INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 128, No. 119
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012 ! ITHACA, NEW YORK
Faculty Tenure Rates at Ivy League Universities
News Soup and Hope
At a recent talk, an undocumented student described the issues she faced as a college student due to her status. | Page 3
Opinion School’s Out for Summer
Jacob Kose ’13 argues that prestigious internships are not the only option for students during summer break.
Science Cornell horticulturists have developed a new purple strawberry called “Purple Wonder.” | Page 10
By MICHAEL LINHORST
Arts The Sun reviews the popular Ultra Music Festival held in Miami over spring break. | Page 13
Sports Bicycle Tour
Doug Miller ’12 plans to travel by bike from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. | Page 20
Weather Cloudy Day HIGH: 57 LOW: 32
ricular need, but they do not have the training, the scholarship, the experience of full-time tenured professors,” Siliciano said. Because the University tends to grant tenure to its more experienced faculty members, the percentage of tenured faculty will be higher as faculty remain at Cornell longer, according to Prof. Ron Ehrenberg, industrial and labor relations. “Increasingly, faculty are staying beyond the formal retirement ages of 65 to 70,” Ehrenberg said. “When you have an older faculty, they will disproportionately have tenure.” Provost Kent Fuchs said that Cornell’s tenure rate is one of the highest among its peer institutions in part because of problems it has with hiring adjunct and visit-
Victims of sexual assault could have an easier time proving their accusations if the University Assembly approves changes to campus policy next week. But opponents of the changes say that stu- “Law professors dents accused of assault — who face expulsion from are in agreement the University — would that [this lose critical rights and safeproposal] is guards if the U.A.’s resolufundamentally tion is approved. The debate about how unfair.” to protect victims’ rights Prof. Kevin without creating a system Clermont that unfairly treats the accused has been raging at Cornell for a year. With the U.A.’s vote next week, the discussion may finally reach a conclusion. The proposed changes, which were endorsed by a U.A. committee in February after extensive debate, would lower the standard of proof required in sexual assault accusations. They would also move the process for adjudicating the regulations out of the Campus Code of Conduct and into the system that is already used for
See TENURE page 4
See ASSAULT page 5
C.U.Leans on Tenured Profs
Other Ivy League schools employ higher rates of adjuncts By CAROLINE FLAX Sun Staff Writer
Electric Feel
Rights Advocates Spar Over Policy On Sexual Assault Sun Senior Writer
| Page 9
The Color Purple
20 Pages – Free
Cornell has the second highest percentage of tenured faculty in the Ivy League, according to an April 2011 survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education. University administrators say that this trend is not only due to the increasing average age of faculty, but is also a result of the University’s difficulties in hiring adjunct professors, who are paid per course taught and usually work parttime. According to Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs John Siliciano ’75, adjunct professors generally teach more specific courses that focus on the “nuts and bolts” of a certain discipline. “[Adjunct faculty are] used here, and everywhere else, to fill very specific cur-
Skorton Responds Johnson School Debates Merits of Grade Disclosure Policy To Affirmative Action Supreme Court Case By SARAH MEYERS
Sun Staff Writer
By SUN STAFF
About a month after a Feb. 21 decision by the United States Supreme Court to hear a case on affirmative action in higher education, President David Skorton sat down with The Sun on Thursday to discuss the potential impact of the case on the University, especially with regard to his newly-released diversity initiatives. THE SUN: Is there a fear that the initiative that you are putting forward is going to be dismantled by the court decision? How will the University going to approach that decision as it comes? DAVID SKORTON: I am completely committed to increasing the compositional diversity of the campus –– both students and employees –– and completely committed to improving the climate on campus, so that when we have changes in compositional diversity, people stay here and can succeed here. It’s my job, and the job of my team, and the job of the General Counsel, to help us understand how to do that within the law, within regulations, but to nonetheless do it. Because I am See SKORTON page 6
Although many highly ranked MBA programs in the U.S. have adopted policies of not releasing students’ grades to potential employers, the Johnson School of Business has maintained its policy of disclosing grades to those who ask. A task force comprised of students and faculty recommended last semester that the school continue disclosing letter grades, but many are still debating the potential impact on students’ job prospects. Grade non-disclosure policies in MBA programs, such as the one at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, have grown in popularity over the last several years. The Johnson School, however, assigns students letter grades and discloses these grades to employers. The task force spent nearly a year examining the effects of grade non-disclosure policies. Before coming to its decision, it spoke with alumni, students and representatives from companies that typically hire
a large number of Johnson graduates each year. Johnson School Student Council President José Gaztambide grad questioned the administration’s policy on grade disclosure, saying that poor grades are not always a reflection of a lack of effort on the part of students. He noted that it can be difficult to bal-
ance academics with job searches. “The second half of first semester is when the more difficult core classes start, networking really picks up and recruiters start coming to campus,” Gaztambide said. Richa Sood grad said that some students feel that the academic pressure that results
from grade disclosure can decrease the quality of the Johnson School experience. “[Grade disclosure] takes away from getting to know your classmates and getting to know what’s going on in the business world,” she said. The Johnson School canSee JOHNSON page 4
TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Hard at work | Johnson School students mingle in the atrium of Sage Hall. Students expressed varying opinions about the school’s decision to continue its grade disclosure policy.
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Today
DAYBOOK
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Weird News
Daybook
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
of the Week
Today Strategies for Designing and Evaluating Research Assignments 3 - 4:15 p.m., 525 ILR Conference Center Notness and Being: A Reading of Pierre Bergounioux’s ‘La Casse’ 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., A.D. White House The Role of Collegial Sharing and Conflict Resolution In the Practice of Science 4:40 - 6 p.m., 120 Physical Sciences Building American Higher Education in Transition Lecture 5 p.m., G01 Uris Hall
Tomorrow
Iowan Urinated On Co-Workers’ Chairs
Motorist Dressed As Batman Escapes Ticket
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An information technology worker accused of urinating on colleagues’ chairs at an office in Iowa has surrendered to police. The Des Moines Register reports that 59-year-old Raymond Foley turned himself in Saturday to face a charge of second-degree criminal mischief. Police say some co-workers had complained about stains on their chairs. A security system was installed, and police say it caught Foley in the act. Police documents say Foley looked up employee photos in the agency database and then would go into the office during off hours and urinate on their chairs. The chair damage was estimated at $4,500.
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — Police in Maryland pulled over a motorist dressed as Batman, but the caped crusader escaped without a ticket. Authorities pulled over the driver of a black Lamborghini with Batman logo tags last week in Silver Spring outside Washington. The driver was dressed as the Dark Knight — cape, mask and all. Police, however, weren’t impressed and wanted to talk to him about his superhero logo license plate, which isn’t an approved plate in the state. The driver, who goes by Lenny B. Robinson when not dressed as a superhero to visit sick children at hospitals, was able to show them a proper license plate for the car. A video of the stop shows police officers shaking the driver’s hand and taking pictures of him with his ride.
Men Arrested For Having Backseat Calf
Greeks Go Green Clothing Swap 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Art Gallery, Willard Straight Accumulating Insecurity: Violence and Dispossession in the Making of Everyday Life Noon - 1 p.m., 160 Mann Library
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico authorities have arrested three men found with a 220-pound calf in the backseat of their car. The Carlsbad Current Argus reports that the men are accused of cattle rustling. They were jailed on charges of suspicion of larceny of livestock, conspiracy, lack of a bill of sale and exporting livestock. Luna County sheriff’s office says a deputy pulled over their Honda Civic on Friday and saw the animal sharing the backseat with one of the alleged thieves. They are being held at the county’s detention center.
Russian Presidential Election Roundtable 3 p.m., 401 Physical Sciences Building Spring Awakening Presented by Melodramatics Theatre Company 8 - 10:30 p.m., Risley Theatre
KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — Police say a Chevy pickup truck previously stolen in nearby Richland ran into a ditch and drove through some logs and lawns before hitting a home Wednesday. City spokesperson Mike Blatman tells the Tri-City Herald the arrested man said he was eating a croissant and reading a text message when he lost control of the truck.
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Professor Silvio Ferrari University of Milan The Law of God and the Rights of Man. Law, Religions and the Public Space Lecture 1: “Religion in the Western Legal Tradition: An Historical Perspective” Monday, April 2, 2012, 4:30 p.m., Lewis Auditorium, G76 Goldwin Smith Hall Lecture 2: “Law and Religions: Patterns” Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 4:30 p.m., Lewis Auditorium, G76 Goldwin Smith Hall Lecture 3: “Law and Religions: Problems” Thursday, April 5, 2012 4:30 p.m. Lewis Auditorium, G76 Goldwin Smith Hall The Public is Invited
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 3
NEWS
Werth’13 Presents Goals at Conference By WESLEY ROGERS
Sun Contributor
JIM WILSON / THE NEW YORK TIMES
I have a dream | Supporters of the DREAM Act — a pending bill to help undocumented students gain residency — hold a rally outside a Republican presidential debate, in Mesa, Ariz., in February.
Undocumented Student Describes Struggles By LAUREN AVERY
because although there are many struggling undocumented students, the speaker was overcoming these obstacles on her way to becoming a citizen. For undocumented students at Cornell, obtaining finan“The alumna added at the end of her speech that, cial aid and finding employment after graduation can be although her story is unique, there are thousands of other nearly impossible. Still, Cornell United Religious Work students in the same conflicting situation,” she said in an sought to help these students find strength and inspiration email. “Her story did have a happy ending in the sense that through their struggles Thursday in the final talk of their she will be earning legal permanent residency soon.” “Soup and Hope” series. Perez added that the Soup and Hope talk provided The series brought speakers connected to Cornell to Cornell students and staff with perspective on an issue that campus to discuss various obstacles they faced in their time is unfamiliar to many. at the University. At “I feel that the majority Thursday’s event, a Cornell “The majority of Cornellians don’t really have of Cornellians don’t really alumna, who requested to have a grasp of what undocremain anonymous, spoke a grasp of what undocumented means.” umented means or what the about her experiences as an legality is between a student Jessica Perez ’13 undocumented student. that’s here with papers and a For the speaker, her student that’s here without undocumented status has posed challenges while at Cornell papers,” she said. “It was refreshing to see people come out and after graduating. to the event.” “What [being undocumented] meant for her as a student Meyerhoff added that she hopes hearing about how an was that she could not get financial aid because you have to undocumented student overcame some of her obstacles be a citizen in order to do that,” said Leslie Meyerhoff, inspired other students to persevere through struggles in Ph.D., interim associate director of CURW and one of the their own lives. program’s coordinators. “It has been difficult for her to find Adrian Palma ’13 said that many students at Cornell, work as a graduate for the same reason. If you don’t have a including a group he is part of called the DREAM Team, are social security number, that really limits you in your ability trying to raise awareness about a group of students that is to do anything.” often hidden or overlooked. Meyerhoff said the speaker also addressed many of the “It’s something a lot of people don’t really know about, so emotional issues that undocumented students face. we’re trying to inform people that these students are here “Our speaker’s story was very personal and moving, and and their struggles are real,” he said. many people were brought to tears as she described the hardLauren Avery can be reached ships her family has experienced,” Meyerhoff said. Jessica Perez ’13 said she felt that the talk was inspiring at lea39@cornell.edu. Sun Contributor
Parlez-vous francais?
GINA HONG / SUN CONTRIBUTOR
Speaking at the Law School on Monday, François Delattre, France’s ambassador to the U.S., gives a lecture on the future of diplomacy between France and the U.S.
Alexis Werth ’13 was one of 15 Cornellians who presented a plan to address a particular challenge at the Clinton Global Initiative University from Friday to Sunday at George Washington University. Founded by former President Bill Clinton, the CGIU is a “university version” of the original Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference in which world leaders come together to discuss solutions to global problems, Werth said. During the CGIU, “students, national youth organizations, topic experts and celebrities discuss solutions to pressing global issues,” according to its website. Werth’s described her pledge to connect the Cornell Farmworker Program — for which Werth interned last summer — with other organizations in order to unionize farm workers in New York State and to achieve the program’s agenda of passing legislation to improve conditions for farm workers, she said. The CFP aims to address “the needs of farm workers and their families through research, education and extension,” said Mary Jo Dudley ’90, director of the CFP. According to Dudley, student interns with the CFP, including Werth, conduct research through interviews with farm workers about where they are from, how they like their jobs and their visions for the future. The program uses the research to develop educational workshops for farm workers. Marisa Smith ’13, president of the Immigrant Farmworker Initiative — a student service group connected with the CFP — also interned with the CFP last summer. Smith said that CFP interns conduct research in many areas, such as fair trade, that affect farm workers. During the school year, volunteers for the initiative visit farms around Ithaca to tutor farm workers learning English. Werth, who volunteers for the initiative, said she helps the workers learn grammar, vocabulary and even banking. Smith said that although the volunteers want to help teach English, the main focus of the initiative is to help people who are isolated. According to Werth, many farm workers never leave their farms for fear of deportation, as immigration authorities have been known to show up even at church services. Werth said that this isolation contributes to widespread depression among the farm worker population. Smith said that she has been tutoring the same child since freshman year. She said he eventually told her about his past: His father was deported when he was 15, and now he and his brother are working alone in the U.S. She added that the program gave her an appreciation for the struggles of people outside the Cornell community. “Even if it’s just two hours a week, [it] makes you realize how much of a bubble [Cornell] is,” Smith said. “Prelims don’t seem as important.” More than 800 people from 80 countries and 300 universities attended this year’s CGIU, according to Werth. Speakers at the conference included Clinton, comedian Jon Stewart and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Werth and the other Cornell students attended workshops on how to become more effective leaders and how to move the goals of their organizations forward. They also heard speeches from world and business leaders, as well as a performance by Usher, Werth said. Werth said the issue of conditions for immigrant farm workers “is not a federal issue, but a state-bystate issue.” She added that depending on state immigration laws and how they are enforced, trying to make national alliances between local organizations can prove difficult. She said that it was difficult to find other groups with whom to connect because the CFP is a unique entity and was the only group at the CGIU conference that represented farm workers. However, Werth said she learned to connect with other groups — such as those representing sustainability issues, general farming issues and other immigration issues — over common concerns. Werth said that the conference left an impression on her. “Your soul just feels better after this conference,” she said. Wesley Rogers can be reached at wsr35@cornell.edu.
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
NEWS
Admins: Full-Time Faculty Better for Univ. Johnson Students Debate Merits of Grade Disclosure TENURE
said that student graduation rates are lower when there is a higher percentage of parting professors to supplement time faculty. He said the prethe University’s full-time faccise cause of this phenomeulty. Fuchs cites Ithaca’s rural non is unclear. location as a potential deter“Undergraduate students rent for adjuncts. benefit from having a faculty “It is true that Cornell has that is largely full-time,” fewer adjunct or visEhrenberg said. iting faculty,” Fuchs “I actually like the fact that almost all of “There is somesaid. “The reason for thing that fullour faculty are full-time ... It is creating ... that is … we don’t time tenure and live in a big, urban turmoil on more urban college campuses tenure-track faculenvironment.” ty do that is very Ehrenberg noted where there are a lot of adjunct faculty.” helpful to stuthat Ithaca lacks the Prof. Adam Smith dents.” opportunities availSiliciano able in major cities. echoed Ehrenberg, “In Ithaca, Cornell is the “I actually like the fact saying that although adjunct only game in town,” that almost all of our faculty professors are effective in Ehrenberg said. teaching specific practical are full-time,” Fuchs said. Lack of transportation Prof. Adam Smith, courses to “fit curricular access to Ithaca could also be anthropology, added that need,” the University’s focus a problem, he added. universities with a large should be on maintaining its “For people who are in number of adjunct professors full-time faculty. fields where they would like tend to experience conflict as “If anything, the concern to go back and forth to differ- a result. you have is when too much ent places … or for people “It’s a good thing for teaching is going on by who want to live in a rural Cornell, I think, that it has adjuncts,” Siliciano said. community but who would low levels of adjunct faculty “They do very well in the like access to big-city cultural because it is creating consid- targeted area [for which] life … it’s very difficult to get erable amount of distress and they are hired, but if it is a to any place from Ithaca,” turmoil on more urban col- kind of thing that should be Ehrenberg said. lege campuses where there are taught by a tenured faculty Fuchs noted that the chal- a lot of adjunct faculty,” member, that’s what you lenges faced by Cornell in Smith said. “[Hiring adjunct want to see.” hiring adjunct professors can professors is] a way of garnerlimit the University’s ability ing teaching without the unito expand the breadth of versity making a commitment courses offered to students. to the faculty member.” Caroline Flax can be reached at One disadvantage of havFurthermore, Ehrenberg cflax@cornellsun.com. Continued from page 1
ing fewer adjunct professors “is that we can’t leverage expertise that is outside of the faculty,” Fuchs said. Despite these difficulties, administrators said a high number of tenure and tenuretrack faculty ultimately benefit the University.
JOHNSON
Continued from page 1
recruiters are the school’s most important customer. It also lets [them] know that you’ve spent time on your classes.” Gaztambide said that Wharton received negative feedback from recruiters after adopting a grade non-disclosure policy because employers felt that these students were less prepared than students who had previously received letter grades in business school. However, he added that although a non-disclosure policy was not adopted, the committee is considering other policy changes to reduce students’ stress levels. “Even though Johnson and the Student Council have recommended keeping grade disclosure, the task force has recommended making grade changes, such as eliminating
not legally disclose students’ grades to potential employers without their permission. Still, because the school has not adopted a widespread nondisclosure policy like many comparable business schools, students who choose not to disclose grades can find themselves at a disadvantage compared to their peers, Gaztambide said. He said that although other universities may not disclose grades, some students, especially those with strong GPAs, still choose to disclose them to potential employers. “The guy with the 3.8 GPA is going to let the recruiter know it,” he said. However, some administrators and students praised the merits of “Recruiters are asking for [grade the grade dis- disclosure]. It makes their job closure poli- a whole lot easier.” cy. P r o f . Jose Gaztambide grad D o u g Stayman, marketing, and associate dean for MBA pro- the A+ and returning to a 4.0 grams, cited a study conducted scale, and making professors by two professors in the aware of recruiting events so Wharton School that linked that large assignments can be grade disclosure policies to scheduled around them,” “more learning and more Gaztambide said. studying.” He said that the However, Stayman said that Johnson’s current policy has the decision to disclose grades allowed the school to place was not made before extensive many of its best students in consideration. prominent jobs. “It’s important to say that “It’s the best policy for the it’s not an obvious issue,” majority of students,” Stayman Stayman said. “It involves said. “Many students need to trade-offs. We spend a lot of demonstrate good grades to time thinking about these employers, especially employers issues and trying to strike a balin investment banking or con- ance.” sulting.” Gaztambide agreed. Gaztambide echoed this sen“It’s a complicated issue,” timent. Gaztambide said. “There’s no “My preference is for grade easy choice.” disclosure,” he said. “Recruiters are asking for it. It makes their Sarah Meyers can be reached at job a whole lot easier, and smeyers@cornellsun.com.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 5
NEWS
Sexual Assault Policy Changes ‘Fundamentally Unfair,’ Prof Says ASSAULT
Continued from page 1
faculty and staff accused of assault. That existing system, known as Policy 6.4, calls for an investigator to gather the facts relating to the accusation, decide whether the alleged assault occurred and then recommend corrective actions. That process is markedly different from the one currently in place for accusations against students. The existing system, under the Code of Conduct, includes a variety of protections for the accused — protections modeled after the criminal justice system — that Policy 6.4 does not incorporate. Among them is the use of the University Hearing Board, which hears arguments by the opposing sides and then makes a decision. The UHB is composed of members of the Cornell community, including students, who have received special training in order to receive their positions on the board. Under the Code, both sides of the dispute can also bring in outside lawyers to help argue their cases. The proposed changes are promoted by victim advocates, who say the new system would create a fairer process and better protect students who have been sexually assaulted. Policy 6.4, which was adopted in July 1996, “has provided a fair, effective and prompt process for both parties,” Nelson Roth, deputy University counsel, said in a letter to the U.A. Eva Drago ’12, who is on the board of the Women’s Resource Center, told The Sun last semester that she would support a process that prevents sexual assault victims from having to detail their experiences to fellow students — who currently sit on the UHB — and that will limit the role of lawyers, who can currently cross-examine
victims when the cases are presented. Both of those changes would take place if the process were moved to Policy 6.4. Still, the proposal faces opposition. “The consequences for someone expelled for sexual assault are enormous and will follow him throughout his life, leading to rejection by other schools, inability to qualify for the bar and a great deal of stigma,” Prof. Cynthia Bowman, law, said in a statement to the U.A. “To impose those consequences on someone requires a rigorous standard of proof and many due process protections to ensure fairness.” “Indeed, there is general agreement among faculty at the Law School that the procedures being proposed are Orwellian,” she added. Prof. Kevin Clermont, law, who serves on the U.A.’s Codes and Judicial Committee and has been a vocal opponent of proposals to lower the burden of proof in sexual assault cases, said he agrees with Bowman’s sentiment. “Not all would characterize the procedure as Orwellian; some have used instead the term Kafkaesque,” he said. “Across the political spectrum, law professors are in agreement that such an administrative procedure is fundamentally unfair.” Matt Campbell law, who is also on the CJC, argued that the move to Policy 6.4 “should be rejected full stop.” He wrote to the U.A. that accepting the proposal would result in “removing all safeguards provided by the Campus Code (including lowering the burden of proof ) and divorcing students from the process of making future modifications regarding this issue.” Ahead of the U.A.’s meeting — which is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon — the assembly’s chair, Melissa Lukasiewicz ’14, will hold a question and answer session on
the proposed changes. The session will take place on Monday at 2:30 p.m. in B16 Day Hall, Lukasiewicz said. The debate over how to respond to sexual assault accusations has grown out of a temporary amendment to the Code of Conduct — which will remain in effect until a new resolution is passed — that was hurriedly approved last spring to ensure the University stayed in compliance with new U.S. Department of Education directives. An office within the Department of Education issued a letter last April to schools and universities that, Cornell administrators argued, required the University to make immediate changes to its process for dealing with sexual assault accusations in order to remain in compliance with Title IX — a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in educational programs funded by the federal government. If Cornell did not make the changes quickly, the administrators said, the University would be “out of compliance” and could be sanctioned by the Education Department. However, in her letter to the U.A., Bowman wrote that the Education Department’s directive “is not an administrative regulation, has not been subjected to notice and comment, and thus does not have the status of law.” In deciding how to respond to the department’s letter, Bowman said: “The University should focus on precisely what its goal should be. Is it merely to conform in order to eliminate any possibility of losing federal funds? Although even a private university receiving federal funds is subject to this sanction, it has, in fact, never been applied. Is it to reduce any possibility of legal liability on the part of the University?
Or is it to produce a campus free of sexual violence? Taking sexual harassment and sexual offenses out of the Code will not accomplish either of these last two goals.” But Roth, the deputy University counsel, disagreed with Bowman’s reading of the letter. He said that the Department of Education had made it clear that a system, such as Cornell’s, that does not give equal rights to the victim and the accused is not fair and equitable. The temporary amendment that resulted from the government’s letter lowered the burden of proof required in sexual assault cases, making it easier for a student to win a case against another student. It also gave the accuser the same rights as the accused student to appeal the decision. The amendment led to a burden of proof in sexual assault cases that is lower than the burden required for other offenses in the Code of Conduct. The disparity created the philosophical question of whether it made sense to have different burdens of proof for different accusations within the same Code, and it created the practical question of how a case should be decided if a student was accused of both sexual assault and another offense. “I don’t think that it will work to keep it the way it is now,” Judicial Administrator Mary Beth Grant J.D. ’88, told The Sun in November, referring to the differing standards of proof in the Code. That concern is part of the motivation behind the resolution on which the U.A. will vote next week. If the assembly approves the proposal, it will be sent to President David Skorton for his signature. Michael Linhorst can be reached at mlinhorst@cornellsun.com.
6 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
We’ve been reporting the news to curious minds for more than 131 years. Sports
NEWS
eC Th
e¬ D or n
Skorton Talks Diversity, Undocumented Students
Sun aily
SKORTON
Continued from page 1
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
and the job of my team, and the job of the General Counsel, to help us understand how to do that within the law, within regulations, but to nonetheless do it. Because I am totally convinced, the reason I’m doing this is not to hit some number, not to have a quota of any kind, but because I believe in the depths of my being that the more diverse the campus, the better we’re going to be, the more excellent we’re going to be. How do you make it a better place? Well, we make it possible for students to look forward. We make sure that there is support for students once they get in here so they can get out the other side of it, we hire the right kind of people to interact with the students, and so on and so forth. But one of the ways I think is that we make the nature of the place, both students and faculty, as much like the world as possible, especially because Cornell is so reflective of the world; it’s an international university … I believe that to make it all it can be, to use a cliché, I think it should be diverse in gender, race, international background, a lot of different dimensions. I am, of course, concerned that we do things that are legal, but I think the spirit of what I’m talking about is what we need to achieve and we’ll find a way to do that. THE SUN: Do you consider the court’s consideration of a case like that concerning? D.S.: It is concerning. I’m the furthest thing from a legal scholar that you will ever meet, but it’s always of interest and potentially of concern when the Supreme Court looks at something that could potentially radically affect the way we do things. We have to find a way to continue the forward motion that follows our aspiration, and the ethos of Cornell, without going counter to the law. At the end of the day, we want to make sure that there is an accused and an accuser, find a way to be within the administrative rules of this case and have it meet the spirit of what we
want to do at Cornell. THE SUN: Also, on the topic of University initiatives, one thing we’ve heard about and we wanted to ask you about is the degree to which gay and lesbian professor hires will be prioritized. Is that a benchmark the University is looking to meet? Are they considered part of the diversity hires for professors? D.S.: The diversity initiative identifies a broad range of areas in which we want to be non-discriminatory — [to] not cause someone harm in terms of the system because they are a underrepresented woman, minority, [of ] different sexual orientation, [have a] disability –– the wide range of things that we talk about. But that’s not enough, right? That’s just sort of the floor for our aspirations, beyond do no harm. THE SUN: Related to that are the undocumented students that are at Cornell. One person has already come out and said he was undocumented and raised money to finance the rest of his college education, and we were wondering what the University’s policy is on members of the administration helping out these undocumented students once they know that they are undocumented. D.S.: More than one student has come to me already in private ... I did ask the Provost and the Vice Provost to do a study to find out –– since we don’t know how many students there are and we never know exactly what the number are, and I don’t blame people for not coming forward –– what it would take financially to be able to do financial aid help for undocumented students who also have need. And those things might or might not be linked. My understanding is the Provost is working with them right now on the draft report on what they came up with, working with the people who work in financial aid, people who work in admissions, of how we might support them. The Cornell Daily Sun can be reached at news@cornellsun.com.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 7
NEWS BRIEFS
Romney Takes Maryland, Looks to Sweep Three Primaries
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Mitt Romney tightened his grip on the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night, winning the Maryland primary in a rout and bidding for victories in Wisconsin and Washington, D.C., with time left over to swap charges with President Barack Obama. The Maryland victory enabled Romney to pad his already-wide delegate lead over Republican rival Rick Santorum, who is coming under growing pressure to abandon his own candidacy in the name of party unity. Initial returns from Maryland showed Romney gaining 50 percent of the vote, compared with 30 percent for Santorum, 10 percent for Newt Gingrich and 8 percent for Ron Paul. There were 95 Republican National Convention delegates at stake for the day, including 42 in Wisconsin, the only one of the three contests that a fading Santorum seriously contested. Romney won at least 28 delegates in Maryland, with nine more yet to be allocated. That gave him 600 of the 1,144 needed to clinch the nomination and on a pace to do so before the end of the primary season in June. Santorum had 273 delegates, Gingrich 135 and Paul 50. Interviews with voters leaving Republican polling places in Maryland and Wisconsin showed an electorate more concerned with a candidate’s ability to ability to defeat Obama than with the strength of his conservatism, his moral character or his stand on the issues. Similar soundings in earlier states have consistently worked to Romney’s advantage. Voters in both states were less apt to be born again or evangelical Christians than in most previous contests — 34 percent in Wisconsin and 32 percent in Maryland. Based on earlier contests, that, too, suggested an advantage for Romney.
Woman, 80, Lands Plane On Low Fuel; Husband Dies MILWAUKEE (AP) — An 80-year-old woman with little flying experience knew her husband had died after he fell unconscious at the controls of a small plane, yet she remained calm as she landed the aircraft at a northeastern Wisconsin airport, her son said Tuesday. In a phone interview with The Associated Press, James Collins said he’s also a pilot and had helped his mother Helen Collins via radio as the Cessna twin-engine plane began running out of gas Monday evening. Another pilot also took to the skies to guide her to the ground at Cherryland Airport, near Sturgeon Bay — about 150 miles north of Milwaukee. He said his mother took lessons to take off and land about 30 years ago at her husband’s urging, in case something happened to him, but never got her license. She has flown hundreds of hours by his side.
Higher education
JIM WILSON / THE NEW YORK TIMES
Drug Enforcement Administration agents remove garbage bags full of marijuana and other evidence after a raid on Oaksterdam University, a medical marijuana training school. Federal prosecutors in California have been working to shut down medical marijuana facilities for months.
School Shooter Upset Over Expulsion OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — One Goh’s life was on the skids even before he became the suspect in the nation’s biggest mass school shooting since Virginia Tech. He was chased by creditors. He grieved the death of his brother. In January, he was expelled from Oikos University, a small Christian school where he studied nursing. And, police say, he was angry. Goh, who was born in South Korea, told them he felt disrespected by teasing about his poor English skills at the Oakland school — a college founded as a safe place where Korean immigrants could adjust to a new country and build new careers. So, he bought a gun and a few weeks later took his revenge, opening fire at the college on Monday in a rampage that left six students and a receptionist dead and wounded three more, authorities said. “It’s very, very sad,” police Chief Howard Jordan said. “We have seven people who didn’t deserve to die and three others wounded because someone
who couldn’t deal with the pressures of life.” Police have released little background information about Goh, other than to say he had become a U.S. citizen. A nursing professor who taught him said Goh would often tell a story about beating someone up who tried to mug him in San Francisco. Romie John Delariman said Goh would say that he picked fights at a park when he was bored. “Sometimes he would brag that he was capable of hurting people,” Delariman told The Associated Press. “He said he was too old to go school with all the young people, and he said all his classmates were mean to him.” Delariman said Goh suddenly stopped attending his classes in October, after being a regular participant in twice-weekly clinical courses. Since his arrest at a supermarket near the school soon after the shooting, the details of his life that have emerged suggest a man struggling to deal with personal and family difficulties over the past ten years.
OPINION
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Letters
Why entrepreneurship isn’t everything
Independent Since 1880 130TH EDITORIAL BOARD
To the Editor:
JUAN FORRER ’13 Editor in Chief
HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13
JEFF STEIN ’13
Business Manager
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JAMES CRITELLI ’13
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BRYAN CHAN ’15
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REBECCA HARRIS ’14
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HALEY VELASCO ’15
NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR ’13
AMANDA STEFANIK ’13
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SYDNEY RAMSDEN ’14
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Senior Editor
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ELIZABETH PROEHL ’13
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Senior Editor
Re: “Unlearning School” Opinion, April 2 In the recent article “Unlearning School,” Harry DiFrancesco makes yet another impassioned argument for being more of a go-getting, Zuckerberg-worshipping entrepreneur who reads Steve Jobs' biography in between starting a string of successful companies. OK, no, he doesn’t. Not really. However, there is some truth in my implied criticism, since what DiFrancesco does do is equate “intrinsically motivated” with “entrepreneurial,” something that seems to happen all the time. Our culture seems totally ga-ga over these entrepreneurs, like Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook; Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft; and Steve Jobs, all-powerful demigod. And I do agree that they deserve respect, since they did do amazing things and they each have more money than the entirety of my family, and probably the entirety of your family, has, put together. Now lets talk about what they didn’t do, taking Steve Jobs as an example. Steve Jobs wasn’t an “inventor,” per se. He took a bunch of stuff other people had already made, worked with someone who knows way more about computers than he did and made products that are sleek, shiny and easy to use. And before a bunch of design school folk knock my door down, I’d like to say that that’s great. We need people like that, since I don’t really want to get a degree in electrical engineering to operate my toaster. But we also need people like Dennis Ritchie, who was not an entrepreneur, founded no companies, died the same month that Steve Jobs, praised-be-his-name, did and got zilch recognition outside the weekly operating-systems-geek lunch in Upson. But without Ritchie, Jobs couldn’t have done jack-diddly. Ritchie helped to invent the C programming language and the UNIX operating system, upon which all of Apple’s accomplishments, all of Microsoft's accomplishments and in fact every computer ever depends. Without Ritchie, there are no modern computers. Without Jobs, we spend more time staring at the Blue Screen of Death. The point of this seemingly-endless tirade is this: Enough with the entrepreneurial crap. I would totally agree with everything DiFrancesco said in his article if he had only gotten rid of that over-used word, since all he was really saying was, “Hey, let’s do stuff because it’s cool, not because of a prelim.” I’m just not sure why “intrinsically motivated” needs to automatically translate to “found a startup.”
Senior Editor
Andrew Hoelscher grad
WORKING ON TODAY ’S SUN DESIGN DESKER PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKER SCIENCE EDITOR NEWS NIGHT EDITORS
Joonsuk Lee ’12 Elizabeth Sowers ’15 Shailee Shah ’14 Emily Burke ’12 Katharine Close ’14 Rebecca Harris ’14 Lauren A. Ritter ’13 Haley Velasco ’15 Zachary Zahos ’15 Nicholas St. Fleur ’13 Caroline Flax ’15 Sylvia Rusnak ’15
Editorial
Improving Labor Standards
LAST WEEK, PRESIDENT DAVID SKORTON sent a letter to the Fair Labor Association requesting that it make a series of changes to the way it enforces fair labor standards around the world. We support the administration’s decision to challenge the FLA to live up to the spirit of its mission. The FLA is an independent agency that brings corporations, colleges and civil society organizations together to regulate and monitor labor conditions in factories around the world. President Skorton asked the FLA to change its code of conduct to require companies to offer severance compensation for workers at factories that unexpectedly shut down; to change its voting structure in order to prevent companies from vetoing actions that could negatively affect their suppliers; and to begin conducting interviews with factory workers at offsite locations protecting them from workplace pressures. We commend the University for leveraging its power in the FLA on behalf of working people around the world, as all three of Skorton’s requests would surely improve factory working conditions. President Skorton has given the FLA until the end of April to respond to his letter. He did not stipulate any explicit ramifications for the FLA if actions are not taken to adequately respond to the concerns he raised. While there are voices on campus calling for immediate withdrawal from the FLA if substantive changes are not made, we caution the administration to think carefully before disaffiliation. If Cornell leaves the FLA, it should only do so because the University’s presence in the Association can no longer effect any positive change. A stinging public rebuke of the FLA might feel like the correct decision to make, but if it means giving up opportunities to improve the system, such a decision would prove to be a mistake. The FLA is far from a perfect institution, but it does have a track record of enabling positive change in factory supply chains around the world. After an FLA investigation, a factory manufacturing Apple products was found to be violating FLA standards. Foxconn, the factory, quickly moved to rectify the situation with their workers — a result that labor activists largely commended. Cases like this lead us to disagree with those who call for complete disaffiliation from the FLA. Cornell should not yet withdraw from the FLA, as Cornell still has the potential to induce positive change. We hope that Cornell’s efforts ultimately yield positive results and drive the Association to do all it can to improve the lives of working people around the world.
Kony 2012: a global health perspective To the Editor: Re: “#Stop Phony” Arts, March 14 Kony 2012 hit everyone’s facebook, twitter and email inbox several weeks ago. The mass-(social)media bombardment ignited a debate over the 30 minute video that continues even now. Racking up one hundred million views in 10 days, Kony 2012 was a clear demonstration of how emotional investment can create an engaging media campaign — and put a relatively unknown (by popular standards) African warlord on the front page of The New York Times in four days. In the campaign to call attention to Kony, the film also called attention to itself and Invisible Children, the underlying charity. The criticism has been pointed: e.g. Kony is not in Uganda (appearing for all of 30 seconds in the video), the international community has never really been “soft” or “apathetic” regarding Kony (mostly it was just Westerners being uninformed). Of course, these facts were the most inconvenient for telling a story and raising awareness. Two-thirds of the way into the video, the objectives (and assumptions) of this “social experiment” are unveiled: President Obama’s interest and military participation is the result of a small amount of Americans lobbying for the arrest of Joseph Kony. Therefore, if American interest wanes, the President might undo this placement of troops in Central Africa. The call for action is thus simple: Share, Sign Up, Donate (or the bad guy might come back!). The criticisms levied at Invisible Children have been no less alarming: they have strong ties to anti-gay groups, extremely poor financial controls and questionable financial practices, and they have grossly oversimplified a (literally) life-or-death issue. The cynical might see these criticisms as sour grapes by other charities or, as a founding member of the World Bank once famously quipped: “No one guards their piece of mindshare more than humanitarians.” Nonetheless, the larger criticism of Invisible Children within the Global Health community remains: Exaggeration of the scale of the current Kony problem aside, they are using social media to stir up awareness but not necessarily action. While it is unlikely Invisible Children will truly augment policy-making or “affect the course of human history” with a viral video, there are still lessons from Kony 2012. All those criticisms of the inaccuracies in the video are raising further awareness of Kony — if the debate becomes one of degree (i.e. “just how bad is Kony” and “how many troops does he really have”) rather than an existential one ( “Kony who? Is that a food?”), then by that measure the video will have succeeded beyond any expectation. As a result, we are better informed as a society. As an attempt to inspire millions to discuss an issue that had for so long remained beyond the scope of western news, the film is truly a success. It inspires average Americans to believe that we are all connected to each other and that we can truly bring about change to better humanity. And if people take issue with the video, they can just as easily speak to correct it — as Supreme Court Justice Breyer once remarked, “The remedy for such a situation is not less speech, it is more speech.” To the readers we ask: Had you been asked who Joseph Kony was before March 5th, would you have been able to say yes? Stephen Allegra ’13 Sean Donegan ’12 Seth Hoffman ’12 Lauren Webster ’12
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 3, 2012 9
OPINION
Do You Know What You Did Last Summer? S
ummer internships can be joyous validations of your brilliance or lock you in a mailroom, with or without a coffee machine, salary and a company login that thinks your name is “intern.” They can get your foot in the door and make way for the rest of you, or stub all five of your toes. This coming summer will guarantee some of Cornell’s best and brightest jobs straight out of college, and take a big fat dump on others. As of this morning I’ve applied for somewhere between five and 10 summer jobs — I can’t exactly remember because the makeup I’ve applied and reapplied to my résumé and cover letters is running into my eyes. Some of my friends have been applying and interviewing for finance jobs continuously for the last two and a half months — that’s the length of whatever job they’ll get. Two of my roommates are struggling to live in New York City this summer with enough money to buy a PBR or two once every seven Happy Hours. For some, there must be another option. If you don’t need to work this summer — financially or to fill an existential void — and you have enough money to travel anywhere you haven’t been, go. But if you don’t go, here’s an idea: Stay here, in Ithaca. With 2012 summer credits at a cool rate of $1105 per, I’m not sure the the subject of Monday’s bulk email — “Enroll now in Summer Session and save 100 dollars” — does the trick. If I told you a country zydeco band, bluesy Brazilian Carnival, and New York’s premier gypsy swing band will be performing for free in the second week of July, that might raise mild interest. Even catchy slogans for on-campus attractions like “Cornell Cinema: Playing The Artist straight through finals week with the occasional break for Princess Bride, so you know we’re legit” don’t tip the scales. Whether you’re going to be a rising freshman, sophomore, junior or senior next Fall, there’s a decent chance
C
you could be getting more out of college. Whether you didn’t hit it off with dormmates as a lower-classmen, chose the wrong major, regret pledging or not pledging a fraternity or sorority or just have too much work to do anything else, Cornell — college — is only four years of your life. There are numerous ways to change your Cornell life during the semester — from joining new clubs, service organizations and courses to picking up a new instrument or exercise routine — but coming back semester after semester can be stagnating. Imagine at some point this month you realize you’re not going to get that job. Or you get it but, now that you’ve proven to yourself a company like that wants you, the thrill is gone and you can do it next summer. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out who you are at Cornell when you’re not partying during O-week and Senior Week, studying all semester and having slumber parties in libraries during study weeks? So your friends all have somewhere to be. Remember Freshman year, when you figured out how to make friends again? Remember you’ll have life after college, when you’ll be doing more of that? It’s cool at some point in between to check in with your life and ask, “What am I looking for in people?” Or even, “What am I looking for in and out of myself?” But what do all of us look for in places? Sure, going to someplace exotic is aesthetically pleasing and hearing a rockin’ concert is sonically invigorating, but if we’ve learned anything from home-cooked meals, places are only as good as the memories they create and unlock.
Imagine sitting down to tea later in life and untangling the four years college happened to you then looking back at the summer you happened to school — corny words like “closure” and “empowerment” come to mind in a good way. Certainly there are memorable courses Cornell only offers over the summer, but I’m not here to sell you on an Animation Workshop, Summer Drawing or Intro to Painting, Pculpture or Digital Media. I wouldn’t guilt you
Jacob Kose Scrambled Eggs into Winemaking Basics for Home Winemakers just like I wouldn’t guilt you into Nutrition for Sport & Exercise, Genius and Madness in Literature and Relativity, Cosmology and Black Holes. But if you’re around and PEless like me, you might try a cocktail of Introduction to Swing Dance and Equitation. Swing dancing with horses is said to be dangerous, so just take both courses separately. I’m a rising senior, and if I end up here — which I’d like to — I hope to see some of you around, figuring out all that it is you’ve come back to figure out. Jacob Kose is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at jkose@cornellsun.com. Scrambled Eggs appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
The Risks of the JOBS Act
ornell’s Entrepreneurial community has been thriving; between talks of an impending co-working space in the works, the tech campus extravaganza and Entrepreneurship@Cornell’s Celebration events, the future startup CEOs of the Ithaca community are seeing opportunities that haven’t existed before. And now, a new bill might add to the excitement surrounding the Cornell community. President Obama is expected to sign the
ously stipulated 500, without going public. The bill also states that companies can solicit for investors, something that they were not previously allowed to do — and something that may compromise the information they disseminate to individuals who might invest. And perhaps the most disputed consequence of the bill allows unaccredited investors to contribute up to $10,000 or 10 percent of their annual income to startups as angel investments. But what does this mean? Is it a good
Ali Hamed Guest Room JOBS act, a bill that would seriously loosen up regulation for startups, SME’s (Small to Medium sized Enterprises) and companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue. Some of the stipulations in the bill allow companies earning under $1 billion to IPO without completely complying with SEC mandates for five years. Furthermore, it allows companies to raise capital from up to 1,000 investors, rather than the previ-
thing or bad thing? Well for job growth it makes sense — it allows companies to raise capital more easily and helps make America a more attractive place to start a company. While corporate tax rates are still far too high, it is now a place where starting a company is becoming a matter of finding enough individuals who are willing to invest a few thousand dollars in an entrepreneur who they think might
become the next Dell, Zuckerberg or Gates. It also makes it easier for companies to go public, something that has been advocated for years. It is a bit unreasonable that companies with a $2 billion market cap have had to follow the same laws as those with a market cap over $400 billion. But this is also a scary law, one that leaves uneducated investors incredibly vulnerable, especially those whom are excited to invest in startups. Why might a startup turn to crowdfunding (raising money from a bunch of unaccredited investors rather than one or two venture capitalists)? Is it because that startup wasn’t successful in raising money from an established firm? Was it because that startup simply couldn’t convince a group of professionals with ample industry experience that its business model would eventually lead to scalable profitability? Possibly, and even likely. The best startups, the next Zuckerbergs, would not turn to crowdfunding because it makes more sense to raise money from a venture capitalist or an established angel. Not all investments are equal, and with an investment, a venture capitalist also brings experience, connections and strong advice. A crowdfunding model doesn’t provide that. Further, it is always harder to deal with a large number of investors than it is with a small group who also sits on the board.
This means that most startups that do turn to crowdfunding will do so as a last resort, meaning they will likely have questionable track records. These new, unaccredited investors, excited to have the opportunity to now invest, won’t get access to the best deals — these small investments, despite being under $10,000, might really become a waste of money temporarily paying the salaries of unproven entrepreneurs. The JOBS act is going to create jobs — it will also have its success stories. In all likelihood a new company will eventually IPO or make a strong exit as a result of raising capital from a new, alternative route. In fact, many startups who have raised seed funding are having a much harder time raising a series A round, and these will be the companies in the best position to find a new means of raising capital. But for every success story there will likely be pitfalls and major losses incurred by inexperienced investors who will ultimately feel used. The JOBS act — while interesting and exciting — is also scary.
Ali Hamed is a sophomore in the college of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He may be reached at abh68@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears periodically this semester.
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10 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
SCIENCE
Horticulture
Plant Biology
Agricultural Sciences
‘Purple Wonder’: Small, Dark and Delicious Cornell horticulturalists create a new purple strawberry
By SARAH COHEN Sun Staff Writer
Cornell’s newest variety of strawberry, “Purple Wonder,” offers a color not found in any grocery store. Created by Prof. Courtney Weber, horticulture, Purple Wonder is darker than the typical strawberry, and, according to Weber, boasts a sweeter taste than its bright red cousins. “The color comes with a very good flavor. Dark-colored strawberry varieties are not unknown, but often varieties that get dark have a poor flavor as they ripen. But this one seems to get sweeter the riper it gets,” Weber said. The “purple” strawberry is noit an artificial color. “The color is not purple like Barney purple—it’s more a deep red wine or burgundy color. The juice is also wine colored,” Weber said. Compared to a store-bought red strawberry, Purple Wonder contains higher amounts of antioxidants and higher amounts of anthocyanin, the pigment that gives strawberries their color. Anthocyanin is also the same pigment that gives blood oranges and raspberries a red color. “Besides the color and more intense flavor, it’s not really different from a normal strawberry,” Weber said. Weber and other Cornell horticulturalists created Purple Wonder using traditional plant breeding methods. They made hybrid seeds by taking pollen from one strawberry vine, putting it onto the flower of another vine, and collecting the seeds. The seeds are grown as individual plants to help researchers find new varieties. With hundreds of options to choose from, the scientists evaluated the plants and the fruit throughly and made selections based on their characteristics. Most
of the new types of berries never make it through the successive selections to become new varieties. “Purple Wonder was selected for its quality fruit; when it was selected, it probably wasn’t selected for its dark color because the color comes on later in the ripening process,” Weber said. “The fruit caught my eye. I tasted it. It tasted good.” After the initial selection, the plants go through more plantings and selections. According to Weber, Purple Wonder was initially selected in 1999, but it, like most strawberry varieties, took over 10 years of evaluation and analysis to become commercially viable. In the second round of selections, the plant was evaluated based on disease resistance, health, fruit quality and taste, and several other factors. “Over the years we weed out things that we don’t feel meet the standards that we are looking for,” Weber said. Each new variety of strawberry plant is first produced through cross-pollination to create genetic variation. After the first evaluation, horticulturists clone the selected plants from their runners, also called stolons—horizontal stems that form new plants identical to the original. Purple Wonder underwent through two such plantings, each of which took three years. three-year long cloned plantings. Each of the plantings occurred on successively larger plots. According to Weber, the final phase is a tissue culture of the plant that tests the new variety for disease and other viral contamination. “We want to ensure that the plants we produce for testing off of our station, at a grower or a nursery, do not contaminate outside fields,” he said. After these three phases of selection and evaluation, a berry is ready for distribution outside of Cornell. W. Atlee Burpee & Co., a seed compa-
COURTESY OF PROF. COURTNEY WEBER
Berry basket | Purple Wonder is not currently available in grocery stores.
COURTESY OF PROF. COURTNEY WEBER
Berry picking | The dark color of Purple Wonder comes through the ripening process.
COURTESY OF PROF. COURTNEY WEBER
Wonder berry | Purple Wonder is Cornell’s new darker, sweeter variety of strawberry. ny that sells to home-growers, contacted Weber looking for a new plant that would interest their customers. Weber suggested Purple Wonder. “Home-growers and hobbyists are often much more adventuresome when it comes to new and different varieties. They are interested in things that are different from what they can buy in the supermarket,” Weber said. Burpee Seeds introduced the plant at the Philadelphia International Flower Show this past March. According to Weber, the plants are successful having already sold out on the company’s website. “This strawberry is unusual because of its nature; we didn’t find a lot commercial interest from strawberry producers who produce for the market because it’s not a traditional color. Everyone has an idea of what they think a strawberry should look like and usually that’s red,” Weber said. Most growers, he explained, are unsure if anyone will buy the unusually colored strawberry. Some growers, however, are very interested in the purple berry. Michigan grower A.J. MacArthur grows strawberries and also produces berries for a local winery that makes strawberry wine. “I heard about it when Purple Wonder was still just a number at a North American Strawberry Growers Association meeting; [Weber] just threw that one in there on a whim; he didn’t even have any pictures for it. He just mentioned it casually, and it caught my attention because of the color,” MacArthur said. Strawberry wine has a reputation for not retaining its color well because it oxidizes and turns brown, Weber said. The larger amount of pigment in Purple
Wonder should impede browning. “I talked to [the winery] in early January and although they haven’t bottled it yet, they are very excited about the color of the wine,” MacArthur said. Because Purple Wonder is now being sold as mainly a potted plant, and not on a commercial scale, MacArthur is unable to get enough plants to expand his cultivation of Purple Wonder. “Until we get more plants, we are just sitting here,” MacArthur said. Weber told his brother and sister-inlaw, who also grow berries, about the new strawberry. As berry farmers in Illinois, the pair decided to plant Purple Wonder at their farm which sells at a local farmers’ market and allows the public to pick their own berries. “For us, when we tell people who want to come out and pick that we have a purple strawberry variety, that really gets their interest because it’s very unique. We are the only ones in Illinois that we are aware of that have any Purple Wonder, so that really draws their interest. Most people that come out specifically ask about our purple strawberry,” he said. Currently, there are some plots of Purple Wonder in the fields at Cornell. If the plants survive this spring’s erratic weather without freezing, the purple strawberries will be available for two to three weeks come June, Weber said. And although they will not be sold at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market, there will be an open house that month to introduce Purple Wonder to the public. Sarah Cohen can be reached at scohen@cornellsun.com.
COURTESY OF PROF. COURTNEY WEBER
Purple pile | Purple Wonder strawberries are darker than red Jewel strawberries.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 11
SCIENCE
Prof. Adrienne Roeder Studies Link Between Plant Cell Division and Identity By AARON WALLACE Sun Contributor
Prof. Adrienne Roeder, plant biology, is new to Cornell. She is continuing her postdoctoral work researching the role of cell division in the development of plant tissues. Roeder works in both the Department of Plant Biology and the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology. “My position at Cornell is perfect. I am in the plant biology department, but, being part of the Weill Institute, I have access to the whole range of biology,” Roeder said. She studies the role that cell growth and division play in the diversity of cell size in the Arabidopsis sepal. Arabidopsis is a flowering plant and its sepal the green tissue located on the outside of the plant that surrounds and protects the flower. A major part of Roeder’s research also involves imaging and computer modeling. Roeder dissected young sepals and, after letting them regrow, captured images of the pattern changes within the
COURTESY PROF. ADRIENNE ROEDER
Plant prof. | Prof. Adrienne Roeder studies sepal patterns.
organ. She observed the diversity in cell size, or patterns, of giant cells interspersed between smaller cells, which resulted from the timing of cell division. To further examine the sepal cell patterns, Roeder created a computer model that replicated growth in the sepal. “At some fundamental level, we don’t understand how cells grow and divide to make a plant organ,” she said. “We usually think of a cell first adopting an identity and then altering its division pattern based on that identity. What I am really excited about is that my recent research implies that the reverse is also true. The way a cell divides can affect its identity, ” Roeder said. Her research questions whether or not a cell knows if it will be a giant cell or a small cell before it divides. According to Roeder, her work will allow biologists to further delve and understand the relationship between cell division and cell identity. Roeder has a history of laying the foundation for other researchers. During her graduate study, she identified a gene in Arabidopsis that resulted in the particular shape of the seedpod. Since then, different research groups have identified the same gene in rice and in canola. According to Roeder, her research on Arabidopsis could be related to and used in other areas of plant biology. Before coming to Ithaca, Roeder worked with the Expanding Horizons program, which helps introduce innercity middle school girls to science through hands-on demonstrations. For example, Roeder showed the girls how to isolate DNA from cauliflower using a blender. After isolating the DNA, she explained to the girls DNA’s role in all living organisms and how to translate DNA into amino acid sequences. Her lesson conclude with an explanation as to how changes in the DNA sequence led to an inactivation of a protein, which produced large heads of the cauliflower. Another goal of the program was to show the girls examples of women leadership in science. “With no background in science, it’s really difficult to know what it is like,” Roeder said. She said that the program was very successful and she is currently looking to continue her teaching young girls about science here in Ithaca. Aaron Wallace can be reached at aw98@cornell.edu.
COURTESY PROF. ADRIENNE ROEDER
Plant patterns | Top: a close up of the Arabidopsis growing tip. Bottom left: the Arabidopsis flower that Roeder studies. Bottom right: scanning electron micrograph of an Arabidopsis sepal.
C.U. Researchers Help Produce Maple Syrup By ELLIS CARPENTER Sun Contributor
High fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, cane sugar, stevia, aspartame, agave nectar—the list goes on. As the shelves of Whole Foods fill with more obscure sweetener products, the public has overlooked a natural sweetener growing in its own backyard: maple syrup. With the help of Cornell scientists and farmers maple syrup is poised to make a comeback in markets. According to Mike Farrell, director of a Cornell run sugar maple research center called Uihlein Forest, Cornell research has helped double maple syrup production in the past 10 years. In addition to research done on campus, Cornell runs two research sites: the Uihlein Forest located in the Lake Placid Region, and Arnot Forest, which is 45 minutes south of Ithaca. Prof. Bryan Chabot, ecology and evolutionary biology, does research on how to improve sap collection technology and understand maple flavors. According to him, Cornell has made recent discoveries that have helped improved syrup yields. University researchers discovered that by limiting bacterial growth in the tap and tubing they could improve the life of the tap and increase its output, he said. This technique requires a certain finesse to work properly because bacteria also has a beneficial function, giving the sap flavor and color. Collected in a sterile environment, the sap produces a finished product that is a colorless, tasteless syrup. “We have an interesting situation where flavor compounds require some bacteria to develop, but we don’t want too much of this because they will consume the sugar and decrease the life of the tap hole,” he said. Because many people often consider maple syrup a specialty product they are often times unwilling to pay extra for it when they can use its lower priced imitation counterparts for their pancakes and waffles. But
according to Farrell, if more people knew the differences between pure and artificial syrups they would be more willing to use the natural syrup on their breakfasts. “Most people don’t realize the differences between pure and artificial maple syrup,” said Farrell. Pure maple syrup is harvested from maple trees through a process called tapping. When spring weather creates a freezing and thawing effect inside the tree, the sap is natu-
rally pressurized. The tapping process includes drilling a hole in the tree and attaching a collection device below the hole. What first comes out of the tree, is a colorless, slightly sweet sap. After collection, the sap is boiled for hours to remove the water. A gallon of the finished product requires 40 gallons of sap to reach the desired sugar content of 67 to 68 percent. After undergoing these steps the sap is transformed into a syrup that
COURTESY OF PROF. BRYAN CHABOT
Syrup shelves | Cornell produces maple syrup in the Arnot Forest and Lake Placid Region.
COURTESY OF MIKE FARRELL
Tree tap | Maple trees can be tapped to produce sap used for maple syrup.
can be served on top of pancakes. The artificial syrup bought in the store does not come out of a tree, but rather it is typically high fructose corn syrup artificially modified to resemble something like the real thing. High fructose corn syrup is found throughout the American diet even though discoveries have linked its consumption to numerous diseases. “All the research that has come out has shown that maple syrup is one of the healthiest if not the healthiest sweetener on the market” said Farrell. According to Farrell, that difference surprises some, “and once they learned the difference they are usually [maple syrup] customers for life.” In addition to Cornell research, other factors have helped increase North American maple syrup production. According to Farrell, a seminal event in the recent history of maple syrup occurred in 2008, when conditions in Canada lead to a supply shortage. Canadian production dwarfs that of the U.S., Farrell said. “Quebec controls the maple market, they produce about 80 percent of the syrup.” But when drought interfered with collection in Canada and reserve supplies were exhausted, demand outpaced supply and prices of what little syrup was left rose. After the weather returned to normal, prices stayed high and began attracting new entrants to the market. According to Chabot, who also lectures on the history of maple syrup, Northeastern Native Americans were the first to tap for maple syrup. They later introduced the techniques to colonists, this was their own source of sugar in the new world. Leading up to the revolutionary war, once trade was established and imported sugar could be obtained, its use was encouraged to boycott British taxes on imported sugar like molasses. With the assistance of researchers like Chabot and Farrell, the historic product of the Northeast is staging a comeback. Ellis Carpenter can be reached at ewc42@cornellsun.com.
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12 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Synesthetic Daniel Knox BY SAM MARTINEZ Sun Staff Writer
The Sun interviews singer-songwriter Daniel Knox and previews his upcoming Castaways show. “Synesthesia: a neurological phenomenon during which one sensory experience, by means of one pathway, triggers an involuntary experience in another sensory pathway.” Daniel Knox has a knack for making sight and sound a package deal. His voice pencils a screen with black and white. Disdain saturates the flickering quality of the screenshot of a man in a ballroom crooning fervently to his piano. Lament and melancholy have been assigned a place in the color spectrum: the blacks and whites of piano keys that could not release the dark treasures of their viscerals before have now been emancipated by the touch of a man. Only a synesthete could bring vengeance so dulcetly to view. Can something haunt you to life? I’d like to make a case for Knox’s featured single “Ghostsong,” off his recently released album Evryman for Himself. The track seems to echo its own raw pain without needing the assistance of concrete walls housing this organ for sentiment. No coaxing or cajoling. No semantics. Evryman for Himself is not begging to be deeply examined to come to some inspiring, naive conclusion. It does not provide some ad hoc argument for the need for optimism. It is brazen and forward in its starkly nude display of vengeance and other uncomfortable emotions — admittedly an acquired taste, or
wanting for a few listens, but never wanting for candor. Though “Ghostsong” does a fantastic job of shadowing one’s thoughts for days after hearing it, some of the album’s other songs have more of a vaudevillian, satirical feel to them, like “I Make Enemies,” which reminds us “everybody’s got a little shit to throw.” Or
“(hold) hands across the other songs” in the album. “What I would hope ... is [the songs] would be able to give justification to some of the more unpleasant things in life … discomfort, disgust,” Knox told The Sun. Milan Kundera commented on the detriment of being constantly seen by another; COURTESY OF JOHN ATWOOD
consider “The Debt Collector,” a song that cannot be described as anything but sinister in its engagement with a sick upbeat tempo as it tells of a begrudged curmudgeon who always collects what he is due. The album closes with “Armageddonsong:” three minutes and 38 seconds of laughter and mockery of the tragedy in routine and quotidian life — a cynical, yet cheerful 1920s-inspired ode to the miseries and mediocrities that make life a daily Armageddon. “Ghostsong” and “Armageddonsong” are Knox’s personal favorites, as they reflect different techniques in his music and if having the desired effect,
once we know we are being watched, our actions lose their sincerity. Knox unknowingly plays tribute to Kundera in more ways than one. In addition to pirouetting in the heaviness of emotions deemed “ugly” by the ubiquitous “They,” Knox seems, ironically, naively lost when keeping the audience in mind. In fact, he is quite the self-proclaimed introvert. “I don’t really think of my audience until I am sitting in front of them, which is kind of a daunting thing sometimes … but [music] is not a conversation to me until that happens.” Daniel Knox’s private introspection (bar-
ring the music the public is privileged with) is rivaled only by his synesthesia. He sees music in film. Knox grew up in Springfield, IL, making films in his backyard (which he assures us he took very seriously) with his friends. He later studied film after moving to Chicago. “I’m not really a people person ... cooperative nature is off-putting to me,” he said. Knox taught himself to play the piano by sneaking into the ballrooms of various Chicago hotels — I think it’s safe to say he did a bang up job. “I still felt like I was making and writing films as I was writing songs. I still think of it visually … there’s never some kind of experience I have with someone that becomes a song. It’s: you hear a short phrase and write it down and somewhere down the road it helps you imagine something and that part that has to do with you is more of an afterthought.” The delicious paradox of Daniel Knox lies in his effortless and demure dexterity when it comes to delivering bitch-slapping truths. He seems an anomaly perfectly content sitting unnoticed in the corner, simply transcribing mental frescoes into pigments of sounds that stain the ear with morsels of truth. He bellows ugly realities that have lingered expectantly, waiting for someone to recognize them in their grotesque pertinence and austere humanity. He is not concerned with impressing others, but impresses nonetheless. Catch Daniel Knox as he makes his debut at Castaways, Thursday, April 5. Sam Martinez is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at smartinez@cornellsun.com.
Growing Up Absurd COURTESY OF JSL FILMS
When Paul Goodman published Growing Up Absurd in 1960, the United States was tumbling face-first into an era of social unrest and political upheaval. Today, in the midst of Occupy, the Trayvon Martin protests and the fight for marriage equality, it’s a historical moment that rings familiar. Jonathan Lee’s 2011 film Paul Goodman Changed My Life would have us believe that as the idyllic fifties crumbled to chaotic dust, Growing Up Absurd elevated Goodman to a position from which he could lead a generation through a decade of tumult and change. While Lee’s image of Goodman comes off as more than a tad romanticized, the film nevertheless presents a compelling portrait of an oft-overlooked man and his work. A queer intellectual, adamant pacifist and prominent social activist, Paul Goodman was the unabashed poster child for liberalism in the 50s and 60s. And yet his name has since faded into obscurity, overshadowed by the likes of John Lennon and Allen Ginsberg. Paul Goodman Changed My Life aims to retrieve his name from the depths of anonymity and shine a light on this thinker’s massive cultural influence. Combining footage of Goodman himself with modern day interviews and character footage of the era, Paul Goodman Changed My Life brings to life a man that stood up for his rights and his generation. The film opens with conservative television host William F. Buckley and Goodman engaged in goodnatured verbal jousting. As Buckley rattles off a list of his guest’s most “distracting” qualities — bisexuality, pacifism, anarchism — it’s hard not to be charmed by Goodman.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
With tousled hair, horn-rimmed glasses and a trademark crooked grin, he looks the part of cheeky champion of youthful struggle. Sprinkled throughout the film, clips from this interview present a stark contrast to the current political discourse. As Buckley and Goodman voice their opposing opinions, they maintain massively respectful of each other. In a decade where Jon Stewart tells Fox News to “shut the f**k up” and Rush Limbaugh calls on women to post their sex videos online, this level of civility alone surprises and engages the audience. Interviews with Goodman’s confriends and academics Cornell temporaries, prove that Lee is not alone in his Cinema hero-worship. Dissent editor Michael Walzer compares him to Socrates, while others credit him as the influence behind much of modern poetry. Yet Paul Goodman Changed My Life balances the starstruck praise with a healthy dose of reality. Goodman was a maddening iconoclast with a prickly streak and a touch of sexism. Rather than gloss over his flaws, Lee directly addresses them: incessant bitching, neglect of his children and a complete disregard for the struggles of young women. “A girl does not have to make something of herself,” he once wrote. “Her career does not have to be self-justifying. But if boys do not grow up to be men where will the women find men?” At times, Paul Goodman Changed My Life is a little heavy on the academia. It lags a bit as the talking heads begin to discuss the intricacies of Goodman’s poetry, which are rather hard to grasp when we only see a brief slice of text flash across the screen or hear a partial recitation. But Lee
Gina Cargas
more than makes up for these shortcomings during his inquiry into Goodman’s exciting and — for the wrong audience — shocking sex life. Though married with children, Goodman was openly queer and frequently picked up men for sex and company. He was among the few uncloseted public figures of the time and certainly left his mark on a lot of people. “I don’t know about his casual pickups,” admitted Judith Malina, one of Goodman’s former patients. “But I’m sure that every one of them profited from meeting a man of such depth, I’m sure that he gave every one of them, even if it was a quick blowjob, his best heart and his best ideas.” While a lot of Goodman’s political ideas resonate strongly with a contemporary audience, the film does not reference modern issues or activism. As the rest of Paul Goodman Changed My Life is both gripping and beautifully constructed, this omission is a bit of a shame. We could really do with a leader like Goodman, and Lee’s decision to exclude this connection is exasperating. Paul Goodman Changed My Life won’t, in fact, change your life, but it does paint a lasting picture of a prophetic iconoclast with no reservations. If Lee aimed to illuminate the life and work of a forgotten persona, he overwhelmingly succeeded. Despite undertones of hero-worship and a failure to connect Goodman to the modern day, Paul Goodman Changed My Life highlights an important historical and intellectual figure and is well worth the four dollars. Paul Goodman Changed My Life screens Saturday and Tuesday at Cornell Cinema. Roger Smith, official blogger for the Paul Goodman website, introduces both screenings. Gina Cargas is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at gcargas@cornellsun.com.
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Wednesday, April 4, 2012 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 13
Beautiful Inside My Head Forever
eter Blake, the artist behind the cover of the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, recently updated the iconic cover art in celebration of his 80th birthday. Alongside Blake’s friends and family were contemporary British icons like Damien Hirst. Yes, the artist who made millions immersing dead animals in tanks of formaldehyde. He is a mainstay in discussions about what exactly counts as art, considering many cannot decide whether he is a genius or a conman. Notable Hirstsian exploits: He counts on a 1,500-strong army of assistants to execute most of his work, like his interminable series of spot paintings. During the 2008 financial crisis, he broke auction records when Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, a collection of his new works, was sold at Sotheby’s in London for nearly $200 million. Just last week, Hirst’s sketch of a shark, hammered out in 30 seconds in the back of a car, fetched $7150. Some are unfazed that the hurried sketch fetched 15 times its estimated price. After all, the shark drawing involves more artistic skill than immersing a shark in a tank of formaldehyde. Besides, wasn’t Picasso also feted for his child-like drawings? Hirst isn’t exactly Picasso. By many accounts, Hirst is, at best, an average painter who is capable of executing extremely hideous paintings (which are tellingly missing from his Tate retrospective). Nonetheless, I am a fan of Damien Hirst. I like his work for the same reason I like supermarkets and certain 90s rock bands. Over winter break, I encountered a few of Hirst’s works at the White Cube booth at Singapore’s ArtStage. I don’t recall the names of the paintings. What I do remember is the expectation that I would be awed. I suppose I was starstruck. I went up to one of his butterfly paintings and paused for the longest time, soaking it all in, waiting for magic of some sort to happen. I stared at the wings of the creatures, arched and splattered with paint, and felt a surge
of unease. I wondered if the work was faintly sadistic. Then I thought that it couldn’t be because using dead butterflies in art, even if it meant tearing them apart, was not much different from taxidermy. There was also a spot painting for sale. I expected to be blown away by the price tag, and I was. I spent 10 minutes approaching and then retreating from the painting. I wanted to be struck in a profound way. Sometimes the colors swirled and glinted in different ways as I changed my orientation. But I could not judge if the work was beautiful. It was, well, ordinary. It was exactly the kind of thing I would buy from an inexpensive furniture store, the kind of print on mugs and table cloths. I was underwhelmed by Hirst’s works, at first. But that was not the strange thing about that incident. I did not grow Darn That up in Britain, and I Dream obviously had no part in the wave of Cool Britannia that saw BritPop dominate the airwaves and swept Tony Blair into power. Contemporary Asian works dominated the art fair and yet the works that spoke to me most were Hirst’s and those of his fellow Young British Artists. This is not unusual for me, since I know nothing about Asian art. I confront this whenever I go to a museum or talk about one, because I inevitably get directed to the Asian art collection once I tell the person I’m talking to where I come from.
Daveen Koh
NEW YORK TIMES
Therein lies the attraction of Hirst’s work. It is dazzling in its simplicity. You don’t need a significant amount of cultural or historical knowledge to appreciate his work in a deep way. Or maybe it’s the sleek, clean look of his serially reproduced work. It seems so predictable (well there is only so much more ostentatious you can get after making a diamond-encrusted human skull), that you just might be surprised when he does something different. It challenges and comforts at the same time. At any rate, it’s always a pleasure to read the poetic and grandiose titles he gives his work. He wisely christened the famous shark The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. Is Hirst a modern day Warhol or a conman? I’m not too bothered by that question. I’m glad that the 2012 Olympics has once again put the spotlight on Hirst since the Tate Modern has scheduled a blockbuster retrospective of Hirst’s work. Hirst’s work is ostentatious and daring, just as it is arbitrary and ordinary — these traits might just make it live forever. Daveen Koh is a sophomore in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. She can be contacted at arts-and-entertainmenteditor@cornellsun.com. Darn That Dream appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
The Mecca of Electronic Dance Music BY PETER NOBACK Sun Contributor
During one weekend every March, Downtown Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard suddenly floods with youth from all across the world, barely dressed in everything from neon colors to bathing suits to animal costumes and anything else in between. This year marked my third time retuning to Ultra Music Festival, a three-day Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festival held in Bayfront Park, Miami. Ultra has grown over the past 14 years from a small-scale festival on Miami Beach to an extravaganza attended by 60,000 people each day and over 200 artists. On the first day of the festival, I arrived at the main stage just in time to catch the start of French House producer Martin Solveig’s set. He played many of his classics, such as “Hello” and “Ready to Go.” He was a terrific act to start off the first day of Ultra, and he left me energized to head over to the UMF Korea tent to catch the 17-year-old music prodigy Madeon. Simply put, Madeon dominated his set. Best known for his remix of deadmau5’s “Raise Your Weapon,” this upand-comer truly showed that he is here to stay. Following Madeon at the Korea Tent was another fairly new artist, Porter Robinson. Porter’s main style is electro house and he stuck with the genre throughout the majority of his mixing. Established Australian house producer Dragan Roganovic, better known as Dirty South, performed after Porter. This man has had a hell of a year with his releases of “Alive” and “Walking Alone.” His performing prowess showed in his set, which climaxed with his “I Love Bullet Promises” mash-up, making the crowd lose it. After his set, I took a quick water break, returning in time to catch the end of Groove Armada’s D.J. set.
As soon as Groove Armada got off the decks, you could feel the rising energy in the crowd as everyone waited for the Swedish electro house duo that is Dada Life to perform. They started with one of their most recent releases, “Kick Out The Epic Motherf**ker,” which made the crowd go wild.
away. He opened with his single “Spaceman,” but the highlight of his set would not come until he played his “Heard You Were Walking in Paris” bootleg. Sadly at 4:25 Hardwell’s set came to an end, but Colombian-American D.J. Erick Morillo followed on the stage with a superb show. After Morillo, matchless mixer Laidback
COURTESY OF PETER NOBACK ’14
The majority of my day had been spent at the UMF Korea tent, but after seeing Dada Life perform I decided it was time to head over to the main stage not only to witness what was sure to be a spectacular light show, but also the last act, Tiësto. Although I am not the biggest fan of his productions, the man is an expert mixer. A highlight of his set was when he dropped the Axwell Mix of “In My Mind,” allowing the display of the main stage to truly come alive. I arrived at the festival grounds of Ultra around 3:30 the second day, in time to see the start of electro house producer Hardwell’s set at the main stage. This was my first times seeing Hardwell live, and I was absolutely blown
Luke came on stage. At one point Chuckie joined on to premiere their new collaboration with Martin Solveig, making the crowd go batshit crazy. After Luke ended his set, I made a quick trip over to the BAO Dome where Deniz Koyu, the producer of the well-known single “Tung,” was closing his set, and immediately returned to the main stage to witness the producers of the song “Barbara Streisand,” Duck Sauce. The duo delivered an amazing performance, all the while having a massive 20-foot-tall inflated duck behind them. Following Duck Sauce I made my way over to the Live stage to see M83 perform and then returned to the main stage to see Justice, best known for their song “D.A.N.C.E.,”
who put on a wonderful performance and commanded the attention of the crowd the entire time. Once Justice’s set had come to an end, I realized I had a spot near the front of the main stage secured, and reluctantly decided to stay to see Avicii’s set. Before he came on, clips from an interview with Avicii came on screen, followed by a surprise appearance from Madonna, whose remarks have caused quite a controversy (courtesy of Joel Zimmerman) in the EDM community. She introduced Avicii, who started with his new remix of Madonna’s “Girl Gone Wild.” It was the best part of Avicii’s set. His transitions were elementary and song selections repetitive. Despite this though, it’s very hard to not have a good time at the main stage headliner of day two, and when “Levels” came on with the a capella of “Somebody That I Used to Know,” the crowd went wild. Once Avicii concluded, the crowd made their way to the streets and into their beds, preparing for the final day of Ultra Music Festival. The third and final day of Ultra was markedly different from the first two, simply due to the weariness of the crowd, but this didn’t stop me from seeing artists such as Cazzete, Knife Party, Sander Van Doorn, Kaskade and Dash Berlin deliver incredible performances. The final day came to a close with another trance legend, Armin Van Buuren, accompanied by a spectacular light show. All in all, this year’s Ultra proved to be the best so far even with a new venue. No matter what stage you were at, you were guaranteed to experience awesome music, fantastic D.J.’s, intricate light shows and, who knows, maybe even a girl making out with a tree. Peter Noback is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at pcn33@cornell.edu.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 “Survivor” host Probst 5 Dan Patrick’s former employer 9 Treble and tenor 14 Leap on skates 15 By way of, in verse 16 “Groundhog Day” director Harold 17 *Stand to reason 20 Product design dept. 21 Lace place 22 *Show with Sharks 26 Sunset feature 27 Frigid 28 Maritime military org. 29 Liver, for one 31 Part of MoMA 32 Move like a bee 36 *Immature 40 On a clipper, say 41 “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!” video game console 42 Salk vaccine target 43 Aleppo’s land: Abbr. 44 It may precede a treaty 46 Swiss river 47 *”The Impossible Dream” musical 51 Speedily 53 __ male 54 19th-century American doctrine suggested by the phrase formed by the first words of the answers to starred clues 59 Turn __ ear 60 Place with slips and sloops 61 Juggle conflicting demands 62 Word before bad news 63 Canadian singer Murray 64 Offended
3 Chosen number? 4 Use a line, perhaps 5 Like some cuisine 6 Poor, as craftsmanship 7 Excessively proper type 8 “Kidding!” 9 Preschooler’s writing tool 10 Coating 11 Poet Dickinson 12 “Okay” 13 Army NCO 18 Subduing with a shock 19 Begins 22 “__ gonna call? Ghostbusters!” 23 Bicolor coins 24 Smooth transition 25 Go from blog to blog, say 30 Santa __ winds 31 Many craigslist postings 32 Mel’s Diner waitress 33 Purple shade 34 Former hoops star Thomas 35 Birch of “Ghost World”
37 “__ else?” 38 Soft ball 39 __ Book Club 43 Big Bird’s mammoth friend, familiarly 44 Thoreau memoir 45 Unit of current 47 Like lions and horses 48 Helvetica alternative
49 Like about half of American states’ mottos 50 “You bet!” 51 Basic 49-Down word 52 “I did it!” 55 Massage locale 56 Debtor’s letters 57 “Morning Edition” airer 58 Thus far
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
xwordeditor@aol.com
04/04/12
COMICS AND PUZZLES
Sun Sudoku
Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name. (Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki /Sudoku)
Puzzle #3
4
2
5
4 6
(c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Doonesbury
Mr. Gnu
Strings Attached
8 6
5
9
7
2
9 7
3
2
6
2 5
9 8
1
7
6
9
Circles and Stuff
DOWN 1 Binge 2 Prefix with -thermic By Julian Lim
1
C
by Robert Radigan grad
04/04/12
by Garry Trudeau
Travis Dandro
by Ali Solomon ’01
G O S O L A R !
W W W . C O R N E L L S U N . C O M
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 15
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16 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012
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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 17
Crosby Comes Up Big for Penguins
BOSTON (AP) — Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist, James Neal scored the go-ahead goal on a power play, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Boston Bruins 5-3 on Tuesday night. In Pittsburgh's first game since a late brawl Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers, Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead 7:41 in. He made it 4-2 with 1:11 left in the second period with his club's second power-play goal in 48 seconds. The Penguins lead Philadelphia — which lost 5-3 to the New York Rangers on Tuesday — by three points in the race for the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins, who clinched the Northeast Division title on Sunday night, are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Paul Martin and Arron Asham scored Pittsburgh's other goals. Benoit Pouliot, Milan Lucic and Rich Peverley scored for Boston. Against the Bruins, Crosby went back to doing what he does best — sparking the Penguins' offense. He has five goals and 17 assists in 12 games since returning from concussion-like symptoms that have limited him to 20 games this season. His first goal came when he flipped the puck over goalie Marty Turco from the left side after taking a pass from Pascal Dupuis with each team having a player in the penalty box. Martin made it 2-0 at 14:58 of the period. He shot the puck from the left and kept skating in as Turco saved it. As he was being dragged down by Johnny Boychuk, the puck deflected off Martin's glove and into the net for his second goal of the season. The goal was upheld after a video review. Pouliot cut the lead in half two minutes later with his 15th goal on a backhander from low in the right circle. Lucic tied it 18 seconds into the second period with his 25th goal. David Krejci collected a rebound just in front of the crease, and backhanded the puck to Lucic, who fired it quickly past goalie Brent Johnson. But when Daniel Paille was called for charging at 17:20, and Peverley followed him into the penalty box on a high-sticking call 9 seconds later, the Penguins had a two-man advantage. It took them just 42 seconds to break the tie on Neal's 40th goal. Crosby, standing on the goal line to the left of the net, passed into the crease where it went by Penguins forward Chris Kunitz. But Neal was right behind him to score from 10 feet. Less than a minute later, Crosby scored his seventh of the season from the lower left circle after Kris Letang sent him a pass from the right side. Asham made it 5-2 at 6:15 of the third, and Peverley scored two minutes later.
Sharks Clinch Spot In Playoffs From Stars DALLAS (AP) — Logan Couture's power-play goal put his team in front late in the second period after T.J. Galiardi got the tying goal earlier in the period, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Dallas Stars 5-2 Tuesday night in a matchup of teams fighting for one of the final Western Conference playoff spots. Antti Niemi stopped 29 shots, and Daniel Winnik, Joe Thornton and Ryane Clowe also scored for the Sharks. San Jose improved to 92 points to remain in the conference's top eight, three points better than ninth-place Dallas. Niemi denied Dallas' Jamie Benn on a breakaway with about 5:20 left to preserve his team's lead, and Thornton's 17th goal of the season with 4:50 remaining gave San Jose a two-goal pad. Brenden Morrow and Alex Goligoski had the goals for Dallas, which got 21 saves from Kari Lehtonen. Dallas is in danger of missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The Stars were returning from a 1-3-0 road trip that knocked them out of first place in the Pacific Division. Couture's 31st goal of the season came only 27 seconds after Dallas' Michael Ryder went to the penalty box for tripping. Clowe added an empty-netter with 1:04 left and San Jose improved to 8-4-1 in its last 13 games.
The Stars had assumed the top spot in the Pacific with a 10-0-1 run, but they've gone 3-7-0 since then to tumble out of the conference's top eight. Dallas built an early 8-1 shots advantage, but Winnik banked in a rebound off a sprawling Lehtonen at 12:09 of the first period to put the Sharks in front. Andrew Desjardins and Brent Burns assisted on Winnik's eighth goal of the season. Morrow got a fortunate bounce to draw his team even at 1 when he backhanded a shot from a sharp angle that glanced off Niemi's stick. The puck snuck through the goalie's pads and into the net at 17:47 of the first for Morrow's 11th of the season, assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Mark Fistric. The Stars began a 5-on-3 power play with 20 seconds left in first period, with 38 seconds of it carrying over into the second period. But Dallas was able to generate little pressure with the man advantage. Goligoski gave his team a 2-1 lead at 11:10 of the second period. Benn carried the puck behind the net and fed Goligoski, whose slap shot from center point beat a screened Niemi for Goligoski's ninth of the season. San Jose needed only 32 seconds after Goligoski's goal to pull even at 2 when Galiardi beat Lehtonen from the right of the cage for his ninth of the season.
18 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, April 4, 2012 www.cornellsun.com
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Bombsquad Continues Growth O’KASICK
Continued from page 20
ing here, but it is already paying off. We have exploded with new members. We don’t even need to advertise.” While Bombsquad regularly trains 25-30 professional and amateur fighters, the public has the opportunity to take classes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, Muay Thai kickboxing and grappling from top-notch coaches. A four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and current Bellator lightweight standout, Rene Nazare takes charge of the grappling arts and jiu-jitsu. “I haven’t seen a gym like this, even in Rio de Janeiro,” Nazare said. “The new space will help expand jiu-jitsu and MMA across New York.” Recalling Bombsquad’s Backwoods Beginnings
In 2006, Team Bombsquad made its start in an unused barn in the Village of McGraw, just outside of Cortland. The camp’s name derives from the alma mater of head manager and owner Ryan Ciotoli, who was a three-time Division III all-American wrestler for the Ithaca College Bombers. Team Bombsquad’s barngym sat in Ciotoli’s backyard; he recalls having to bring in space heaters to make the livestock shelter bearable during Central New York’s brutal winters and having to install padding over its wooden walls. It was just big enough to fit a wrestling mat and not much else. “MMA began as more of a hobby for us than anything,” Ciotoli said, since he served as the Ithaca Bombers’ assistant wrestling coach at the time of the gym’s conception. “It didn’t take too long before we started getting some fighters in the UFC and other big promotions.” Ciotoli, who entered the cage as a pro five times himself and competed in innumerable grappling tournaments, soon found six fighters as roommates. Jon Jones came to train with Team Bombsquad as a young aspiring amateur who recently dropped out of college, showing considerable promise from the start. Jones is
the current UFC lightweight champion and an international superstar. “As the UFC grew, we grew,” Ciotoli said. “We were the ones who kick-started MMA in Upstate New York.” By 2010, Ciotoli and company had outgrown the village barn and relocated to a site beside downtown Ithaca. While Jones moved onto the Tristar Gym in Montreal, and later Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, Bombsquad continued to produce a number of rock-steady mid-level fighters, who competed all over the Northeast and in some major promotions. Bombsquad also began to invite the general public to train in the gym for learning various martial arts form or just general fitness. A number of weighty challenges go along with training in a state where MMA remains unsanctioned. For Bombsquad, local fights usually mean at least eight-hour van drives and they often face hostile crowds cheering on their hometown heroes and vehemently against the New York visitors. At a fight earlier this year in Salem, N.H., Combat Zone 40, Bombsquad’s Don Carlo-Clauss TKO’d local favorite, John Ortolani. An anti-New York vibe in the crowd and post-fight trash talk led Ciotoli to cut the celebrations early. “We all know it will be sanctioned in New York eventually,” Ciotoli said. “We set the standard for MMA in Upstate, and we look forward to that day.” Scaling It Up to the Next Level
Now in the Ithaca Mall, Bombsquad’s new space with Ultimate Athletics must feel like making it to the big leagues after years of inching their way up from the minors. With 23,000 square feet, the gym holds two cages, a boxing ring, wrestling mats, plenty of bags, an ultimate fitness center and a weight training space. To go along with Rene Nazarre’s BJJ expertise, the team has hired full-time boxing coach Alex Stewart, who spent his formative pugilistic years under the tutelage of legendary heavyweight champion
Floyd Patterson; full-time Muay Thai coach Jeremy “Primo” Bellrose, who fought in the Muay Thai World Championships in Thailand for Muay Thai Team USA; and several strength and conditioning experts. Many pro-fighters also serve as part-time trainers for the general public. Ciotoli credits his business partners for helping him put a plan into place that works to bring in both pro-fighters and the general public. One of those business partners and coowners of the gym is Ciotoli’s wife Melanie — a Cornell alumna who also earned her MMH from the Johnson School of Management in 2010. As Ciotoli is now married with two kids, his days of having fighters crash on his couches have winded down, but he revels in the fact that he has helped build a team considered to be among the very best in the Northeast and a gym that welcomes all walks of life. Realizing a Window Of Opportunity
Back at the midweek sparring session, two flyweight fighters might not be punching at full strength; however, they are putting on a show. In the final 45 seconds of a round, Evan Velez launches fellow teammate Pete Cole in suplex-like slam and immediately starts his ground and pound. But Cole soon reverses Velez and lands some shots of his own. Ending up back on their feet after a scramble, both fighters trade a flurry of kicks and punches just before the bell rings. “That rocked!” yelled an onlooker. For his part, Ciotoli does not worry about the new location being a distraction for Team Bombsquad. “We can always find quiet times to train when nobody is around,” he said. “When there are groups of people sometimes watching these guys, well, hey, they’re fighters — they love it.”
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wenesday, April 4, 2012 19
Freshman Matt Donovan Wins Ivy Rookie of the Week for the Third Time For the third time this season, Cornell freshman attacker Matt Donovan was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week. He also previously was named the conference’s Rookie of the Week on March 5th and March 26th. On Saturday against Dartmouth, Donovan assisted on a career-high
three goals, leading the Red to its 75 win over the Green. He currently ranks second on the team with 21 points on 10 goals and 11 assists. The Red will welcome the Crimson to Shoellkopf this Saturday at 1 p.m. to continue Ivy play. — Compiled by Haley Velasco
OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Stellar freshman | Donovan is honored with Rookie of the Week for the third time.
After Throwing No-Hitter, Kaufmann Is Named Ivy Pitcher of the Week After throwing the baseball team’s first no-hitter in almost 32 years, sophomore Connor Kaufmann has been named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week. Kaufmann became the first Cornell athlete to win the award since senior Corey Pappel was honored in 2009. Kaufmann threw 80 pitches on Sunday to grab a 2-0 victory from Ivy foe Dartmouth, which was one of three victories that the Red picked up during the weekend. Kaufmann’s no-hitter was the first no-hitter for the Red since 1989. Kaufmann worked around two walks in the first two
innings, but nothing became of the runners — the first was doubled off on a flyout to right, then Kaufmann picked off the second in the second inning. He then retired the next 16 batters consecutively, facing the minimum 21 batters on the day while striking out four. No Dartmouth base runner was able to advance past first base throughout the entire game. Cornell was able to bump up its record to 16-5-1, going into today’s doubleheader with Canisius, before traveling to Brown and Yale this weekend. — Compiled by Haley Velasco
J.D. O’Kasick aspire to earn both a Ph.D. and a black belt one day — die trying. He is currently a grad student at Cornell. He can be contacted at jds482@cornellsun.com.
Cornell Looks to Nationals EQUESTRIAN
Continued from page 20
horses. “They’re all really, really great horses and I think we’re excited about that,” said Kowalchik. While Mitchell, as well as some of the veterans are familiar with Skidmore, the majority of the riders who will be going to Zones have never competed there before, according to Kowalchik. Freshman Georgiana de Rham is one of the riders who has never competed at Skidmore before. She will be representing the Red in intermediate fences as an individual and the intermediate flat
team rider in this weekend’s show. “I’m really looking forward to showing there because they have really nice horses and it’s a really quality program, but at that same time that can kind of psych you out,” she said. Still, de Rham is hoping that the Zones will give the squad a chance to prove itself as well as adavance to nationals. “I want to do well because I want to show them that Cornell has a strong program,” she said. Indeed, the team practices have been harder and more intense this week in order to get ready for the big day, according to junior Katie
Rong and Fink. The outcome might be uncertain, but the squad wants to ensure that it is ready for whatever challenges it may face. “There [are] so many things that we can’t control on the day of the show just because we’re dealing with animals and there is [an] unpredictable nature to that,” Kowalchik said. “I think the only thing that we can do right now is try to eliminate the number of the things that we can’t control … [we’re] trying to make sure that we worked harder than everyone else.” Ariel Cooper can be reached at acooper@cornellsun.com.
TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Breaking records| Connor Kaufmann is named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week.
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Sports
WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 2012
EQUESTRIAN
Cornell Journeys to Zone Finals By ARIEL COOPER Sun Staff Writer
This week the Cornell equestrian team heads on the road to Zone finals on its journey to nationals. Coming off of a nearly undefeated season and a strong showing at Regionals two weeks ago, the Red is ready to face its toughest challenge yet. “It’s not going to be a walk in the park, that’s for sure,” said head coach Chris Mitchell. This year, the squad is sending four riders to Saratoga Springs to compete as individuals and as the regional championship team, Cornell also qualified to send seven riders as a team. Two of the team riders senior Bronwyn Scrivens and freshman Georgiana de Rham, are also COURTESY OF KATIE FINK two of the four individual riders. Fight for finals | Senior co-captain Katie Fink will be one of the Cornell riders to According to junior co-captain Emily compete this weekend at Zone finals in the hopes of continuing the journey to nationals. Kowalchik, the team that will be competing at Zones, is almost the same squad teams. “That type of talent is there,” he before. “We have a much stronger team this that has competed at the past two said. The fact that the team for Zones has year than we did last year,” said Mitchell. Tournaments of Champions. These tournaments are invite-only competitions already experienced showing together “I think we have a very good chance of advancing.” between all of the top teams in the will also be an advantage. “I think we know [now] how best to The Red’s biggest competitor will nation, so most of the riders on the Zones team have experienced competing handle our nerves. We’ve come a long most likely be Skidmore, the host of together against high caliber teams way since the first tournament we went Saturday’s show and the favorite to win, to in September where nerves were kind according to Mitchell. However, the before. “This will be quite obviously a higher of a big issue for us — I’m not concerned squad is excited to return to the toppressure situation than we’ve been in this anymore about that for this group of notch facilities of its former rival. girls,” Kowalchik said. According to Fink, it has been two years year,” Kowalchik said. With more shows under its belt this since the team has competed at “This show determines more or less the rest of the season,” said senior co-cap- season (this is the first year that the Red Skidmore. The small Saratoga Springs has gone to all three Tournaments of college is well-known for its superior ridtain Katie Fink. Mitchell stressed the importance of Champions), the squad is a little bit ing program, and the Red is especially competing in the Tournament of more experienced this year than it was looking forward to riding its high quality Champions in order to prepare for previously. According to Fink, last year Zones, as this gives some of the riders the was the Red’s first time at Zones and the See EQUESTRIAN Page 19 chance to experience other top level team has never qualified for nationals
I
20
The Rise Of Team Bombsquad
t’s midweek and almost closing time at the Ithaca Mall. A crowd of 15 or so shoppers has gathered before a wall-sized storefront window — their eyes wide and full of wonder. Some “Ahhhss” and a “Whoa!” sound out from among them. It is nearing late March and early summerlike temperatures have blessed New York State, but what has drawn these customers to window shop inside when they should be curing cabin fever? Is it the new iPad? “Inside leg kick, Leone! Inside leg kick!” shouts a voice from inside the store. In truth, they are watching a sparring session between fighters from Team Bombsquad, which along with its parent gym Ultimate Athletics, relocated to the Ithaca Mall in January. Inside the cage, two Bellator veteran featherweights — Anthony Leone and Kenny Foster — trade leg kicks as they circle each
J.D. O’Kasick Fight Life in Ithaca other and vie to control the center of the mat. “As far as I know, nobody has a MMA gym in a mall of this size,” said Bombsquad’s head manager Ryan Ciotoli. “We took a risk in comSee O’KASICK Page 19
Miller Plans to Embark on Cross Country Cycling Trip By ROB MOORE
city to maximize the number of local charity visits over the entire trip. Donated hotel space and While many Cornell seniors high school gym floors will house will be spending their summers in Miller and his team as they pedal their first full-time jobs or relaxday in and day out. ing before graduate school So far this year, Miller has purbegins, Doug Miller ‘12 has difchased a new road bike from ferent plans. On June 3rd, Miller Glen Swan Cycles on Mt. disembarks on a zigzag journey Pleasant Road in anticipation of across the country powered by his the trip and is 250 miles into own two feet. training for the 4,000 mile ride. Miller’s bold goal is to ride his “I figured I’d be spending nine bicycle from San Francisco, Calif. weeks of my life on a bike seat, so to Washington, D.C. with 30 I should probably get a pretty other recent college graduates good bike,” said the senior. His over a period of nine longest ride thus far weeks. He is part of a is 25 miles, but group of 80 cyclists start- “I’d be spending nine weeks of Miller hopes to start ing in three different cities extending his trainparticipating in Push my life on a bike seat.” ing rides as the America’s Journey of weather improves. Hope. This year marks the Doug Miller A senior in the 25th anniversary of the department of annual charity ride. Electrical and Miller is a member of the Pi like Cliff Bar, KRG Capital, and Computer Engineering, Miller is Kappa Phi fraternity, and contin- Thule Sweden (which makes roof considering graduate school at ues the tradition of the Cornell racks) are chipping in on a larger Cornell or Carnegie Mellon after chapter which has sent at least scale to bring the total charitable the conclusion of his transcontione brother on the cross-country contribution currently above the nental bike ride. Before that trek every year since the fraterni- $600,000 mark. though, he anticipates a great ty’s reinstatement at Cornell in The cyclists’ itinerary calls for deal of adversity on his eastward 2004. biking 80 miles a day on average. ride. “It’s a trial by fire,” Miller Push America is a charity that Miller will pedal through major said of climbing the Rocky financially supports many of the cities like Denver, Chicago and Mountains, which began only a 40 million Americans living with Pittsburgh as well as smaller few hundred miles into the trip. disabilities and is run as a division towns like Empire, Colo. and “There is also a stretch where we of the Pi Kappa Phi national Dubuque, Iowa. They will spend go through Nevada and Utah, organization. While biking more than one day in each major and I’m expecting that to be pret-
Sun Senior Writer
directly across the United States takes about 30-35 days, Miller’s group will be taking extra time to stop at many of the community support organizations that the ride benefits. “We get to talk to the people we are benefiting, and by doing so they help us grow as people, which is really neat.” So far, Miller has raised over $6,000 of his $7,000 goal and has set-up a website about his journey. “Most of my donations have been from family, friends at home, and friends at Cornell.” Companies
ty hard as well because it’s mostly desert and it’s the summer.” When asked about what he is looking forward to most, the bicycling enthusiast said, “The camaraderie is going to be incredible. You eat, sleep and exercise with these same 30 people all summer. It’s not just about the time spent but also about cause.” Miller’s route serendipitously passes through his hometown of Brookfield, Wis. so he may be able to spend one night in his own bed this summer. Compare that with 63 days perched
between two 26-inch wheels. This weekend, Miller trains on the Ithaca hills inspired by the recent announcement of his cycling route and group. “I’m already friends will some of them on Facebook and we only found out what route we were doing on Sunday.” By the end of the semester, Miller plans to work his way to a 100 mile ride around Cayuga Lake to simulate a long day in the saddle. Rob Moore can be reached at rmoore@cornellsun.com.
COURTESY OF DOUG MILLER
Extreme plight | After graduation, senior Doug Miller plans to cycle across the country this summer — riding 4,000 miles over nine weeks.