INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 134, No. 78
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2018
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Technology
Start of the Hype
Brown Beatdown
Sunny Again
Students displayed 36 projects and designs at the Bits on Our Minds showcase last Wednesday. | Page 3
Men’s lacrosse dominated the Bears on Senior Day, clinching the No. 2 seed in the Ivy tournament. | Page 16
As the release of Infinity Wars draws nearer, arts writers rack up the best superhero movies of all time. | Page 8
HIGH: 68º LOW: 41º
C.U.Students Meet Pakistan’s P.M. Trip aims to increase students’awareness of country By SAMANTHA STERN Sun Staff Writer
Over spring break, Cornell students made Pakistani national news when they met with the country’s Prime Minister, the Chief of Military and the incoming ambassador to the United States. Organized by Mohammad Zohair Javed grad and Shan-EAhmed grad, the trip was intended to give Cornell students a greater awareness about Pakistan beyond how the country is typically portrayed in the mainstream media, Javed said. As a MPA candidate and Pakistani native, Javed said he recognized a lack of understanding
about Pakistan among added. “I thought that I could do something for people here — for Cornellians. “When I came to Cornell, I students here to experience the realized that there isn’t a great country.” After learning about his fellow understanding of the country [Pakistan] or the dynamics of it in students’ curiosity about his home counthe U.S. — not Javed to blame people “When I came to Cornell, try, decided to per se it’s just plan the ninewhat is out there I realized that there isn’t trip. in the media and a great understanding of day According to the information the country.” Javed, the trip that they conwas unaffiliatsume,” Javed Mohammad Zohair Javed ed with the said. University “But I did find a lot of curiosity in my since Cornell didn’t want to be friends in the public administra- associated because of Pakistan’s tion program and the business restrictions. As a result of this school about Pakistan and about “understandable reason,” Javed wanting to understand more,” he said the organizers could only use word of mouth and informal marketing. The group of 20 consisted of one undergraduate student, nine MPA students, five MBA students, two law school students, two Cornell Weill medical students and two Harvard Kennedy School alumni. During the trip, they visited Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Hunza Valley and Mona. Javed stressed that an important aspect of the trip is that it did not aim to promote a positive image of Pakistan, but rather to COURTESY OF MOHAMMAD ZOHAIR JAVED allow students to form their own
Spring break travels | Cornellians spoke with Pakistani national leaders and visited remote areas in the north of the country.
By MATTHEW McGOWEN
The national conversation about gun control legislation, reignited by the Parkland shooting in February that killed 17 people, has led to campus walkouts, marches and most recently, a student forum focused on the politics and policy of gun control. “We thought it was really important that a march not be the last thing that gets done,” said Giancarlo Valdetaro, a member of the Roosevelt Institute, referring to the March for our Lives at Cornell that his organization led about a month ago. The Roosevelt Institute, a student public policy think tank, organized Friday’s forum and presented perspectives from four students and a professor on topics ranging from legislation to cultural values surrounding guns. It also coincided with a second nationwide school walkout. The panel included Sydney Eisenberg ’21 of the Roosevelt Institute, T.J. Hunt ’21 of the Cornell Political Union, Denny
Tech talk | Panelists talk about gender bias in tech fields, and how women in the industry help each other in a talk Wednesday.
Women in Tech Describe ‘Incredible Sisterhood’ By ANDREA VALDES Sun Staff Writer
The department of computing and information science gathered a panel of experts and students last Wednesday to speak about women in technology-related careers who are breaking stereotypes and helping others reach their goals. The panel, moderated by Prof. Éva Tardos, computer science, included Heather Cabot, a veteran journalist and co-author of Geek Girl Rising: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech, Ana Pinczuk ’84, senior vice president and general manager of HPE Pointnext, Rediet Abebe grad, co-founder of Black in AI and Avani Bhargava ’20, co-president of Women in Computing at Cornell. Cabot signed copies of her book, Geek Girl Rising, before the panel. She and co-author Samantha Walravens sought to compile success stories from women in the technology industry. They found an “incredible sisterhood” where regardless of location or profession, there was an “incredible responsibility that women seemed to
See PAKISTAN page 12
Students Discuss Politics of Gun Control Sun Staff Writer
ALICE SONG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Lee ’20 of the Speech and Debate Society and Quinn Otto-Moudry ’21 of the Cornell Republicans. Valdetaro also emphasized the importance of how the conversation brought in voices from across the political spectrum, saying that the campus can often be a “liberal bubble.” “We forget to talk about solutions and importantly we forget to talk to people who disagree with us,” Valdetaro said. Some audience members also echoed the call for multifaceted discussion, including Mason Woods ’20, who said he would be “looking to see if there is bipartisan discussion happening in this area” and contrasted his upbringing in Texas with his personally left-leaning views. “I don’t necessarily think that gun ownership equates to that person being bad, but guns can end up in the hands of people who are that way, so how can we mitigate that in a way that everyone can agree with?” Woods asked. See GUN CONTROL page 13
See TECH page 13
Singing in the spring
CAMERON POLLACK / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
After Eight, an all-female a cappella group, performs in its concert titled “Saturday Mint Live” on Saturday evening in Barnes Hall.