other people into, the weather still affected everybody.

How can speaking about something everybody experiences be vacuous? It is bigger than anything else in our daily lives. People experience the same weather, but their experiences growing up made unique associations for different types of weather. This leads to new conversational threads and connecting people more than they may have otherwise. Am I suggesting that weather is the only thing that is real or worth believing in? Not necessarily, but maybe praying to Ullr, the early Germanic pagan major god of snow, would make getting through this week a little easier.

For now, I am going to use his handiwork to charm number 78.

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

Samantha Weisman |

A

A Weisman Once Said

May You Stay Forever Young

s a self-proclaimed TV- always trying to do the right junkie, I have watched a thing for themselves and their lot of series finales (FYI: families — which is really what spoilers abound). I cried when most of us are trying to do, too.

Rachel got off the plane, rolled They never sugar-coated it or my eyes when we realized it was made it feel unrealistic. The a flash sideways and angrily Bravermans didn’t always make wrote a column when Ted fin- the right decisions or have the ished the world’s most depress- best outcomes, but it always felt ing nine-year love story. like they were dealing with the Before Parenthood’s final same things as you. And, if they episode, “May God Bless and could get through it and do the Keep You Always,” aired last right thing in the end, maybe Thursday, I was nervous that the you could too. We were never finale would disappoint, because deprived of realistic repercus— let’s be real — most finales sions or feel like our investment do. After six incredible seasons in the Bravermans was not worth filled with raw emotion, intense it. Parenthood showed us that stories and dynamic, d e v e l o p e d Let’s finish our last semester here characters, I was unsure if strong, so that there’s no unwanted the finale plotlines, sloppy character would do the development and plenty of memories show justice.

To my pleas- for the montage. ant surprise, the finale was an amazing end to the series. even when things don’t turn out Every storyline wrapped itself the way you plan, you stick to neatly in a bow — much like the your values, you make things puppy the Graham children right with the people you care opened in their future Christmas about and you do the best you scene. We watched the family can despite everything. It wasn’t mourn the loss of their patriarch, perfect — it was messy, there playing a baseball game over his was a lot of yelling over each ashes on a field per his request other and Mae Whitman never and saw flash-forwards to each ceased to make me cry — but it character’s happy, fulfilled was real. future. And while it was incrediWhy is it, then, that such a bly cheesy, it worked perfectly. perfect finale felt so satisfying? If Throughout its six-year run, what I loved most about the Parenthood has tackled Asperger’s Braverman family is that they Syndrome, breast cancer, drug were imperfect and real, how can addiction, infidelity, adoption, I let myself love their fairy tale bullying, teenage pregnancy, ending? infertility, Post Traumatic Stress Maybe after having invested Disorder and much more. so much in this family, all we Despite how those all sound wanted was for them to turn out when listed together, creator okay. That after all of the hardJason Katims didn’t show us soap ships they went through, they opera drama. He didn’t drag us deserved it. Or, after relating so through outrageous, forced much to the struggles of this ficmelodramatic scenarios. Katims, tional family, we wanted to and the rest of the Parenthood know that we could have happy writing team (P.S. please hire me endings, too. for your next projects), showed For me, maybe — as a second us real life. Parenthood was about semester senior in denial of my real, imperfect people who were looming graduation — I was

relieved that happy, fulfilling endings do exist. That even though my future past my finale (okay, “graduation”) is uncertain, it is possible that my flash forwards would be picturesque and ideal. And while it sounds silly to put it that way, I can’t help but hope that since Parenthood was real, gritty and ended well, my genuine college experience can culminate in a satisfying future too.

Many television shows drag on for years past their prime (see: Glee, How I Met Your Mother and 7th Heaven’s 11th season), forcing our beloved characters through poor development and careless plotlines. We should be grateful that although Pa re n t h o o d ended in its prime, we did not need to suffer through unnecessary, sloppy seasons.

Instead, we can be grateful that what we did get was carefully constructed and presented in the way that the writers wanted us to experience it.

When we graduate in May, even though we may want more “seasons” at Cornell (just not winter), hopefully we can take solace in the fact that our four years here were also completed in the way that we wanted them to. Let’s finish our last semester here strong, so that there are no unwanted plotlines, sloppy character development and plenty of memories for the montage. And while tears were consistently streaming down my face for the entirety of “May God Bless and Keep You Always,” Parenthood’s cheesy ending has got nothing on our 109 days left on the Hill.

Samantha Weisman is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

She may be reached at sweisman@cornellsun.com. A Weisman Once Said appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015

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10 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2014

SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY

Prof. Charles Smart Sees The Math Behind Patterns

By KATHLEEN BITTER Sun Science Editor

While many Cornell undergraduates may dread their partial differential equations course, Prof. Charles Smart, mathematics, has made PDEs his full-time job.

Used to describe the behavior of materials at a microscopic level, these equations can assess the influence of a drum’s shape on its sound or create complex fractal images.

As exemplified by the drum problem — which, it turns out, determined that a square drum does in fact sound the same as a circular drum — PDEs are especially useful in how they can predict behavior on larger, human scales, according to Smart.

“If you want to describe, say, how water is moving, it’s sort of enough to describe what’s happening locally,” Smart said. “There are some equations of motion that water satisfies in a tiny region and somehow altogether that equation — that partial differential equation describing what’s supposed to happen locally — constrains what happens globally.”

Despite his current passion for PDEs, however, Smart did not always intend to go into mathematics. His early passion? Physics.

“In high school I had a fantastic physics teacher, Michael Hamblin, who impacted the rest of my life,” he said.

Smart said he became interested in the subject and started reading his mother’s college physics textbook, but found he didn’t understand the mathematics involved, so he started reading his mother’s college calculus textbook to get the necessary background for physics.

“I still feel like I don’t have a satisfactory understanding of mathematics, and so I can’t go back until that’s done,” he said. “And that will never be done.”

Smart, originally from the Boston area, majored in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University before attending graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley, where he spent eight years earning his Ph.D. in mathematics.

“One reason I took eight years in graduate

school is I switched fields,” Smart said. “I used be doing logic and now I’m doing PDEs, and in the middle I kind of took two years off to build a robot motorcycle.”

Smart spent two years as a member of Berkeley’s team that built an autonomous

the Smithsonian Museum of American History, according to Smart.

After receiving his Ph.D., Smart completed a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

COURTESY OF PROF. CHARLES SMART

Virtual sandpile | The program that created this colorful “Abelian sandpile” fractal pattern contains partial differential equations, the specialty of Prof. Charles Smart. robotic motorcycle for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Grand Challenge — a desert race held by the United States Department of Defense.

“I was involved only for the second race,” Smart said. “I wrote the software that balanced the bike.”

Berkeley’s robot motorcycle now resides in

He then spent a year as an assistant professor before joining Cornell’s Department of Mathematics in 2014.

“This is one of the departments I liked the most,” Smart said. “This department also had a fantastic job for my wife.”

Smart and his wife, Prof. Meghan Anderson, a fellow mathematician who

prefers the teaching side of academia, have a one year old son.

“That’s pretty much my life right now, trying to adapt to having a one year old,” Smart said. “It’s really fun and awesome, but we haven’t quite figured out how to regain our lives. Or any fraction of our lives — all of our time not at work.”

When he is at work, however, Smart is employing PDEs for a variety of applications, including measuring the movement of electricity in a material.

“If you have a thin piece of conductor, like a thin sheet of silicon, and you randomly deposit impurities in it, you might ask, ‘what’s the macroscopic electrical behavior of that sheet as a conductor, given the sort of microscopic pattern of impurities?’” Smart said. “This is a huge family of PDEs.” Smart’s other area of PDE research, to which he attributes his having been hired by Cornell, relates to a model known as the “Abelian sandpile.”

“When you first start talking about it, it has nothing to do with PDEs but can eventually be converted into a PDE problem,” said Smart, who has a poster of the sandpile in his office.

The Abelian sandpile is a concept first developed in the late 1980s, according to Smart. It exists on an infinite grid and begins with a pile of particles, or sand grains, in one square. The pile generally starts as a number of grains that can be evenly divided by four.

The pile will “topple” into four equallysized smaller piles in the squares adjacent to the origin square, and each of those piles will topple into their adjacent squares. The sand grains will continue to add and topple until every square on the grid has between zero and three grains in it, Smart said.

When Smart and his colleagues run the Abelian sandpile as a computer program and assign each number a different color, the resulting grid has a fractal-like pattern with smaller areas of regularly-repeating patterns within the larger pattern.

See SMART page 14

Prof. Amy Williams Maps Genes,Tracks Disease Risk

By SHIRA POLAN Sun Staff Writer

Prof. Amy Williams, computational biology, is most likely not your relative, at least within the last 10 generations. But the newly instated Cornell professor spends much of her time studying your family tree — or rather, the genetic tree of all modern humans — in order to better understand the complex history of human demographics.

Williams, a graduate of the University of Utah, first became interested in population genetics and parent-to-child genetic transmission during her Ph.D. work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I went to grad school expecting to do very traditional computer science but ended up taking a genetics class for my minor [and] really just fell in love with it, she said.

“For my Ph.D., I ended up developing an algorithm for inferring the way in which DNA gets transmitted from parents to children in single families. I then got a postdoc in a human population genetics lab and have continued to fall in love with the discipline.”

Following graduate school, Williams

pursued postdoctoral positions at Harvard Medical School and Columbia University before beginning research as an assistant professor in the Department of Computational Biology and Population

“By statistical means, we can paint a person’s genome in terms of the continent of origin of their DNA.” Prof. Amy Williams Genetics last April.

Next fall, Williams will teach a course that will serve as an introduction to computational biology. “[The class] will likely be aimed at individuals who have a little bit of computational background. We’ll talk about the ways of analyzing genetic data and will begin by asking, “What is the human genome?’” she said. “This is something you can download off the Internet and read off

all those letters, but how was it actually generated?”

Williams said she considers her field of computational biology to be “very broad,” referring to the many applications computers have in the realm of biology.

“It’s anything from trying to predict how a protein will fold using computers, to trying to infer relationships between individuals on the basis of their genetic makeup, to comparing the genetic makeup of different species in order to learn about evolution, to methodologies for performing genome-wide association studies that attempt to identify genetic variants that affect a given trait or disease,” she said.

One specific application of Williams’ work is the characterization of haplotypes, a series of genes that occur on a single chromosome and are likely to be inherited together.

“In each of our cells there are two copies of each chromosome, one that you got from your dad and one that you got from your mom,” Williams said. “When I started in this field in graduate school I developed a method to try to differentiate which alleles a person inherited from their dad versus mom and, in so doing, infer those haplotypes.”

According to Williams, tracing the origin of haplotypes can serve purposes including tracing DNA segments to particular continents and tracking the history of genetic diseases.

“By statistical means, we can paint a person’s genome in terms of the continent of origin of their DNA,” she said. “This is useful for disease gene mapping since certain diseases are more common in one population group versus another.”

In fact, Williams previously used computational biology methods to gain a better understanding of the genetic factors associated with Type 2 diabetes and the high risk among certain demographic groups such as Latinos.

According to Williams, Latinos have See WILLIAMS page 14

A&E

Wednesday, February 4, 2015 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Like a Kid Again

Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts at Cornell Cinema

BY NATALIE TSAY Sun Staff Writer

Among the many short films showing at Cornell Cinema this weekend, nine are animated shorts. Five of these have been nominated for the Oscar, while the other four are labeled “Highly Commended Films.” The films range from two to 18 minutes, from heartwarming to heartbreaking and from the United States to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. What results is a variety of quirky short films in a collection that boasts something for every viewer.

ME AND MY MOULTON: Narrated by a woman looking back on her childhood in Norway, Me and My Moulton is an endearing short about the pressures of conformity. Our narrator is the middle of three sisters and the daughter of two modern architects. She constantly feels that her family is too different from everyone else’s — her father is the only man in town with a mustache, and their kitchen chairs are three-legged and easily toppled. She envies the family that lives directly below her for their “normal” parents. Her journey to accepting her family’s differences is cute and colorful — overall, it’s a well-done, feel-good short.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Though it took me the whole short to get used to the strange, oblong, multi-dimensional animation, I ended up liking this short.

Aesthetically, it’s very painting-like and fuses a number of animation techniques to create something interesting yet slightly disconcerting. However, the story was a heartfelt look at sibling rivalry in adulthood and the challenges of taking care of an ailing parent. I might not have been crazy about the animation, but the content was well written and executed.

A S INGLE LIFE: The shortest of the bunch, this twominute film follows a woman as she discovers that a package left at her doorstep contains a record that allows her to jump backward or forward through her life.

While it sounds fun and appears whimsical at first, it’s actually quite sad. Nobody ever comes into her life except, briefly, a baby who is never shown again. It’s over very quickly and abruptly, and though it shouldn’t have, the ending came as a shock that left me feeling kind of short-sold.

THE DAM KEEPER: This was by far my favorite short.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SPOTLIGHT STORIES

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DAM KEEPER

First, the score is simply beautiful. The animation is adorable, and despite the cuteness, it made me want to cry. A young pig who has just lost his father takes over the job of dam keeper: He’s charged with operating a big windmill to fend off the darkness, which takes the physical form of a menacing, polluting cloud. The narrator is constantly belittled because he’s a pig and he’s always showing up to school dirty, yet it becomes clear that the town would be ruined without him performing his duties. Throughout the 18 minutes, our narrator is brought down time and time again, and I lost it when he said, “My father always said the job of a dam keeper is to

keep the darkness away. But he never told me what to do when it surrounds you. His mask protected me from the cloud, but nothing I had protected me from the people.”

This short is extremely poignant and ultimately finishes on an uplifting note.

FEAST: Following in Disney’s long tradition of preceding full-length movies with animated shorts, Big Hero 6 viewers were greeted by this little film about a man feeding his dog. Feast continues to prove that adorable cartoon dogs never fail; coupling romantic reconciliation with a well-fed terrier made for an endlessly heartwarming opening.

The last four shorts were not nominated for the Oscar but were deemed highly commendable nonetheless. Sweet Cocoon features a very large caterpillar that tries to fit herself into a tiny cocoon. Eventually, with the help of two other bugs, she succeeds and turns into a beautiful butterfly, but only gets to bask in her newfound beauty for a few seconds. While cute at first, this short took a morbid turn at the end which might be brushed off as the circle of life, but was upsetting regardless.

I wasn’t crazy about either Footprints or Bus Story.

The two animation styles didn’t cut it — funny, slightly dumb-looking characters that appeared to be dressed in potato sacks just didn’t appeal to me. Footprints focused on a man as he hunts for the monster that smashed the glass on his front door while Bus Story features a woman who encounters numerous challenges to becoming a school bus driver and, in the process, runs over her boss’ dog amid other catastrophes. Neither of the storylines was particularly compelling or interesting, and though Footprints did involve an interesting twist, I still wasn’t impressed.

Duet was easily the most enjoyable of the “Highly Commended Films” bunch. With fluid, dynamic, almost entirely blue animation, the story of two people unfolds as they grow from infancy to childhood, stories intersecting every once in a while and finally converging at the end. The music matches the aesthetic grace of the film as well, and there are some truly breathtaking sequences of the girl as she becomes a ballet dancer. Though Duet is short, it stands out from the rest for its seamless beauty and simple yet sweet story.

Natalie Tsay is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at ntsay@cornellsun.com.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A&E

12 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, February 4, 2015 Death Cab for Cutie’s new single, “Black Sun,” is full of Ben Gibbard’s trademark gorgeous lyrics, but its instrumentation sets it apart from the rest of Death Cab for Cutie’s songs. There is a psychedelic vibe throughout the song expressed through the use of synths and the distortion of the opening guitar riff. Overall, “Black Sun” expresses a sort of regret through lyrics like these: “And there’s a dumpster in the driveway / Of all the plans that came undone.” While this song could, in different circumstances, come off as too whiny and self-pitying, Gibbard’s frank voice delivers his lyrics to his audience with honesty and compassion. Ultimately, “Black Sun” is about a broken relationship, something we’ve heard absolutely everyone sing about, but Gibbard’s lyricism combined with surprising ’60s influences allows this song to feel simultaneously desperate and confident. Death Cab for Cutie pulls off the perfect blend of their classic musicality with a new influence that lends a certain eeriness lingering over the track. I am looking forward to hearing how this track fits into their upcoming album, Kintsugi.

Death Cab for Cutie

Usually Frank Ocean gives us a little taste of his sweet falsetto and layers it under ambient sounds or smooth funk, but in his new cover, “You Are Luhh,” a tribute to Aaliyah, we realize that he has been holding out on us. Aaliyah covered the song (which was originally written and recorded by the Isley Brothers) in 1994, only seven years before her premature death in a plane crash at the age of 22. The crash was a huge loss to an industry that hailed Aaliyah as the “Princess of R&B,” an artist that undoubtedly left a lasting impression on the genre, innovating a production technique widely used in 90’s soul and hip-hop. The inexplicable loss caused by her abrupt death is felt viscerally in Ocean’s cover, with its peeled-back vocals and simple piano melody — we see him flex the muscle of his voice in a way that we haven’t before. Behind Ocean’s perfect high notes, echoing and fading into the grain of the track, we get a sense of something deeper, a loss that does not purely belong to the industry, but to the culture from which Aaliyah’s music originated. It is this death of great talent, so young and yet so permanent, that we celebrate with Ocean’s new single. In that vein, the single is not really about Ocean, which is why the focus isn’t on him — he is the agent (albeit the perfect agent) to the commemoration of an icon.

Frank Ocean

C

hances are you have enjoyed cinema your entire life, but the fact is the you who started with Sesame Street or Shrek or It’s a Wonderful Life is not the you today. The plastic tray fastened to your high chair no longer collects drool as you watch figures move across a screen. No doubt there are times, in a theater and especially out, when the blankness of youth sounds quite appealing. But if you are reading this, then you have read and lived and thought enough to bring something — education, curiosity, self-awareness — to everything you see.

What do we do with this power? Many do little, while a bilious, often anonymous contingent make a vocation out of belittling it. Comments sections under reviews, especially those that take a less than adulatory tone toward the latest hundred-milliondollar entertainment, charge the critic with overanalyzing or worrying too much about what it “means.” “It’s just a movie,” a regular sight on these forums, is a rejoinder so immaculate in its self-pleasuring logic that it becomes deflatingly clear movie critic and commenter speak totally different languages.

While philistinism in, around and beyond the cinema runs rampant, it can too easily stand in as a straw man for an equally one-sided, and superiorly pretentious, college newspaper opinion column.

(What’d I say about self-awareness?) What irks me more are the discrepancies between those of us who, by and large, espouse the same critical language. You and I may regard movies as art, judge one’s worth not (only) for its “mere spectacle” but for its ability to “get at” something deep and still disagree about a particular film. That division springs from the indeterminable calculus of personal preference, plus some more explicable aesthetic expectations.

Chief among these is the expectation that a movie needs to be about Something — and least of all Schmidt — to be good.

About The State of Marriage, Russia, The American Dream. I find this a tired, limited, predetermined approach to art, and one highly susceptible to P.R. hype and groupthink. Films so readily demonstrative, if only through dialectic arguments

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

“Black Sun” Atlantic

Hadiyah Chowdhury

“You Are Luhh” Def Jam

Lylla Younes

How So? and foregrounded symbolism, of one big idea fail to fill in the little details of human behavior that would complicate such a broad, and thus phony, thesis. And yet these films are so often celebrated for their thematic obviousness, especially when released in the same year or season as other like-minded works. Think piece machinery thrives on corralling disparate works under one zeitgeist-defining headline, and better when the films assert the same reductive stance, regardless of individual quirks or vitality.

Take A Most Violent Year, the new J.C. Chandor movie starring beautiful people Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. I do not expect you to have seen it, and I did not care for it so I am A Lover’s Quarrel not here with the World to recommend it.

Isaac plays an ambitious oil entrepreneur who shuns his peers and immigrant heritage in order to, you know, be the best. As he gets there, his soul hardens to the climactic point where blood intermingles onscreen with oil in a risible metaphor for the violence of commerce. None of the scenes to that point, except for a grimy, spooky tunnel chase scene, inject the humdrum handsomeness with any personality, and the tunnel vision with which Chandor

Zachary Zahos

hones in on his star-spangled target makes for a redundant, lifeless film.

A Most Violent Year currently stands at a 90 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a blurb that praises its “thought-provoking heft.” The National Board of Review named it 2014’s Best Film, and I know plenty of smart critics who have praised it. I must have seen a different movie, or more likely I must hold different criteria with regards to quality. I expect a certain mystery and intricacy as a film follows its characters to the finish, and any sense that the filmmakers constructed their story in reverse, retrofitting a resounding conclusion with the steps it takes to get there, strikes me as antithetical to the mission of art, not to mention the strengths of cinema.

The only “abouts” worth fussing over in works of art have, in some way, to do with the nature of the medium itself. Ulysses is “about” consciousness, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is “about” perspective, Boyhood is “about” time. But each of these masterworks is “about” an infinite number of things as well, because a devotion to and mastery of artistic form leads to all-encompassing, endlessly reflective look at the world. Formal analysis is not an excuse to undermine the superficial pleasures of a film or flaunt a little thing only you noticed and no one else, but a method to truly evaluate greatness — to find words and reasons for what could otherwise be called magic. When a movie like A Most Violent Year, The Imitation Game or

Birdman fails to say anything under close scrutiny — that is, say more than what already streamed from the mouths of its characters — it is because either the director had little grasp of the story’s complexity, did not know how to convey that complexity through cinema or both.

So much of the discourse surrounding film and television today latches on to the most obvious “abouts,” the kinds factory molded for think-piecing. High school English class, when we read The Great Gatsby and were told to identify its themes and figure out what the green light “meant,” still defines, and so limits, our expectations for moving pictures, and literature, too. No one wants to stay in high school, yet our approach to film is surely stunted, not because it’s not intellectual or theoretical enough but because it likens drama, especially historical drama, to Spark Notes.

Cinema has the power to just look at people be, and in Boyhood, The Immigrant, American Sniper and Inherent Vice they can be compelling, contradictory figures at odds with the subject matter and expected politics of the film. Roger Ebert, the most mainstream film critic we’ve ever had, summed it up when he said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.”

And what he surely implied is that the “how” is the fun part.

Zachary Zahos is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun.com. A Lover’s Quarrel With the World runs alternate Wednesdays this semester.

PHOTO COURTESY OF A24

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015 13

COMICS AND PUZZLES

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Sun Sudoku

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Beginning on 5 No ordinary party 9 Keister 13 Big Island coffee region 14 Sap-sucking insect 16 Put on board 17 Learning ctr.

18 “Being John Malkovich” director 20 Bit of dust 21 Readies for another voyage 22 “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star 26 Portions out 29 One making waves 30 Sean Lennon’s mom 31 Occasionally 32 Three-time Hopkins role 34 At hand 35 Slangily, overimbibe; literally, what the starts of 18-, 22-, 49- and 54Across can do 38 Fictional archaeologist Croft 40 Bakery array 41 Promises 44 “Hawaii Five-0” actor Daniel __ Kim 45 Cellular messenger 48 Ambien maker 49 Saddle storage area 51 Longhorn rival 53 Mandlikova of tennis 54 Nervous habit 58 Prophet’s concern 59 Promgoer’s concern 60 Really enjoy 61 One of 28 Monopoly cards 62 Places for hats 63 Jazz singer Horne 64 Icelandic literary work

DOWN 1 With hands on hips 2 Northern Mexican state 3 GM navigation system 4 Meant to be 5 __-relief 6 iPhone purchase 7 See 12-Down 8 Enjoy the Pacific Crest Trail 9 Literary arcs 10 Redeemed from captivity 11 Carpenter’s tool 12 With 7-Down, punny message site 15 Make leaner 19 Leave at the altar 23 Expert on feet?

24 Foot part 25 Wrecks completely 27 Tetley offering 28 Estonia, until 1991: Abbr.

31 Doomed 1588 fighting force 32 Gigs for 22Across, often

33 Expressive rock genre 35 Bribing 36 Rescue op 37 Smell bad 38 Old DJ’s platters 39 India Pale __ 42 Shapeless mass 43 Start of a selection process 45 Didn’t stay put

46 “Thanks, but I’m set!”

47 Actress Plummer 49 Hackneyed 50 __ Island 52 Bibliog. catchall 54 Brief refresher 55 Solitaire foundation card 56 Wimple wearer 57 Credit-weighted no.

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

02/04/15

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Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once.

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SCIENCE

SCIENCE Williams Tracks Diabetes on DNA WILLIAMS

Continued from page 10

about twice the risk for developing the disease when compared to populations such as European Americans.

“There are a number of reasons for these differences in rate — Type 2 diabetes and poverty unfortunately correlate, but there is a question of whether genetic risk factors may drive this difference,” Williams said. “So we undertook a study in Latinos and found a novel variant that makes a person about 25 percent more likely to develop the disease.”

Currently, Williams is studying the evolution of haplotypes and how it relates to observable new gene expressions in humans.

“While both your parents have two haplotypes, you only inherited one from each,” Williams said.

“The haplotypes that you inherited from each of them are a mosaic, each being a stitched-together piece of their two haplotypes.”

According to Williams, this “stitching together” is known as recombination. Together with muta-

tion — when DNA base pairs are read incorrectly — recombination is “extremely relevant to human health.”

“Mutations lead, in some circumstances, to disease or, more rarely, to advantageous genotypes, and recombination shuffles genotypes relative to each other and thereby provides new combinations of variants,” Williams said.

Currently, Williams is collaborating with researchers in San Antonio to study these events, compiling information on Mexican-American familial pedigrees.

On a broader scale, Williams said she intends to continue research in this area in order to develop a stronger knowledge of human genetic history.

“As we begin to characterize the rate of mutation genome wide, we will be able to build better models of human evolutionary history,” she said. “For me, the next steps are to use this information to build those models, including identifying the detailed relationships among sequences.”

Shira Polan can be reached at spolan@cornellsun.com.

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COURTESY OF PROF. CHARLES SMART

Father of fractals | Prof. Charles Smart, mathematics, brings his one-year-old son to the classroom as he speaks to a colleague about his research. Smart and his wife, Prof. Meghan Anderson, mathematics, began working at the University in 2014.

SMART

Continued from page 10

“The question is, ‘Why does this crazy image appear?’” Smart said. “And the reason is that there’s a PDE that has some strong algebraic structure that’s hiding in the background.”

The Abelian sandpile can also be run on a triangular or hexagonal lattice, according to Smart, but in those instances the number of grains needed to topple must be a multiple of three or six, respectively.

“For the square lattice, the way we understood what was going on is we just understood all the patterns,” Smart said. “So right now we’re trying to understand the patterns in the hexagonal lattice, and there are a lot in there.”

Smart and his colleagues solved the PDE behind the square lattice when his was still a postdoctoral fellow at MIT. Each of the researchers printed out a poster of the different recurring pat-

terns present in the square lattice sandpile and placed it on their office walls.

“We just stared at it for an immeasurably long period of time and then eventually together figured out what was going on,” Smart said. “It’s a very sophisticated research technique of just staring at the wall to try to figure out what’s happening.”

Smart said he hopes he and his colleagues will have the hexagonal lattice problem solved within the next few weeks. Besides staring at the pattern on the wall, the mathematicians work to figure out the PDE behind the pattern the old-fashioned way: with a pen and paper.

“We use the computer to figure out what’s going on, but then we’re mathematicians, so we have to be really sure,” Smart said.

Kathleen Bitter can be reached at science-editor@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, February 4, 2015 15

SPORTS

Dietz Wins in Straight Long Season Culminates at Ivies Sets Against Harvard SWIMMING & DIVING Continued from page 16

SQUASH

Continued from page 16

formance,” Letourneau said. “Harvard is an extremely strong team, but the girls put their best effort forward and fought hard until the end.

Some of the games were really close, but we just couldn't win some of the key points.”

Against Harvard, the men’s team managed to get on the board immediately when junior co-captain Graham Dietz won in straight sets.

Harvard, the defending national champions, responded quickly by sweeping the second rotation, securing the victory. Senior captain Aditya Jagtap won his match in three sets, leading to the final 7-2 tally in the loss to the Crimson.

The Red got off to a slow start the following day against Dartmouth.

Despite Dietz’s victory in the first rotation once again — this time in four sets — Dartmouth swept the second rotation to secure victory. Despite the loss, Cornell won the final three games through Jagtap, freshman Jordan Brail and junior Gustav Runersjö.

Freshman Seb Obieta-Chichizola praised Jagtap and Dietz, who both managed 2-0 weekends.

“There were some great performances during the weekend, in particular from our captains, but we weren't able to come through with wins at vital points during the matches, and some very close games just didn't go our way,” he said. “We came up against two teams who were very determined to win this weekend.”

The Red’s next game could prove pivotal with just one week of matches left before the field is set for the National Championship, to which the Top-8 teams are invited. The Red, who was ranked seventh heading into the weekend, is focused on bringing home wins this week.

The men are back in action on Wednesday against Rochester before games against Princeton and Pennsylvania. The women are scheduled to play Pennsylvania and Princeton before wrapping up the regular season against William Smith.

“Everyone had some good moments despite dropping both matches, so I think it's very important we improve on that,” Dietz said. “We just have one week left before Nationals, so we have to make this last week count. It simply comes down to wanting it more than your opponent and bringing home a ‘W’.”

Joel Cooper can be reached at jcooper@cornellsun.com.

history with Brown over the past few seasons, so to get wins over them the past two years has been amazing.”

The men’s team’s five wins is the best finish for the squad since the 2010 campaign. The victory over Brown also allowed the seniors to end their tenure at Cornell with their first winning season.

Satterthwaite capped off his senior regular season with two wins in different events and a tremendous leg of the 400 free relay.

“With our first winning season behind us, the team couldn't be more amped to get to Ivies,” Satterthwaite said. “With only four weeks left in my swimming career, I can tell you personally that I have never been more excited for a championship as I am for this one.”

On the women’s side, the entire meet came down to the final race. In order to close out the meet with a win, the Red would have needed to finish 1-2.

Although the squad had a strong showing, it was not able to edge out Brown. However, Cornell did win seven different events in Providence. Sophomore sisters Billy Murch Elliot and Currie Murch Elliot finished with a combined four event wins. In diving, senior Bianca Herlitz-Ferguson also had a successful performance. The 5-4 regular season finish on the women’s side marks the team’s second straight above

.500 record.

The Red heads into the culmination of a long season with its eyes on a strong finish at the Ivy League Championships. A regimented training program and increased time in the weight room have all led up to this point.

“The next few weeks leading up to Championships are crucial to our success and we have to be conscious of how we prepare. This late in the season we begin to focus more on resting and maintenance in order to preserve our strength for Championships,” Hallowell said.

Sattherwaite said that looking forward, the team understands what it needs to do in order to succeed.

“I think it’s pretty clear from our swims that there aren't a whole lot of changes that need to take place.

[We have to] continue our domination from our last dual meet and translate it to domination at Ivy’s,” he said.

Hallowell said that with the regular season now in the past, the Red is ready to show that its above .500 record was no fluke.

“It's been a long road, but the team is excited and ready to strive for greatness this offseason,” he said.

“We've turned a lot of heads this season with some fast swims and exciting meets, and now we’re ready to show the Ivy League what we've been working towards.”

John McGrorty can be reached at jmcgrorty@cornellsun.com.

Gymnasts Strive for‘Consistency’ GYMNASTICS

Continued from page 16

Dilliplane emphasized maintaining the positive direction in which the team is moving while trying to limit any mistakes at the same time.

“Consistency is key,” she said.

“We definitely have the skills and talent to be a 192.00+ team and if we can manage to not count any falls, we will reach that doing exactly what we are doing now.”

Beckwith said he is confident that the Red will get up to speed in time for Saturday’s home

meet.

“I think we’ll do really well at home,” he said. “We’re just hot and cold on some things [and] we’ve got to get hot on everything.”

Ariel Cooper can be reached at acooper@cornellsun.com.

Sports

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2015

16

GYMNASTICS

Schupp,Bair Lead Red to Season High Overall Score

By ARIEL COOPER

ular season.

“I know we had to count some falls still, but it generally was a step in the right direction,” said senior Sammy The Cornell gymnastics team set the bar high after scor- VanderPutten. ing 190.625 in Sunday’s meet at the University of Sunday’s meet was successful on an individual level as Pennsylvania, making it the Red’s highest-scoring meet of well as a team level. Seven members of the Red achieved the season. The vaulters contributed significantly to the career-high scores in their respective events. score with juniors Sara Schupp and Alicia Bair both receiv“We had several gymnasts with personal best scores,” ing near-perfect scores for their perforDilliplane said. “I think those stand out mances. the most but junior Julohn Teixeira really “We had several “I think the highlight of the meet was had a stellar day — on the two events that gymnasts with personal she competes, she had personal best scores the vault rotation,” said junior tri-captain Hannah Clark. “We had some really top best scores. I think those on both.” performers on individual events [and] we Although each gymnast performs her stand out the most.” had a lot of freshmen hit the high scores routine alone, she is nevertheless encour… but Sara Schupp and Alicia Bair both aged by the support of her teammates.

Melanie Dilliplane got 9.8s, so that was huge for us on The Red’s strong team dynamic has vault.” helped motivate each of its members to While the record-breaking score marked a strong perform to the best of her ability. improvement for the Red, Sunday’s competition posed “We have a very cohesive team, the energy is always up,” many challenges for the team, as several top performers were Clark said. battling illnesses.

“We rely a lot on cheering for each other,” VanderPutten “We were a little under the weather so to speak … but we added. made it through and we were happy,” said head coach Paul Next up on the schedule is the Big Red Invitational, Beckwith. which will take place this Saturday at 1 p.m. The meet will The Red also counted four falls at the meet, costing the be a “Pink Meet” in support of Breast Cancer research. The squad valuable points to the total.

Red is hoping to brush up on its routines and count fewer “The team works hard every week but as the season pro- falls going forward. gresses, they get more consistent during practice which spills “Generally, I want to keep the energy up like it has been over into competition. With that said, we still have work to but also hit our routines because I know we have a lot more do as we had several mistakes and falls on Sunday,” said asso- potential and … if everyone hits their routines we can get a ciate head coach Melanie Dilliplane in an email. huge score,” VanderPutten said.

Overall though, the impressive score indicates that things See GYMNASTICS page 15 are looking up as the Red nears the halfway point of the regSun Senior Writer

RYAN LANDVATER / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Jump on it | In an away meet against Penn this past weekend, the Red posted a 190.625 overall score, its highest of the season thus far.

SQUASH

Men Drop Two Tough Matches; Women Soundly Defeat Green

By JOEL COOPER Sun Staff Writer

Cornell’s men’s and women’s squash teams both faced tough competition playing on the road against Harvard and Dartmouth. The men’s team (5-6, 0-3 Ivy League) lost to Harvard, 7-2, and Dartmouth, 5-4, on the following day, dropping both of the weekend matchups. The women’s team (8-3, 3-2 Ivy League) also lost to Harvard, 9-0, but bounced back strong by defeating Dartmouth, 8-1.

After a difficult game for the women against No. 3 Harvard, Cornell got off to a flying start against Dartmouth, sweeping the first two rotations while building an insurmountable lead.

The Red got on the scoreboard when freshman Charlotte Knaggs won her game in three straight sets. Sophomore Rachel Scherman and freshman Emma Uible also picked up victories to round off the first rotation.

During the second rotation, Cornell continued in the same dominant fashion.

Senior Lindsay Seginson and freshman Michèle Garceau each won their matches while junior Reut Odinak came back from a two sets deficit to win in five, keeping Cornell’s perfect record entering the final rotation.

Senior Danielle Letourneau and freshman Margaux Losty won in straight sets during the last rotation. Senior Rachel Au faced an intense five-set battle, but dropped the match for the Red. Cornell’s success against Dartmouth was

down to the team’s confidence, despite a hard loss against Harvard, according to Letourneau, who is also a sports writer for The Sun. “Going into our Dartmouth match, everyone was feeling confident and went into their games knowing that they could win,” Letourneau said.

“While Dartmouth put up some resistance, we were able to control the rallies and play more offensively than we were able to against Harvard.

Our team has been really optimistic and motivated this entire season and that mindset carried through to this weekend.”

The final scoreline against Harvard did not reflect the true nature of the loss, though.

“Even though we lost, I was really impressed with the team’s per-

LOWELL GEORGE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Off the walls | Senior Rachel Au went five back-andforth sets but ended up falling to her Dartmouth opponent.

See SQUASH page 15

BRIAN STERN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Parting the waters | The men’s swimming and diving team defeated Brown on Saturday, capturing its first above .500 record since 2010.

SWIMMING & DIVING

C.U.Closes Season With Eyes on Ivy Championship

By JOHN MCGRORTY Sun Staff Writer

The Cornell men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Providence, Rhode Island, this past weekend to compete in their final regular season meet against Brown. The men (5-4, 3-4 Ivy League) had a successful meet and left Providence with a 188-112 victory over the Bears. On the women’s side (5-4, 3-4), in a fastpaced and competitive meet, the Red lost a heart breaker to Brown, 158-142.

According to senior Thomas Hallowell, the competition was an important end-point for a successful regular season.

“The Brown meet was a huge success and a great opportunity for us to generate momentum at the end of the season. It capped off a huge season for us,” he said.

Senior Timothy Satterthwaite noted that the victory over Brown was especially satisfying considering the history between the two teams.

“We were worried that it was going to be closer than it was, but with some huge swims from our guys that were rested we ended up really putting the hammer down on them,” he said. “[It was an] absolutely phenomenal way to end the regular season and my dual meet career. We’ve had some See SWIMMING & DIVING page 15