04 11 17 entire issue hi res

INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 133, No. 74

TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017

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ITHACA, NEW YORK

16 Pages – Free

News

Arts

Sports

Weather

Relationship Ban?

Horror in Discourse

Momentum Swing

Rainy HIGH: 73º LOW: 48º

GPSA debates banning student-faculty relationships in fear of coercion and pressure. | Page 3

Varun Biddanda ’19 discusses the horror of America’s gun violence epidemic through art. | Page 10

After losing its first five games, men’s lacrosse has stormed back to win three of four. | Page 16

50 Years After Deadly Blaze,Questions Linger Exact cause of Residential Club fire,which claimed 9 Cornellians’ lives, still not officially determined

By MEG GORDON Sun Staff Writer

Early in the morning on April 5, 1967, eight students and one professor lost their lives in a flash fire at the Cornell Heights Residential Club.

The fire broke out shortly after 4 a.m. in the twostory building, dubbed the “Res Club” by its 71 residents: 60 freshmen, several female graduate students and three faculty advisers.

The freshmen were members in a new six-year doctorate program at Cornell at the time. Cornell had purchased the two-story cement and red-brick building in 1964 and began using it in 1966 as a residence hall for the program.

Described as “fire resistive” by John E. Burton, vice president for business, in a 1967 memorandum addressed to a Cornell provost, the building’s fire doors were propped open — allowing the fire to spread — and its six exits were not reachable.

Among the fallen were Martha Beck, 18, a sophomore in the sixyear Ph.D. program; Meimei Cheng, 22, a graduate nutritional sciences student; Peter Cooch, 19, a sophomore in the six-year Ph.D. program; Carol Lynn Kurtz, 22, a nutrition graduate student; Anne McCormic, 21, a home economics senior; Jeffrey William Smith, 17, a sophomore in the Ph.D. program; Jennie Zu-wei Sun, 21, a pre-med junior in the College of Arts and Sciences; and Johanna Christina Wallden, 25, a graduate fruit-culture student, The Sun reported at the time.

John Alban Finch, 37, an Assistant Professor of English, was also killed as he ran back into the building to pull students from the

blaze.

“We woke to the sound of running feet in our hall,” Margaret Ferguson, a student in the first group of six-year Ph.D. students, told The Sun. “We opened the door, and saw the awful smoke. We decided to use our sheets to climb out of our window. We called down the hall and several other [six-year Ph.D. students] came out through our window.”

One of the first policemen on the scene told reporters no fire was visible from the outside but “people were hanging out of all the windows,” the Nashua Telegraph reported in 1967.

The fire caused vinyl and foam rubber upholstery near the basement lounge to release toxic smoke. It then spread to wood paneling in the basement corridor and to bedrooms and the stairway near the lounge.

Firefighters and first responders reported feeling dizzy and weak from the fumes.

See FIRE page 12

LEFT: JOHN L. CECILIA / SUN FILE PHOTO; TOP: SUN ARCHIVES

Cold case | The second floor of the building did not meet the safety code, leaving five students trapped the night of the fire.

Man Accused of Commons Shooting Confesses, Police Say

By NICHOLAS BOGEL-BURROUGHS Sun City Editor

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Crime scene | The shooting occurred early on Sunday morning outside of Silky Jones.

The Ithaca man accused of shooting a Silky Jones patron on the Ithaca Commons early Sunday morning shot multiple rounds, fled the scene and ditched his jacket before confessing to police once authorities found him nearby, according to police and witness statements filed in court on Monday.

Yakez D. Cornett, 22, has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree,

all felonies. He is being held at Tompkins County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Police say Cornett used a .380 caliber, semi-automatic BERSA Firestorm handgun to shoot the victim multiple times in the leg and back area around 1:24 a.m. on Sunday morning.

In a notice of intent to use Cornett’s statements, Ithaca Police Officer Lewis Morse quoted Cornett appearing to admit to the crime about 10 minutes after the shooting occurred.

“I’m the person your (sic) looking for,” Morse said Cornett told him. “You ain’t got to look for

nobody else. I did it.”

Asked by another Ithaca Police officer where he was coming from, Cornett said “The bar,” according to another notice of intent.

In statements to police, five witnesses all said they heard or saw at least five gunshots, with one saying he heard up to nine shots.

One witness said a man wearing a gray jacket and red sweatshirt shoved him from behind outside of Silky Jones on the Commons.

The witness said the shove in his lower back “felt very aggressive, and on purpose.”

See SHOOTING page 5

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Daybook

DAYBOOK

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS

Today Characterizing and Improving Crop Stress Tolerance: Phenomics, Genomics and the Environment 12:20 - 1:10 p.m., 135 Emerson Hall “When the Past Is Not the Past: Slavery and the American Psyche” With Earl Lewis 4:30 p.m., Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall Marketing Professional Services: The Perfect Job for a Liberal Arts Degree 4:45 - 6 p.m., 365 McGraw Hall C.U. Music: Harpsichordist Matthew Hall 8 - 9:30 p.m., Barnes Hall Auditorium

Tomorrow Biology & Society and Science & Technology Studies Information Fair 9 a.m. - 3:45 p.m., 303 Morrill Hall

w w w. c

or

om

Couperin’s second book (1717) and the Pièces de clavecin, Book 1 (1702) of his musical rival, Louis Marchand.

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C.U. Music | Harpsichordist Matthew Hall will be performing in Barnes Hall, featuring the Seventh Ordre from François

Heaven, Hell and Everything In-Between: Murals of the Colonial Andes 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., 107 Olin Library

nellsu

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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 3

NEWS

C.U.Highlights Contingency Plans for Potential DACA Repeal

By ALISHA GUPTA Sun Assistant News Editor

Three Cornell administrators released a joint statement Monday, reaffirming support for undocumented students and unveiling contingency plans for potential changes in federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy.

Barbara Knuth, senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life and Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs, reassured currently enrolled undergraduate DACA students that they will “continue to be eligible for need-based financial aid, meeting full demonstrated need.”

Addressing the growing fear among undocumented students on financial aid, the administrators revealed policies that would be put in place for graduate students if DACA were discontinued. “[DACA] students will continue to receive funding for the complete length of time offered in their admissions letters,” the statement read. “If DACA were to be discontinued and graduate students were to lose federal work authorization, fellowship funding will be provided to these students.”

The administrators also reassured undocumented undergraduate students that, should the DACA program change, Cornell will implement policies to ensure they

qualify for financial aid.

“If federal policy with respect to the DACA program changes, Cornell will examine how we can develop, administer and use a DACA-like set of criteria to enable undocumented students who meet the criteria, particularly having resided in the U.S. for a significant amount of time, to qualify for domestic financial aid and admissions policies,” the statement read.

The statement also addressed concern that the Cornell University Policy Department would question students about their immigration status. The administrators assured students this would not be an issue.

“Cornell will continue to vigilantly protect the privacy of student information and records from any unauthorized or lawful intrusion,” the statement read. “CUPD will not seek immigration status information of any individual in the course of its law enforcement activities unless necessary to investigate criminal activity by that individual or required by law.”

While the administrators conceded that arrested individuals are required to reveal their citizenship to police, they affirmed Cornell’s commitment to not “function as an agent of the federal government regarding enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

“CUPD will not honor a civil immigration detainer request from a federal agent unless accompanied by a judi-

cial warrant except in the narrow circumstances delineated in Tompkins County Resolution 2017-21,” the statement read.

Immigration detainers allow local law enforcement agencies to detain individuals for an additional 48 hours so U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents can decide whether or not to take the individual into federal custody for deportation.

Cornell also highlighted services available to undocumented students, including covering the cost of the DACA application fee through a university loan.

For students who fear traveling abroad to return home due to changing federal immigration policy, Cornell will make on-campus housing options available this summer.

Cornell Law School will also be providing assistance to undocumented students.

“Cornell Law School has set up a new program to provide free legal advice to undocumented Cornell students who may wish to consult with a lawyer about the implications of national immigration policy shifts for their immigration status,” the statement read.

Law school faculty will also offer free legal assistance and represent DACA students.

Alisha Gupta can be reached at agupta@cornellsun.com.

GPSA Debates Relationship Ban Cornell Wine Tasting

By AELYA EHTASHAM Sun Staff Writer

Graduate and professional students debated Resolution 14, which called for a ban on most student and faculty relationships and enforcement of this policy, in the first Graduate and Professional Student Assembly meeting since the union election.

Anna Waymack, grad, submitted the resolution in response to both a lack of adherence to a previous policy on student and staff sexual relations and a Faculty Senate decision in 2015 to vote against enforcement of that policy.

Waymack argued that resources for a student in a relationship with a faculty member do not exist and advocated for “a viable reporting option, where a point person checks in to ensure the relationship is consensual and that the student has resources, and if the relationship isn’t disclosed, then there is enforcement for that,” she said.

According to the resolution, relationships “between students and individuals who might reasonably be expected to write them a letter of recommendation” and “who can directly control grades, academic progress or professional development” would be banned, with room for review in regards to gray areas.

In response to questions about the resolution’s necessity, Waymack said there is a concern of coercion and explained that the original policy in place is vague and does not offer a policy of “checking in with the student to

ensure that there is no pressure.”

The resolution offered statistics as evidence of such coercion, such as a 2016 study which found that “57.1% of female law students have been sexually harassed by faculty or staff.”

Further statistics and cases at peer institutions indicated that “contemporary studies showed no improvement” in matters of sexual harassment between faculty and graduate or professional students since Cornell’s Faculty Senate originally adopted a policy in 1996.

This resolution differs from a similar one made last year.

However, the resolution presented last year never made it to the floor of the Faculty Senate, according to Waymack.

Waymack said she wants to allow the Student Advocacy Committee to be able to present this new resolution to the Faculty Senate, ensuring graduate and professional students get a voice in an issue that pertains to them and the Faculty Senate does not avoid addressing the resolution indefinitely.

“There’s a bit more accountability built into this and we get to speak for ourselves,” Waymack explained.

“I am uncomfortable with the way that the Faculty Senate felt comfortable speaking our behalf,” Waymack continued. “I want to make sure GPSA is listening to our constituents and listening to the Student Assembly.”

Waymack also said that a policy regarding student and faculty relationships “should not be something where we’re behind.”

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Relationship status | Anna Waymack, grad, submitted the resolution to ban faculty-student relationships due to the lack of student resources.

“It’s a little appalling that a lot of corporate workplaces have more stringent rules about romantic and sexual relationships as they pertain to office hierarchies than academia,” she said.

In dissent to the resolution, Richard Walroth, Counsel, gave examples of faculty who are married to former students.

“This is an indication that in some cases these relationships do work out well for students,” he said. “A blanket ban seems to

“I am uncomfortable with the way that the Faculty Senate felt comfortable speaking on our behalf.”

Anna Waymack, grad ignore that fact.”

Walroth was also in agreement that “the issue here is coercion” and was concerned that “a blanket ban would just drive these issues underground.”

Manisha Munasinghe, grad, argued that changes to the policy deserved a referendum, involving a larger body of people in making the decision.

“We can’t say that we know how a graduate or a professional student feels about this.”

Munasinghe said. “We need to understand what the students want and come back with a strong policy change.”

Jesse Goldberg, grad, acknowledged how important it was that the resolution looked forward towards individuals’ professional careers.

“We should think about the ways in which our relationships follow us for years in ways that aren’t clear at the moment of a class,” he said. “While it sounds like a very strong blanket ban, I think it’s very limited.”

At the end of the discussion, Resolution 14 was recommitted to the Student Advocacy Committee and will be on the floor again at the next GPSA meeting.

Aelya Ehtasham can be reached at aehtasham@cornellsun.com.

Team Uncorks Big Win

By JENNY CHAN Sun Staff Writer

Lecturer and coach Cheryl Stanley ’00 and her Cuvee team took first place on Saturday at an international wine tasting competition, the ninth-annual Science Po International Tasting, held at the Champagne region of France.

The Cuvee team included Sarah Dewitt ’17, Warner Hazel ’17 and Mathew Guarani ’18, all students in the Cornell School of Hotel Administration.

Cornell Cuvee, Cornell’s Wine Education and Blind Tasting Society, trained hard for the competition, meeting twice a week to participate in practice exercises.

“This involves presentations so members of the different teams can become subject matter experts,” Stanley said. “We do blind tastings in practice so the students can practice and compare wines of the world in a blind tasting context.”

The members also work hard outside of practice, including attending special seminars and tastings when guest speakers

come to campus for Introduction to Wines and Beverage Management, Guarani said.

“My team members and I met a few times outside of Cuvee to divide the content and make experts in certain topics so that we weren’t all studying the same content,” Guarani said. “We also had help from other cuvee members who held blind tastings outside of cuvee to prepare for their own competitions.”

Cornell Cuvee beat out Oxford University, Agro Paris Tech, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Saint Andrews and several other teams at SPIT. “The experience was surreal,” Dewitt said. “I can’t imagine I'll do anything like it again in my life. I just feel extremely fortunate to have had this opportunity, not only to study wine and compete internationally, but also to win against the French on their home turf.”

Cornell University first competed at SPIT in 2015, finishing in ninth place.

“The experience pulls not only See WINE page 5

The Corne¬ Daily Sun INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880 Editor in Chief

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4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 5

NEWS

Ithaca Man Cornell Wine Tasting Team Beats French ‘On Their HomeTurf ’ Charged With Attempted Murder, More WINE

Continued from page 3

SHOOTING

Continued from page 1

on purpose.”

The same man had “bumped into me twice before while inside the bar,” the witness said.

“There was no interaction the first two times inside the bar, I took it as a mistake.”

The man, who the witness later identified as the same man police had in custody, then began arguing with the man who was ultimately shot, according to the witness.

“While they were arguing the male began to walk backwards while reaching under his jacket and in his hoodie,” the witness said, adding later: “The male took about four steps backwards, he pulled out a gun with his right hand.”

“The male aimed the gun down towards [the victim’s] legs.

The male then shot one round and shot [the victim] in his legs.”

The witness said he was able to identify the victim because he “will never forget” his face and because the two were wearing the same pair of shoes — white, red and black Jordan 13s.

Another witness, Luke Urbanek, said he heard loud bangs on the Commons shortly after leaving a pizza shop and, due to his service in Afghanistan, recognized them as gunshots.

Urbanek said in a statement to authorities that a police officer gave him rubber gloves and he examined the victim, drawing on traumatic medical training he had received in the military.

“I observed a gunshot wound right below [the victim’s] right shoulder on his back,” he said.

“I saw blood also on the ground.”

The victim then told Urbanek he had been shot in the right leg, the good samaritan told police.

Another witness, a dishwasher at Simeon’s, said he saw a man looking “nervous” walking out of the alley near American Craft.

“I knew it was the same male I had seen fire off the shots just a few minutes before,” the witness said. “It was odd that he was coming out of the alley behind American Craft because no one ever walks out of that alley.”

Shown an array of photos by police, the witness said he did not recognize the shooter in any of the pictures.

“Gun violence is a terrifying departure from the norm for our City,” Mayor Svante Myrick ‘09 said in a Facebook post. “I want to thank IPD and all the first responders for doing so much to return our sense of security.”

Reach Nicholas bogel-Burroughs at nbogel-burroughs@cornellsun.com.

only on basic wine knowledge of grapes but also on world geography, method of production for both still and sparkling wine, vintages and their associated climatic conditions, food and wine pairing, and worldly producers, such as Chateau d’Yquem and Chateau de Beaucastel,” Stanley said.

The first round of the competition consists of three sets of questions based on champagne, red wine and white wine.

“First, we answered written theoretical questions and questions based on four wines that are poured blind,” Dewitt said. “Scores are then calculated and the top three teams, traditionally, make it to the final round, which involves presenting two blind wines to the panel of judges. The presentation has to

include sight, smell, taste and food pairing as well as an identification of the grape varietal, producer, region and vintage.”

This year, Cornell Cuvee tied for third place and had to complete a blind taste off with Essec, where they were expected to identify grape varietal, producer, region and vintage.

“The coordinators hadn’t prepared for this, since it has never happened in SPIT history,” Dewitt explained.

Because neither team got any portion correct, both were allowed into the finals.

The final round consisted of two wines, one sparkling and one still. Teams were expected to determine what the wines were, pair them with food and present the two blind wines to a panel of judges.

Guarini was selected as Cornell’s presenter.

“His presentation was eloquent and to the

point, which the judges appreciated,” Stanley said. “With his previous studies at The Culinary Institute of America, his wine pairings showed creativity and thoughtfulness in relation to the wines.”

So far, Cuvee has competed in the qualifying round for the Left Bank Bordeaux Cup and SPIT. They will be competing at Cav’it — another Champagne competition hosted by Ruinart — and Millesime, a Swiss competition hosted by Lausanne, a hospitality school in Switzerland.

“I’m incredibly thankful to Cornell and the School of Hotel Administration for supporting Cornell Cuvee and our competing teams,” Guarani said, adding that the team’s coach serves as “a role model” for the entire team.

Jenny Chan can be reached at jc2764@cornell.edu.

OPINION

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Bhandari and Liu | Trustee Viewpoint

Independent Since 1880 135TH EDITORIAL BOARD

SOPHIA DENG ’19 Editor in Chief

DAHLIA WILSON ’19 Business Manager

JOSHUA GIRSKY ’19 Managing Editor

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Associate Editor

Advertising Manager

PRAJJALITA DEY ’18

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Web Editor

Sports Editor

LEV AKABAS ’19

CAMERON POLLACK ’18

Blogs Editor

Photography Editor

BRIAN LAPLACA ’18

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Design Editor

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Arts & Entertainment Editor

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Assistant News Editor

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WORKING ON TODAY’S SUN NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKERS PHOTO DESKER DESIGN DESKER SCIENCE DESKER NIGHT DESKER

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Letter to the Editor

Re:‘Cornell’s Strangest Tradition’ To the Editor: I was the principal Cayuga Heights Police Investigator of the tragic Cornell Residential Club fire that occurred in the Village of Cayuga Heights, on April 5, 1967, and I am one of the few living persons with direct knowledge of the original investigation.

As we approach the 50th anniversary of this tragic event, I believe it is important for me to make a statement relative to that investigation.

First, this was one of the most tragic events that I have experienced in my long law enforcement career. Although I have investigated many tragedies such as murders, fatal traffic accidents and other horrific events and crimes, the loss of nine people in this fire has often caused me to have a sleepless night.

I spent more than one year of my law enforcement career totally dedicated to the investigation of this fire. I was assisted in the investigation by numerous other competent law enforcement and fire officials including the New York State Police.

On April 19, 1967, then-Tompkins County Coroner Dr. Ralph Low issued a statement after an inquest that said: “The evidence presented at this inquest is such as to minimize the possibility of mechanical accident and makes the fire more probably the result of human carelessness or malice. I conclude at this time that the fire is of undetermined origin. I recommend that the investigation be continued by the District Attorney’s office. Although there did exist a tragic combination of physical circumstances that could have contributed to these deaths, I did not find criminal negligence.”

Unfortunately, a few weeks later two fires that occurred within the City of Ithaca were determined to be purposefully set fires and designated by the Ithaca City Police as arson.

These fires were at locations where some of the former Cornell student survivors of the Cornell Residential Club fire were living. This resulted in media stories that led some to conclude that the Cornell Residential Club fire was also an arson.

Recent allegations (The Cornell Daily Sun, February 21, 2017) by Cornell graduate William Fogle, Jr. ’70 that the Cornell Residential Club fire was an arson and the deaths should be declared murders is not supported by the facts as currently known. The facts, as I personally know them, are that nine people tragically perished from asphyxia due to toxic smoke inhalation. The ruling of the former Coroner in April 1967 “that the fire was more probably the result of human carelessness or malice” is as accurate today as it was then.

Although I am retired from active law enforcement service, it is my understanding that the investigation, while not currently active due to a lack of new information, has never been closed.

In addition, allegations by Mr. Fogle that the investigation was hampered or covered up by interference from Cornell University are blatantly untrue, and his conclusions that The Cornell Daily Sun has not responsibly reported on the matter are without merit.

Harlin R. McEwen Chief of Police (Retired), Village of Cayuga Heights, N.Y. Chief of Police (Retired), City of Ithaca, N.Y. FBI Deputy Assistant Director (Retired), Washington, D.C.

A Restoration of Faith In Shared Governance O

n April 17, Cornell will have its 14th President, Martha Pollack.

As we begin the process to welcome a new leader, it may also be an appropriate time to be thinking about our interaction with the president through shared governance at Cornell.

Shared governance is the practice of having different constituencies within the University have a role and voice in shaping the decisions that impact them.

At Cornell, shared governance translates to organizations like the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, Student Assembly, University Assembly, Faculty Senate and the undergraduate, graduate, faculty and employee trustees.

The changing hands of the presidency also coincides with the changing hands of the role of the undergraduate student trustee. This marks an important transition because student trustees, along with their faculty and employee counterparts, have the opportunity to truly voice student issues and concerns with the shared governance process. While this may be

the student-elected trustees.

In both of our experiences, shared governance has resulted in the opportunity to serve on the board, on different committees, and obtain access to administrators. In the past few months, we have seen instances that have made us question the nature of shared governance and the voice that we have in the decisions of the University.

Your voice matters. While you may not see results instantaneously, know that the work that you do makes a difference. As students, we are the ones who live the decisions of the administration. Have a say in your experience.

Our administrators and trustees care about our student experience. We have seen their tireless work to better our time here, but we also see the red tape that restricts us from making momentous change. We understand the frustration and difficulty that accompanies fighting for what we believe in when we are faced with structural challenges, but that is no reason to stop speaking up.

As we experience this shift in leader-

This marks an important transition because student trustees, along with their faculty and employee counterparts, have the opportunity to truly voice student issues and concerns with the shared governance process. While this may be a time of transition, it is important to re-establish our faith in the shared governance model and propose means to make it better. a time of transition, it is important to re-establish our faith in the shared governance model and propose means to make it better.

In a historic time such as this, we would be wise to think back to the roots of shared governance at Cornell, which dates back to the mid-1950s. Student involvement in governance was a product of the Willard Straight hall takeover of 1969. Following the takeover the Board of Trustees established the University Senate (now Student Assembly) and the Division of Campus Life. One of the other products of these protests was the creation of the role of

ship, let’s ensure that the student voice is heard. Engage with shared governance. Email representatives of your respective assembly. Keep your voice loud. Do not lose faith. A united student voice is an incredibly meaningful force in reforming Cornell. There are people who will listen and with time, your voice will have lead the change.

Yamini Bhandari ’17 is the current undergraduate student-elected trustee, having served since 2015. Dustin Liu ’19 is the undergraduate student-elected trustee-elect, and will take office this June.

SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK Continue the conversation by sending a letter to the editor or guest column to opinion@cornellsun.com

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 7

OPINION

Priya Kankanhalli | Matters of Fact

Letter to the Editor

Spring Break: As Told

By Cancun

A quick & worthwhile reminder

M

y colleagues insist that my reputation precedes me, but my words are not suited to an abrupt beginning, and so I must introduce myself properly. I am Cancun, premier Spring Break destination for the millennial youth, as unanimously voted upon by travelers past and present. I wonder if my Mayan ancestors would revel in this title; I wonder if they might praise the heavens for this fame. I often muse about who I used to be, and I am still making peace with who I’ve become.

It was not always this way. Today, I see obligations and responsibilities laid to sleep on my white sands. It appears the greatest burden on members of the visiting population is a quest for recognition on Instagram, a race to attain public approval. For this approval, I provide the backdrop, but I ask for no royalty, no share.

Yet, in immortalizing my memory into devices and gadgets, I feel that I may be losing myself. Do those who journey here know anything of my history, or does their interest only extend as far as the photogenic coastline?

Long before entering the 21st Century, I was wild. Toucans and tapirs were my company, exotic orchids were my specialty, a jungle was my semblance. Soon, the Mayan people realized my inhabitability. The Itzae tribe, water wizards that they were, populated my

As your ears grow familiar once more to the rhythm of footsteps on tar instead of the hum of the waves, I pray you all will welcome the evolution that is hemmed onto the fabric of life. land with ceremonial centers and astronomical observatories. The 1500s witnessed the lust of the European conqueror. In 1776, Spanish cartographer Juan de Dios Gonzalez first documented my presence. Since then, not only natives, but also explorers, pirates and varieties of colonists have been enchanted by my turquoise blue waters. Once here, they rarely leave.

My transition into a tourist hotspot began much later, in the 1970s. The Mayan empire having disappeared and the European investment fading, my new inhabitants saw me fit for a transformation. Mexico enacted a “National Plan for Tourism” to stimulate its economy, and I was the cash cow. In a heartbeat, I was stripped of the ability to host people from all walks of life. I was no longer the savior of the fatigued or the relief of the prying eye, but instead the haven of the wealthy elite who could afford to enjoy and enhance my distance from tiresome reality. Those who cannot spare the funds for such extravagance are simply left behind, and this was never my intention.

As others see me, I am a sort of paradise on Earth, but introspection repeatedly leads me to long for bygone times. The modern glitz and the glamour have drowned the richness of my history and the simplicity of my ecosystem. Especially in adolescent circles, I see a greedier default: understandably, maximization of the vacation experience is the foremost objective, but the lack of passion for the chronicle of events that brought me here is offensive. I am simultaneously inflated to a symbol of luxury and superfluity and diminished to a banal character of the mass media.

Years have passed, and I have seen generations rise and fall to their temptations. I think, at the risk of seeming overly pious, I might have seen it all. Again, another Spring Break has tided in and out. Cyclical as the routine is, my visitors do not lose their carefree spirits and optimism — although I am not sure if this is a facet of my own charm. The pleasures here are as plentiful as my grains of sand, but our time is not. As your ears grow familiar once more to the rhythm of footsteps on tar instead of the hum of the waves, I pray you all will welcome the evolution that is hemmed onto the fabric of life. I pray you will treasure your youth and embrace your future. I pray you will remember me — all of me, who I was, who I am, and who I may yet be. Now, my children, let me rest.

Priya Kankanhalli is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Scences. She can be reached at pkankanhalli@cornellsun.com. Matters of Fact appears alternating Tuesdays this semester. To respond to this column, please email opinion@cornellsun.com.

To the Editor: To think that Spring Break has come and gone, final deadlines are quickly approaching, and we are finalizing yet another chapter of our college careers is quite startling. Summer is right around the corner, and for many students, this comes with feelings of uncertainty, instability and anxiety.

For many, including ourselves, this has been a year that challenged us academically, physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally. Whether you are an international student concerned with the seemingly everchanging (or never-changing) foreign policy of the United States towards your own country, a student concerned with the potential revocation of rights you’ve relied on for all of your life, a student who feels afraid to express your views due to possible backlash, or a student affected by the loss of a fellow Cornellian or loved one, the majority of us can agree that the 2016-2017 school year has been extraordinarily taxing.

Similar to physical health awareness, regular reminders are necessary to keep our mental health and that of our loved ones at peak. It’s crucial to remember that self-care does not make you weak nor does it label you something along the lines of a “special snowflake.” It symbolizes strength and love for oneself as you prepare to tackle a great challenge to your mind, body, and well-being.

As we approach the last few weeks of the semester, we must remember to take time for ourselves. It starts with self-care, continues with awareness, extends to reducing the stigma, and sparks a movement.

Please remember the resources available to you both on and off campus. Cornell EARS is a peer counseling service available on the 2nd floor of Willard Straight Hall, Cornell Health CAPS is available 24/7 by calling 607-255-5155 (put it in your contacts now!), Let’s Talk is available on various spots across campus.

Additionally, the Ithaca Crisis Line is available 24/7 for confidential counseling at 607-272-1616. You can visit the Cornell Caring Community site (caringcommunity.cornell.edu) for a comprehensive list. Join us, and countless student organizations, for Lift Your Spirits Day on Friday April 28th from 1-4 p.m. on the Arts Quad.

Matt Indimine ’18 Salma Shitia ’18

Guest Room | Samir Durvasula & Shivani Parikh

S

To Be Brown

outh Asians have been living, working, and building families and communities in the US since as early as 1820. As our population swelled, the Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924 directly targeted Asian communities. The 1923 Supreme Court case of United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind classified Indians as non-white, which led to Indian migrants who had already been naturalized to be retroactively stripped of their citizenship, after prosecutors argued that they had illegally become citizens. We hereby affirm that our legal status and treatment in the U.S. today is linked to the work of Black activists from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Their protests and civil disobedience removed barriers and burdens and led lawmakers to establish the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 which removed quotas, allowing South Asians to come to the United States much more easily.

We wish for our oppressions to be recognized — post-election, we are reminded of how our brownness defines our experiences as Americans. We are affected by hate by the systems, institutions and policies of white supremacy, misogyny, racism, economic inequality, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia. We are expected to speak perfect, unaccented English, even though for many of us it is not our first language. Our cultures and religions are appropriated and disrespected. Our cultures are considered “exotic” and “exciting,” though we fight to preserve them every day. We thereby reject this commodification, objectification and tokenization of our cultures and our bodies.

We are not all doctors, lawyers or engineers: the myth of the model minority hides the reality of our working-class communities holding menial, minimum wage jobs, especially when they are undocumented. It also erases the very real issues of racial discrimination and poverty, with the outcome holding us to a standardized silence. This myth also unfairly and dangerously pits minority against minority. Our communities are very divided — people come from many different backgrounds and heritages that influence whether or not they speak out.

Furthermore, a large population of South Asians are also Muslims, constantly targeted both personally and by the media. With a recently revised travel ban, citizens of Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya will still face a 90-day suspension of visa processing, and it remains explicitly tied to previous comments that relate Muslims to threats of terrorism. In this vein, we would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, Deep Rai and Harnish Patel. These South Asian men were all murdered, with Srinivas and Deep’s murders being explicitly the results of xenophobia and racism, and the cause of Harnish’s still under investigation.

One of the most unfortunate struggles that we face is how we are often viewed in POC spaces. We

are held to unsubstantiated assumptions that unfairly ascribe to us a misattributed apathy, and so our struggles are minimized. This is not, however, to invalidate the very real presence of members of our community who embrace and internalize the model minority myth and other toxic beliefs such as antiblackness and white supremacy. There are also many who choose to remain neutral, and as a result oppress POCs who are struggling and fighting for their visibility, rights and equal treatment. We hope to improve upon solidarity within our communities, which are divided across religious and national origin lines, contribute to dialogues and educate ourselves about actions and stances we can take to effectively support each other and other POC groups.

Conclusively, we are not demanding free labor from other POCs on our behalf, but rather highlighting our frustrations within activism and coalition-building spaces, and instead are hoping to improve upon the relationships and bridges amongst us.

This article was written as a call to action to address the silence that we face. To our South Asian friends, please do not be afraid to speak out when you face discrimination or see others being discriminated against. If we are not loud and vocal, especially given our current political climate, the struggles that we face will never be addressed. It is time to mobilize, organize, and to stand up & fight back, regardless of faith, national origin, or ethnicity. We cannot be divided, especially as we navigate a period in which we are in danger because of how we are perceived, and not because of the identities we may truly hold. We must irrevocably stand up for one another.

In addition, do not be afraid to enter POC spaces and advocate for their causes as well. Many of us are privileged in our assets and cultural and social resources, and must remember how we can use these privileges to engage in transformational solidarity, in which we actively go beyond sympathy, and move towards asking how we can be of help. Fighting for POC rights means fighting for our rights as well, and this includes fighting for issues that we never have and never will face.

However, this call to action is not only to the South Asian community, but to others as well. We ask that other POC leaders on campus begin to view us as members of a community that seeks to be a part of your coalitions. Please do not overlook us or treat us as if we have no empathy for the issues that you face.

The South Asian Council exists to advocate for South Asians specifically, but also to be in solidarity with all communities on campus. Simply put: We are here, we are present and we are ready.

Samir Durvasula is vice president of the South Asian Council and president of Hindu Student Council. Shivani Parikh is is the undergraduate representative on the CALS Faculty Senate’s Diversity.

8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017

SCIENCE

ENVIRONMENT

CORNELL SUSTAINABILITY

Cornell Researcher Explains Effect Of Human Illnesses on Environment 1

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATHRYN FIORELLA

Fish to fry l (1) Fishermen inspect monofilament fishing lines on Lake Victoria’s shore. (2) A fisherman ties his catch before taking them to the market.

By ARNAV GHOSH Sun Staff Writer

Predictions of the likely effects of climate change are plentiful in scientific journals. Warnings of smogengulfed cities, rising precipitation levels and the resultant changing landscape of diseases already seem to be realities in parts of the world. While the causes of such rapid change may be clear, one Cornell researcher believes that there is another avenue left to explore: the effect that human illnesses have on the environment.

“A lot of the ways that we’ve thought about this in the past is by considering how the environment affects our health. In this study we examine the other side: how our health might affect the environment.

We aim to map out some of the pathways by which that might happen,” said post-doc Kathryn Fiorella.

To understand the cumulative effect of a sick community on the environment, Fiorella studied households around Lake Victoria, Kenya, where approximately 27 percent of adults are affected by HIV.

“We looked at a fishing community and studied how illnesses in people were affecting fishing practices. And what we found was that there wasn’t much of a relationship, as we expected, between illness and the amount of time that people spent fishing but there was some impact on if they were fishing at all. But for people who were fishing, the illness didn’t affect the amount of time they were fishing so much as the methods that they were using,” Fiorella said.

According to Fiorella, sick fisherman were more likely to use methods that were illegal or destructive to avoid physical exertion. Specifically, Fiorella noticed that fishermen were less willing to fish overnight or use methods that required them to enter deeper parts of the lake, focussing instead on fishing in ‘inshore’ areas.

Consequently, they tended to use monofilament lines — that endanger fish and animals when discarded — to make it easier to catch higher quantities of fish. Such activities played a large part in decreasing the population of Nile perch in the lake by 65 percent between 2002 and 2014.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATHRYN FIORELLA

2

"One of the reasons for the high made in agriculture, with a crucial difHIV prevalence around Lake Victoria ference. Illnesses had a greater impact is the migration that happened to har- on the time and effort people put in vest fish in the 1980s, a time at which their agricultural livelihoods as HIV was startopposed to ing to spread the methods and there wasthey used. n’t much “ Pr e v i o u s known about studies have it,” Fiorella been done said. “A lot of with agriculinland fishturalists and eries throughhave shown out Africa that when have a high people are HIV prevasick they lence. In these reduce the settings, peotime and ple often face effort they put a range of into agriculother tropical tural liveliillnesses as hoods.

We Kathryn Fiorella well, things studied fisherlike malaria men and saw and TB [Tuberculosis]. So in that that the time they spend fishing is sense, throughout the world, people moderated by the method they chose who are charged with managing nat- and that illness is associated with ural resources and rely on them face a switching fishing methods. The differhigh burden of disease.” ent timescales to harvest in agriculture Fiorella emphasizes some impor- and fishing might be a contributing tant methodological choices made factor to these patterns,” Fiorella said. over the course of the study.

Fiorella hopes that the study will Individuals were compared to them- force people to consider a new angle selves over different points in time, in the ongoing debate about natural improving the inferences that could resources: the vulnerabilities of those be made about their health and fish- tasked with managing them. She ing behavior. As opposed to other hopes that it will cause those in charge common occupations, fishing was of health policy to carefully scrutinize chosen because fisherman in the com- their policies’ benefits as well as place munity frequently shifted their meth- a higher priority on providing better ods of fishing and studying the role care and treatment to those managing that illnesses played in these shifts was crucial natural resources. thus, relatively easy.

“We’re often very reasonably con“Illnesses may affect people cerned about the effect of the environthrough the physical dimensions of ment on human health. Yet there may the illness and the way it affects peo- be a bigger cycle with feedback from ple’s outlook. There are both of these human health to the environment too possible pathways although we weren’t and that’s why pursuing this avenue is able to distinguish between them in so valuable,” Fiorella said. our research,” Fiorella said.

Such effects are not limited to fish- Arnav Ghosh can be reached at ing. Similar observations have been aghosh@cornellsun.com.

“Throughout the world, people who are charged with managing natural resources and rely on them face a high burden of disease.”

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 9

SCIENCE

Climate Action Group Lays Out Plan for 2035 Carbon Neutrality Emphasizes role of alternative energy, assuages fears over deep drilling

By SAMUEL NADELL Sun Staff Writer

Members of the Cornell Senior Leaders Climate Action Group held a public forum on March 28, explaining how they intended to build upon the University’s existing Climate Action Plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 while fielding questions from curious and concerned citizens.

The majority of the 90 minute event focused on open discussion. A panel of Cornell scientists, administrators, faculty and deans aimed to reassure the local community that shifting towards renewable energy sources would leave an overwhelmingly positive impact on the town, although the panel still pointed out some minor issues they intended to address.

SLCAG formed in 2015 as a way to consider ways to address various climate issues, including increasing carbon dioxide emissions. In March 2016, Provost Michael Kotlikoff asked SLCAG to provide the University with ideas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with the intention of pursuing multiple alternative energy avenues.

Co-chairs of SLCAG Bill Sitzabee, interim vice president for infrastructure, properties and planning, and Lance Collins, dean of the College of Engineering, outlined the need to reduce on-campus energy use, an effort demonstrated by higher building standards on new facilities and a push towards alternative forms of transportation.

However, the main talking point of the event was about the pursuit of new energy opportunities in the form of

deep geothermal, wind, water, solar and biomass energy. According to the group, these were the best ways to reach a carbon neutral campus in the next three decades.

Deep geothermal energy, or Earth source, heat is obtained by drilling wells 10,000 to 15,000 feet deep, to depths in the bedrock where temperatures are very high. Water is then run through these wells, where it is warmed underground and subsequently brought to the surface to be used for widespread heating applications.

“It’s exactly what we do with [lake-effect] cooling, in reverse,” Collins said, referencing a practice already used in Ithaca. “In some ways, we’re simply inverting what we’re currently doing with cooling to provide heating for the campus.”

A few audience members later expressed their concerns about the prospect of ESH, citing its similarities to natural gas fracking, but these concerns were quelled by the combined expertise of the panel. Prof.

Jefferson W. Tester, chemical and biomolecular engineering, director of the Cornell Energy Institute, acknowledged the associated risks with drilling deep into the Earth’s crust, but noted that the intent of this system was to ensure environmental safety and longevity.

“In a gas fracking system, you’re basically done with that system fairly quickly,” Tester said, referring to the wells created for access to natural gas. “[ESH] is built to be sustainable, from the point of view of heat production as well as the point of view of well integrity.”

Panel members took turns dispelling other fears over the risk of earthquakes and diminishing property value, reaffirming that this process would be scrutinized and researched excessively before being fully implemented.

Public engagement in carbon neutrality became a prominent topic as

“If we’re able to eliminate the use of fossil fuels on campus, we’re demonstrating a pathway for many other communities to be able to do the same.”

Lance Collins, dean of the college of engineering well, as the question of student involvement was proposed to the group.

Multiple panel members chimed in, stating how the implementation of these energy systems would create multiple applied research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students

1

NATHANIEL BROOKS / THE NEW YORK TIMES

across departments. They also emphasized how SLCAG would be pushing for increased carbon literacy on campus through newly developed curriculums or modular courses.

Prof. Katie Keranen, Earth and atmospheric sciences, has already gotten a group of students involved with a project to implement seismometers in the surrounding Ithaca area to monitor seismic activity. She plans to apply for further funding to extend the opportunity to geoscience students and interested students from other disciplines.

Keranen hopes to be able to set up 1,000 of these instruments, which will assist with determining where to safely implement EHS wells as well as provide hands-on Earth science training.

Sitzabee and Collins proudly acknowledged the positive outcomes of their plan, highlighting a shift away from harmful fossil fuels and the associated unstable energy market and the possibility of creating a new economically friendly energy industry based around ESH. They also emphasized the role Cornell University could play as a model and successful proof of concept for other colleges and organizations around the world to initiate similar programs.

“We consider this part of our land grant mission,” Collins said.

“If we’re able to eliminate the use of fossil fuels on campus, we’re demonstrating a pathway for many other communities to be able to do the same.”

Samuel Nadell can be reached at snadell@cornellsun.com.

2

ANDREA MOHIN / THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Sun shines l (1) Solar panels similar to those at Cornell Snyder Road Solar Farm. (2) An in-house geothermal energy system similar to that intended for Cornell University.

10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Tuesday, April 11, 2017

A&E

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Horror in Discourse: Gun Violence in America

raw presentation of the subject.

Perhaps it was because I had n the turbulent times in which we find ourselves, art never witnessed and its artists often find themselves thrown into a such a frank disspace of ambiguity and with it comes a host of ques- cussion — tions regarding their purpose. Artistic and political space wordless as it inevitably intersect. If so, is this by accident or by was — on gun unbending intent? More broadly, what is the role of the violence. There artist? For Kadie Salfi, a local artist and active member was poignant of the Alice Cook House community, these questions are c o m m e n t a r y addressed through an invitation for dialogue. Located in articulated by the Willard Straight Hall Art Gallery, Salfi’s exhibit Red the powerful Guns is part of a poignant and enduring conversation symbolism of about gun violence in America. Already making art the paintings. about American gun culture and deeply affected by the Yet, there were Sandy Hook shooting, she was compelled to begin still questions SNAFU (Situation Normal all Fucked Up). This ongo- which persisted ing project constitutes the much larger body of work and I had the within which Red Guns resides. unshakeable I begin to pace the circumference of the room along feeling that whose perimeter hang the pieces of Salfi’s exhibit. These these enigmas life-size paintings of guns capture my gaze through the wouldn’t resolve vivid, acrylic reds. Many pieces of visual art strive to themselves with prolonged pondering. explore the textural and structural intricacies that constiI reached out to the artist herself. Removed from the tute the objects they depict. In doing so, the mechanical noise of the nearby Temple of Zeus, Salfi and I chatted complexities of the firearms — while also integral to the in an alcove in Klarman. One of my questions regarded function of the object — would become, regardless of her choice of the wood medium for Red Guns. She intention, the authors of the gun’s aesthetic. Red Guns revealed that as an owner (along with her husband) of a does precisely the opposite. Each painting is realized in local skateboard company, “Comet Skateboards,” there a technique that is unquestionably startling; aside from was already an abundance of wood at her disposal. the brilliant hue of the paint, the gun is transmitted as a “Although the subject matter is very precious, I didn’t silhouette divorced from the third dimension. want to use precious material. I didn’t want to have the There lies a certain elegance in restraint, but we see work be coveted in any way because it was on a piece of here that such aesthetic potential is amplified by con- marble”, she remarked. “I loved the grain of the wood stant reminders of artistic intention. In spite of eschew- and the knots in the wood often look like bullet holes.” ing technical detail, or quite possibly because of it, Red Red Guns is undeniably political, displaying a powerGuns establishes a discursive space that acknowledges ful symbolism of the red, white and blue paintings in the the terrifying capabilities of the weapons, and the inten- context of this nation’s pathological obsession with guns. tions with which they are used. The images are juxta- However, the commentary engages the audience in a posed by the harrowing descriptions of the weapon’s conversation about gun violence while abandoning the effects. On the first piece I come across, written in blue directional criticisms that polarize debates on the subpencil, “This gun was used to to kill 32 people at ject. I was curious as to why this was such a central comVirginia Tech.” This inscription is readily visible, even at ponent of Salfi’s work. a distance. But, as one approaches the work, another Salfi was reminded of when she started making her inscription becomes visible, this time in white colored art more political in 2007. Her work at the time was pencil, describing the gun’s model. Almost as if receding done in crude oil and inspired by the oil-fueled conflicts in the Middle East, as well as the environmental consequences of the petroleum industry. While the project was initially conceptualized as a denunciation of the oil companies, it was an oil worker providing the actual resource for her work who changed her intent. “He talked about how he had been working for 35-40 years doing this six days a week, long days, and had so much pride and felt like he was doing the American people so much good because people thrive and need oil… He honored and he valued it,” she recounted to me. Emphasizing that despite her personal feelings toward the subject, she realized there were alternatives to pointing fingers. “Of course there are certain subjects where there is a wrong and there is a right and COURTESY OF KADIE SALFI/JONATHAN REINHARDT that there is someone who creatinto the backdrop of the wood medium, the white writ- ed the wrong. But I also feel that as an artist, I want to ing eventually becomes the irrelevant; meanwhile, the present facts and information.” blue confession that follows it becomes the focal point.

I find myself in the gallery for the second time and In other words, by reducing the visual impact of the the silence which permeated my previous visit has now gun’s make and model, and simultaneously emphasizing been superseded by the conversations of those gathered the firearm’s already realized capabilities, Salfi removes for the reception being held. What was at first limited to the euphemisms and derailments that often divest dia- my internal dialogue within that space now assumed the logue from the weapon’s intrinsic purpose. What nuance and dimensions of an interpersonal exchange remains is our unobstructed confrontation with this with the individuals in the room. Some silently contemnationwide epidemic. plated the works as I had done the first time, while othMaking my way through the gallery it becomes ers could not stay quiet about the subject. Most, howevobvious that the lack of other people is not the only er, incorporated both types of discourse in their experireason why is it so quiet around me. Interrupted ence. only by my steps on the wooden floor, there was a Red Guns’ presence in the Willard Straight Art chilling stillness that I felt in the presence of such a Gallery is made possible through Salfi’s partnership with

BY VARUN BIDDANDA Sun Staff Writer

I

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

COURTESY OF KADIE SALFI/JONATHAN REIINHARDT

Cook House Graduate Resident Fellows Jonathan Reinhardt, grad, and Sadé Ayorinde, grad. There are several elements of the exhibit which complement the artist’s original work. To these members of the exhibit’s curating team, Salfi made a suggestion to deepen the interaction with the artwork through the addition of other media. There at the reception I spoke with Ayorinde about her role in the curation of the exhibit.

Facilitator of the discussion group “Cookies and Conversation,” she held the group’s weekly dialogue in the gallery alongside Salfi. Emphasizing the significance of the artist’s attendance, Ayorinde notes that her presence, “Draws up a lot of questions: why would you make this work? What was the impetus? How did you use the materials to create it? … There are always ways of thinking conceptually and not really thinking of the materials and the process.”

As I was seated at the discussion table, I got a sense of the ineffable feeling that permeated the conversation of Ayorinde’s discussion group. “I think it was really beneficial having it [the dialogue] in this space,” she reflects, citing the unsettling effects from both the life-sized scale of the images, as well as the contrast between the paintings of well-recognized handguns and those of less familiar shotguns, rifles and semi-automatics. “Automatically there is a way in which you almost feel unsafe in the space, to some degree. And then on top of that, when you add in what they’re supposed to be displaying, the fact that innocent people were killed.”

In response to Salfi’s suggestion, Reinhardt accompanied each painting with a series of QR codes that correspond to a video about a culturally important event that occurred during the time of the shooting. Some of the codes lead to news footage and others show the cultural events; the code for the 2007 Virginia Tech Shooting, for example, leads to a trailer for the then-upcoming film “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

“We used QR codes because they have a codelike element and there is something about gun culture that seems to be in the DNA of America,” describes Reinhardt, “[in a way, gun culture is] written into the political code.”

In the exhaustive acrobatics of political discourse, the victims of gun violence — if recognized at all — are often reduced to a statistic or a headline. In such a situation, the individual victims are remembered by very few people, aside from those who personally knew them.

The result is the flattening depersonalization of the individual, in the sense that in many ways they are dispossessed of their relevance to society. The Q.R. code’s contribution to the exhibit memorializes the victims of mass shootings in an unconventional form. It is a soul-piercing reconceptualization of the countless lives lost to guns. As opposed to being reduced to one-dimensional consequences of this American epidemic, these lives can be understood in context of a broader cultural universe, in which they shared and shaped our space. By authentically emphasizing their role as an active participant in these events, the victim is immortalized not only in terms of their death, but also in terms of their life and the undeniable humanity which defined it.

Varun Biddanda is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He can be reached at vdb22@cornell.edu.

COMICS AND PUZZLES

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Prefix with deed, feed and read 4 Fave texting buds 8 One looking for something 14 Gorilla, for one 15 To whom Rick said, “We’ll always have Paris” 16 Mode of dress 17 *Pay for your online purchases, say 19 Admirers, as a group 20 Actress O’Donnell 21 Caspian, e.g.

23 Nick and Nora’s dog 24 Ancients, for instance?

27 Big Band __ 29 White wine apéritif 30 Kitten cries 31 *Skip work because of illness 34 Double curve 35 One to say “G’day” to 36 Grandmas 37 *Cause a ruckus 40 Once more 43 Deal with it 44 “How cute!” cries 47 *Go out of business 50 Coin named for a continent 51 ER staffers 52 Frying __ 53 Movie double 55 Sport shirt brand 57 Male cat 59 Santa __ racetrack 60 Tenor Enrico 62 “Care to wager?” ... and a question answered, one way or the other, by the first words of the answers to starred clues 65 Tennis great Andre 66 Gung-ho 67 __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone 68 Port on the Loire 69 Dickens’ Uriah 70 Junior nav. officer

DOWN 1 Knot-tying art 2 Siri speaks on them 3 Up-and-down playground boards 4 Hog rider 5 Perky spokeswoman in Progressive ads 6 Seminoles’ sch.

7 Pre-coll. exams 8 Jungle adventure 9 Approx. touchdown hour 10 Italian volcano 11 Glove leather 12 Racy literature 13 Comments 18 Smokes, briefly 22 Slippery as an __ 25 Berry rich in antioxidants 26 Wrestling surfaces 28 Broadway orphan 32 Parasite 33 __ Andreas Fault 35 “Don’t be a wimp!”

37 Unburdened (of) 38 Lovey-dovey exchange

39 Date bk. entry 40 Like some violets 41 Spokane school with a strong basketball program 42 Beaten candidate 44 Loud enough to hear 45 Unlisted vote-getter 46 Piano works 48 Regional dialect

49 __-Caps: candy 50 Sicilian resort city 54 Food retailer named for two oceans 56 Clean with Pledge 58 [Air kiss] 61 Opposite of NNW 63 Prop. often named for a state in Monopoly 64 Nietzsche’s “never”

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

04/11/17

Sun Sudoku

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 11

Puzzle #735

THE PINK FISH MOON

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)

Circles and Stuff

CLASSIFIED AD RATES Ads are accepted at The Sun’s office at 139 W. State Street downtown, by phone or e-mail.

Deadline: 2:30 p.m. at The Sun’s office on the day preceding publication. Monday’s deadline: Friday, 2:30 p.m. at The Sun’s office.

Standard Rate: $3.60 per day for first 15

words, 38 cents per day per word thereafter.

Five or more consecutive insertions, $3.35 per day for first 15 words, 36 cents per day per word thereafter.

Commercial Rate: $5.40 per day for first

15 words, 39 cents per day per word thereafter. Five or more consecutive insertions, $5.20 per day for first 15 words, 37 cents per day per word thereafter.

The Sun is responsible for only one day makegood on ads.

273-3606 classifieds@cornellsun.com

by Robert Radigan grad

3 N OTICES ************************** WHAT COURSES WILL YOU TAKE NEXT SPRING? COME TO THE INFORMATION FAIR! BIOLOGY & SOCIETY SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY STUDIES INFORMATION FAIR Wednesday, April 12 & Thursday, April 13, 2017 9:00 am to 3:45 pm Foyer outside 303 Morrill Hall All interested students are welcome.

Drop in on either day to pick up course Information and other hand-outs. Learn about Abroad, Career Development Offices, Cornell-in-Washington, the STS Minor, etc. Refreshments.

Questions: Email sms252@cornell.edu, call 255-6047, stop by 303 Morrill Hall, or check us out on the Web: http://www.sts.cornell.edu **************************

By Lila Cherry ©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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50 Years Later, No Arrests in ’67 Cornell Fire That Killed 9 FIRE

Continued from page 1

Despite having fire doors and water-type fire extinguishers in place in all corridors, the building had no fire escapes on the second floor, no fire alarm and no sprinkler system. Water mains had just been added to the building, and sprinkler installation had been scheduled for that morning, The New York Times reported after running a frontpage picture of the burnt building.

“The fire alarm did not seem to work,” Diego Benardete, a student in the program at the time, said in an email. “I tried to set it off before exiting the building, but I couldn’t do it.”

Benardete also remembered other lacking safety features.

“There were no fire drills. No sprinkler. No fire escapes so that people could exit without going through the lobby. I was struck by how unsafe the building was, certainly as compared to what I had been used to. Someone had blundered in preparing that building for student occupancy.”

Several other buildings oncampus were found to not be properly retrofitted at the time, including Sheldon Court, McFadden Hall, Boldt Hall, Baker Tower, Lyon Hall, University Halls, Clara Dickson Hall, Comstock Hall, Risley Hall, Mennen Hall, Cascadilla Hall, Hasbrouck Apartments, Phillips House, and Triphammer Coop, The Sun reported in the week after the fire.

The Sun also found that Cornell had failed to file a 1966 fire inspection report on the Cornell Heights Residential Club, in direct violation of state law.

A 1965 report by former University Inspector R. Haner noted “there shall be at least two means of direct exit to the outside at ground level, remote from each other, leading from each floor of student occupancy.”

On the morning of the fire, only the first floor of the club met this condition. Five students were trapped on the second floor, unable to exit the building.

A senior in the Res Club reported a conversation with the fire inspector a month before the fire, The Sun reported in 1967, in which he allegedly said “there won’t be any fire,” after being asked how students at the end of the halls would be able to escape.

Fifty years later, the exact cause of the fire in the Res Club has never been determined.

Cornell University was ruled negligent in 1972 by the United States Northern District Court of New York in a lawsuit filed by the parents of Jeffrey W. Smith, a victim of the fire.

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

Meg Gordon can be reached at mgordon@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 13

14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017

SPORTS

Sorry Russ, LeBron Is the Real MVP R ussell Westbrook had quite the weekend.

He broke Oscar Robertson’s record for most triple doubles in a season on Sunday while scoring 50 points and hitting a ridiculous game-winning shot.

These theatrics are nothing new for Westbrook. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard has been turning heads for months en route to averaging a triple double for the season. This feat is certainly impressive; he is the only the second player in history to average a triple double and the first since Robertson did so in 196061.

Westbrook’s accomplishment makes him the oddson favorite to win this year’s Most Valuable Player award.

On the surface, this seems obvious. To accomplish

between LeBron and the MVP award really be based on two fewer assists and two fewer rebounds even though he is shooting well over 10 percentage points better than Westbrook? This seems irrational.

When the season is over on Tuesday, Westbrook will have the second most turnovers ever in an NBA season behind only Harden, who will actually have committed the most in history by a significant margin. The notion that the two players with the most turnovers in NBA history are the ones in the conversation for the MVP award seems utterly ridiculous. Turning the ball over on offense is the single least valuable thing a player can do.

Of course, when considering who deserves the MVP

Dylan McDevitt One Point Play something so rare surely qualifies a player to win the award generally bestowed upon the league’s best player. But Westbrook is not the best player in the league, and he is not the most valuable either.

The MVP conversation this season has been dominated by two players: Westbrook and Houston Rockets guard James Harden.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James is noticeably absent from the conversation, despite having another incredible season.

This does not seem to make sense. If the NBA held an open draft today to build a team that could win a championship this year, nobody in their right mind would choose any player other than LeBron first overall. In evaluating who deserves this award, perhaps we should stop looking for reasons not to give it to the man who is universally agreed to be the best player in the world.

Yes, what Westbrook has done is nothing short of remarkable, but it is a bit of a distraction. The triple double is a statistically arbitrary concept. Are we to believe that averaging 10 assists instead of nine is something so incredible that it is worthy of the game’s highest honor, simply because it is a two digit number?

LeBron is averaging 8.7 assists and 8.6 rebounds each game, and he is doing so while shooting 54.8 percent. Westbrook shoots 42.6 percent. Should the distance

award, the performance of the team should matter a great deal. Only three times, and not since 1982, has the award been given to a player on a team with a winning percentage lower than .600.

The Thunder are sixth in their conference with a winning percentage of .575, while the Cavaliers are first in the East at .638.

This lends support to LeBron’s already strong case.

By all accounts, he is the best basketball player on the planet, and perhaps the best basketball player in history.

His statistics are more than impressive, and his team has a legitimate chance at another championship. But LeBron is not likely to win the MVP award. Westbrook has gotten too much attention this season, and it would certainly be surprising if he did not take this award home.

In recent seasons, LeBron has not been in the conversation for the MVP award nearly enough. Having appeared in six consecutive NBA finals on two different teams, LeBron’s level of dominance has become so familiar to us that it has essentially been normalized.

Thus, we dismiss him as an afterthought. As this way of thinking becomes the norm, perhaps we should at least rename the award accordingly. Then again, the “Best Player Who Isn’t LeBron James” award does not have the same ring to it.

Dylan McDevitt is a first year columnist. He can be contacted at dmcdevitt@cornellsun.com.One Point Play appears Tuesdays this semester.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, April 11, 2017 15

SPORTS

BASEBALL

Red Splits Ivy Doubleheaders on Road Trip

DANA DANIELS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Hanging in there | The Red overcame several injuries over the weekend and managed to split both of its doubleheaders. with six hits in last Wednesday’s game against Towson.

By JACK KANTOR Sun Assistant Sports Editor “We were missing the top four hitters in the order,” said head coach Dan Pepicelli. “We were really out of In a pair of doubleheaders on the road, Cornell base- position once we lost that many guys.” ball split against both of its Ivy League opponents this But the remaining Red sluggers dug their cleats in and weekend despite working with a depleted lineup. The Red held their ground against the interdivisional opponents. was able to return home with two more wins, taking one “I think we did a really good job of staying afloat and each from Harvard and Dartmouth. ... being competitive,” Pepicelli said. “You go on the road Cornell (13-11, 3-5 Ivy) did not have its usual cast of to Dartmouth and Harvard and win two games, it’s not characters on the field throughout the weekend. the worst thing. We certainly would like to win a series, Cornerstone players such as juniors Ellis Bitar and but considering who we were missing, I can’t say enough Dale Wickham were not healthy enough to play for the about the guts we showed.”

Red on the road. Wickham leads Cornell in batting with Cornell came out on Saturday and dropped its first a .383 average at the plate. game against Harvard, 7-5. The Red led three different Junior Trey Baur also left midway through Sunday’s times over the course of the game but failed to hang on in contest with an injury. Baur had broken a program record the waning moments.

Nevertheless, the team came back and slathered on runs against the Crimson in a 9-5 victory to close out Saturday.

“There were people who had not even traveled earlier in the year that were in the starting lineup,” Pepicelli said.

“It says so much about the kids we’ve got on this team.

Their minds were in it.”

Cornell continued its resilience and energy in its first game against Dartmouth Sunday. The Green was silenced, 2-0, as junior Tommy Morris earned his first win of the season. The right-handed pitcher tossed six innings and allowed no earned runs or walks, striking out just one batter along the way.

“We pitch a lot to contact,” Pepicelli said. “We don’t have a lot that’s going to blow you away, but we can be successful. Thomas Morris was fantastic. To shut that team out, at that field, is really, really tough to do. It’s only his third start for us, and he’s gotten better each time out.”

The offense was not flowing on Sunday as it has been at times for this squad so far, and the lack of run production caught up with the Red. Dartmouth shutout Cornell, 5-0, in part two of Sunday’s action with only two hits tallied for the visitors.

Action resumes on Wednesday when Cornell hosts Binghamton in a non-conference battle. But Pepicelli knows that he must have his team in its best possible shape for the upcoming weekend’s Ivy League games against Columbia. Pepicelli is not certain who is going to be in the lineup on Wednesday.

“The priority has to be getting ready for the weekend,” Pepicelli said. “I’m going to have a better feel by [Tuesday], and if anybody is even on the bubble I am going to be conservative with it.”

But this is by no means a meaningless game for the Red. “We are going to compete like heck,” Pepicelli said.

“No matter what has happened … we just get tough, it doesn’t make us fold. I expect us to be very tough against Binghamton.”

Cornell will square off at home against Binghamton at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Hoy Field.

Jack Kantor can be reached at jkantor@cornellsun.com.

SOFTBALL

Women Swept at Dartmouth, Harvard Over Weekend

Field mistakes cost the Red as the team falls to 1-7 in the Ivy League and 6-17 overall

By CAITLIN STANTON Sun Staff Writer

The Red has been taking some hard hits this softball season and is now in the middle of an eight game losing streak. This past weekend brought four more Ivy League losses, dropping the team’s record to 1-7 in the conference and 6-17 overall.

According to head coach Julie Farlow ’97, the team’s current losing streak is not as unconquerable of an obstacle as one might think.

“When you start to struggle, what you’re looking for is a good practice, and when we’re travelling all week, we didn’t really have that opportunity,” she said. “We’re getting a couple days off ... I think that’s going to help us going into Thursday [against Siena College], that we just refocus, get refreshed and, I keep on saying, let’s get this W and get some momentum going.”

In terms of momentum, this past weekend did not help. All four games against Dartmouth and Harvard were hard-fought, but relatively minor mistakes loomed large and left the Red winless.

The women’s first game of the weekend came against the Dartmouth, and the team was on the brink of pulling off one of the greatest upsets in recent memory. After trailing by seven through five innings, the Red rallied to score eight and take the lead.

Ultimately, the Green pulled ahead once more to win the game 9-8.

Sophomore catcher Olivia Lam played a big role in Cornell’s comeback, hitting a grand slam that tied the game 7-7 before

the Red drove in one more run to pull ahead.

“I’m really happy with how our team approached it,” she said. “We really fought hard until the end … so I think we handled it really well, and we showed that no matter how far behind we [were], we still pushed through to the end.”

While the effort may have been there, the same kind of offensive production was missing in the remaining games of the weekend.

After the threat of rain pushed the second Dartmouth game back to Sunday, Cornell matched up against Harvard looking to get back on track.

In the first game, Harvard raced ahead to take a 7-0 lead early on. Even with solid hitting from junior infielder Megan Murray, junior catcher Tori Tagashi and senior outfielder Jessica Bigbie, the women struggled to catch up to its opponent. The game ended as an 8-3 Harvard victory.

“We’re definitely capable hitters as a team,” Bigbie said. “I mean, everyone is definitely capable of doing great things, so it’s just about one person hitting and getting everyone else to jump on board and see that they can do it, too.”

The second game was harder for Cornell to swallow, as the team held onto the lead for much of the game until two fielding errors led to a five-run inning for Harvard. Cornell tied it up in the next inning, but Harvard rallied in the sixth with four runs, proving to be too much of a lead for the women to overcome.

“It’s little plays that … teams are building on, so it’s not like we’re really collaps-

ing,” Farlow said in reference to the two errors. “It’s just that there’s a play that starts it, and the team gets momentum, and they keep riding it, and right now we’re just having a hard time saying ‘Okay that’s all you’re going to get’ and shutting the door.”

The weekend came to a close with the rescheduled game against Dartmouth on Sunday — a true pitcher's duel throughout. It is during games like these that the smallest fielding errors or defensive gaffes can be exploited to win, and that is exactly what the Green managed to do after a Cornell error in the sixth inning.

Dartmouth capitalized by scoring three runs to go up 3-0.

The last inning only featured one run from the Red — a homer from Murray,

and the game ended in a 3-1 loss.

However, Farlow is insistent that the team will not let this losing streak bring its morale down. Historically, Cornell has been relatively successful against its next opponent, Siena College — winning two against them in the 2015-16 season.

“I like playing Siena; I think they’re a comparable opponent to get us prepared for what we see in conference games,” Farlow said. “They’re a team we can beat, and they’re a team that can beat us. …

Hopefully we’ll be energized against them.”

First pitch is set for this Thursday at 3 p.m. in Ithaca.

Caitlin Stanton can be reached at cstanton@cornellsun.com.

COURTESY OF CORNELL ATHLETICS

Reset Button | After another tough weekend, the team is looking forward to its upcoming matchup with Siena this Thursday.

Sports

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

TUESDAY APRIL 11, 2017

16

MEN’S LACROSSE

Laxers Top Harvard for Third Win in Last Four

Red improves to.500 in league

By ADAM MASTERS Sun Staff Writer

In its 91st meeting with longtime rival Harvard, the Cornell men’s lacrosse team used a strong fourth quarter to get the win, 12-9, for the first winning streak of the season.

Harvard (5-5, 1-2 Ivy) was first to find the back of the net through Ryan Graff, only to see its advantage erased three minutes later. The Red (3-6, 2-2) and the Crimson continued to trade goals, as Harvard took a 3-2 lead at the end of the first stanza.

Harvard began to pull away early in the second as it scored three unanswered goals to pull away 5-2. But as soon as it looked as if the Crimson was taking control of the game, the Red fired in three unanswered of its own to enter the half tied.

The Red came out flying, scoring two goals in the first five minutes of the second half and giving itself a two goal lead. Harvard responded quickly with a goal of their own to cut it to 7-6. Yet the remainder of the quarter was goalless.

“The guys responded really well coming out of halftime,” said head coach Matt Kerwick. “We came out feeling confident that we could make a little bit of a run for ourselves because we felt like we were out playing them.”

The fourth quarter is what defined this game for the Red. After trading goals in the first five minutes of the quarter, the Red went on a scoring frenzy, burying four unanswered goals for a resounding 12-7 lead.

“We knew if we just kept doing what we were doing that we could run [Harvard] in the fourth quarter, and that is exactly what they did,” Kerwick said.

The Red held off Harvard’s late push thanks to freshman Paul Rasimowicz, who won seven of eight of his faceoffs in the final period. That included six straight wins, effectively keeping Harvard on the defensive for the final 10 minutes.

The Crimson reduced the deficit to three goals, but the Red ultimately was victorious over its long time conference rival, 12-9. The win marked Kerwick’s first win over Harvard since taking over the head coaching role in 2014.

MICHAEL WENYE LI / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Hot streak| Although the Red’s winning streak is just two games, the team has shown considerable signs of improvement since its 0-5 start to the season.

Freshmen Connor Fletcher and Jeff Teat headed up Cornell’s offensive storm against Harvard. Fletcher totaled four points on the night, while Teat, who ranks seventh in the country in assists per game (2.38), tallied five of his own.

“We are starting to hit our stride right now,” Kerwick said. “That’s why we play the schedule we do, because we want to be playing our best when we hit our Ivy games”.

The Red will look to ride its momentum as it takes on No. 2 Syracuse this upcoming Tuesday — only a little more than 72 hours after the Harvard match.

The turnaround for the team is much shorter than it is accustomed to, but Kerwick believes in his team and is ready for the players to show what it means to be a Cornell

men’s lacrosse player.

“I can’t think of anything better to play against one of the best teams in the country year in and year out,” he said.

“As a player, facing off against a top team with little prep time is something you truly have to embrace and enjoy.”

Facing Syracuse away will be one of the toughest matches for the Red this year. While the young team is settling into the season, its must reduce all unforced errors if they intend to come out victorious.

Play gets underway from the Carrier Dome Tuesday, April 11, at 7 p.m.

Adam Masters can be reached at amasters@cornellsun.com.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

No.8 Women Overpower Brown,Improve to 9-1

By SMITA NALLURI Sun Staff Writer

Maintaining its perfect Ivy League record, the No. 8 Cornell women’s lacrosse defeated the Brown Bears, 11-8, on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field.

Cornell was focused on starting off strong going into the game and the improvements paid off. The Red (9-1, 40 Ivy) started the match off with a bang,

scoring two goals within the first two minutes of the game and had a 5-3 lead over the Bears (4-7, 0-4) at the half.

“I think we just had to change our mindset about the beginning of the games and we did that,” said senior tricaptain attacker Catherine Ellis. “Energy is a big part … and we really emphasized warming up well with a lot of energy so that would then translate on the the field for the beginning of the game.”

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Undefeated | With its 11-8 victory over Brown, Cornell remains perfect in Ivy play thus far.

Head coach Jenny Graap ’86 credits the win to increased possession and sharper play all around.

“The improvement in our draw control unit has allowed us to gain more possessions at the start of the game which has benefitted our offense,” Graap said. “I also think our [defense] unit deserves a lot of credit for their clearing ability.

Fewer turnovers in transition has also resulted in more offensive opportunities.”

Highlights from the game include four goals from Ellis and two goals each from senior midfielder Amie Dickson and sophomore attacker Sarah Phillips.

Sophomore attacker Tomasina Leska and junior tri-captain midfielder Ida Farinholt both found the back of the net once.

On the defensive side, senior goalie Renee Poullott made eight saves and senior tri-captain defender Catie Smith forced two turnovers and fielded two ground balls.

Never content to rest on its laurels, the Red looks to continue finessing its game before taking on the Great Danes of Albany (7-4, 3-1 America East) Tuesday.

“A big takeaway from Brown offensively is that we need to shoot better,” Ellis said. “We were five for 20 in the first half … which is not very good. I think as attackers we just need to be more patient and make better decisions.”

Graap echoed that her team must keep

improving despite their success. “[We can] not take our foot off the gas after scoring easily at the outset of the game,” Graap said. “[We will be] playing a full 60 minutes that includes good team [defense] to neutralize their scoring threats and opportunistic and high powered offense no matter what kind of defense the Great Danes throw at us.”

The match against the Great Danes was originally slated to occur on March 15, but was postponed due to inclement weather. The overall series with Albany is tied, 2-2, and the Great Danes will be a challenging opponent as they are ranked in the top 30 in the nation according to the Inside Lacrosse Poll.

At about the halfway point in the season, the Red continues to look within itself to continue building on its eightgame winning streak.

“Our main focus now that we’re halfway through is to continue with our theme of getting better everyday,” Ellis said. “We’re coming into the hardest stretch of our season and this is where you see great teams start to separate themselves from the rest. We’re looking to do that.”

Cornell will face Albany on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at home.

Smita Nalluri can be reached at snalluri@cornellsun.com.