INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Vol. 134, No. 2
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
28 Pages – Free
Solar Eclipse Tilts Heads Skyward By SHRUTI JUNEJA, BREANNE FLEER and AMOL RAJESH Sun Staff Writers
A golden haze garnished the Cornell campus on Monday afternoon and crescent-shaped shadows painted the ground as thousands of Cornellians and Ithacans looked skyward at the first solar eclipse to pass solely over the United States in more than 240 years. After months of media hype, science lessons and incessant warnings about looking at the bright orb without sunglasses, viewers of all ages gathered in groups small and large and tilted their heads upward to witness the feat of nature. Revelers at “We got lucky Cornell’s Fuertes Observatory grew ... The cloud hot under the sun as they waited in went away line for sunglasses right at the to protect their correct time, corneas. Some Ithacans downtown so it’s been wondered whether awesome.” the clouds would break or if locals Larry Kidder would have to wait until 2024, when a solar eclipse’s path of totality will cross upstate New York. But by 1:17 p.m., when the moon began to poke its edges into the sun’s rays, Ithaca’s skies cleared and
Cornellians cheered. “We got lucky,” Larry Kidder, a researcher in the Department of Astronomy, told The Sun near the observatory. “The cloud went away right at the correct time, so it’s been awesome so far.” At Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca, children sat cross-legged on the grass as grown-ups entertained them with stories, plays and songs as part of Solar Eclipse in the Park, hosted by the Tompkins County Public Library. Library Assistant Kelly Doolittle said the library applied for a grant long in
advance of the eclipse to receive the correct sunglasses so that childrens’ eyes were protected. The request required that the library host an event centered around viewing of the eclipse. “I’m kind of a space nerd, and I enjoy seeing cosmic events,” Doolittle told The Sun. “It is very meaningful for kids to understand what the world really is around them and not just focus on computers and indoor activities.” While many professors and students shared special viewing glasses among sweaty noses, others used cereal boxes
and other items to view the sun’s reflection or considered novel ideas proposed by family members. “My dad told me something about looking through a Ritz cracker is how you’re supposed to see it — some pinhole type thing,” Lisa Condluci ’19 said from the Arts Quad. Leigh Scudder, grad, said he thought there must be a “weird, supernatural significance” to the eclipse because it was on the first day of graduate school. “Science is cool, space is big, the sun’s important — so’s the moon,” he said. “It’s fun when they do this little dance together.” But not everyone was satisfied with 70 percent coverage. Asked if the eclipse had met expectations, Leena Morris ’19 said, “No. This is incredibly underwhelming, I would say.” Morris said he was hoping the campus would be significantly darker, a sentiment echoed by several other students, but he was heartened by strangers who let him borrow their special glasses. For many others, though, partial covSee ECLIPSE page 5
Blinding rays | A man shields his eyes with his phone on Cornell’s campus on Monday as the moon partially blocks the sun’s rays during a historic solar eclipse. MICHAEL SUGUITAN/ SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (CENTER) CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR (CORNER) BRIAN LAPLACA / SUN DESIGN EDITOR / ECLIPSE MAST IDEA
C.U. Alum,HBO Producer Sent to Prison Cornell Police Officer
Death of former Weill Medical College prof brings charges By NICHOLAS BOGELBURROUGHS and DREW MUSTO Sun City Editor and Sun Senior Editor
A Cornell graduate and award-winning television producer will be in prison shortly after the premiere of his latest project after he admitted to helping his cocaine dealer carry a dying woman out of the dealer’s Manhattan apartment. A judge last week sentenced Marc Henry Johnson ’86 to a year in prison after Johnson pleaded guilty to helping his dealer, James “Pepsi” Holder, carry a former Weill Cornell Medical College professor out of the dealer’s Manhattan apartment and leaving the scene shortly before the former professor was pronounced dead. In the early hours of Oct. 4, 2015 — one day before HBO was to begin filming “The
Deuce,” which Johnson helped reporter who saw security create — the Cornell alumnus footage of the incident when it and Dr. Kiersten Rickenbach was shown to reporters in Cerveny, the former professor of Manhattan Federal Court. Once there, the dealer fled dermatology, took a cab from a bar to Johnson’s cocaine dealer and Johnson attempted to resuscitate the dermatoloin the Chelsea neighgist and called one of borhood. her friends before After the three dialing 911. used cocaine in the “A woman’s passed dealer’s Chelsea apartout,” Johnson told ment, Johnson fell the dispatcher asleep and awoke to between heavy find Cerveny in disbreaths, according to tress and Holder, the a recording of the dealer, ordering the JOHNSON ’86 911 call released by pair out of his apartthe court. When emergency perment, Johnson’s attorneys said. Johnson and Holder grabbed sonnel arrived, Johnson directed the unconscious dermatologist’s them to the woman and headed arms and legs carried her down- home, his attorneys said. Cerveny was pronounced stairs to the lobby of the building. It took about a minute for dead later that morning from the two to awkwardly carry acute alcohol and cocaine intoxCerveny to the lobby, said Mike See JOHNSON page 4 Wilson, a New York Times
Honored for Hoisting Man From Bridge’s Edge By ALEXIS OH Sun Staff Writer
A local group honored Officer Ronald Rogers of the Cornell University Police Department on Monday and
Beebe Lake on May 2 at about 2:30 a.m. and hoisted a man back over the railing in an incident that has not been previously reported. The Ithaca-Cayuga Kiwanis Club recognized
“Ron is an extremely well-rounded officer. His level of engagement with the community is very high.” Police Chief Kathy Zoner commended him for pulling a young man back from the edge of a bridge on campus. Rogers arrived at the bridge over Triphammer Falls and
Rogers for his potentially lifesaving act by designating him as the Officer of the Month See POLICE page 5
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Union Interest
Philosophical Apes
Summer Recap
T-Storms, Gusty Winds HIGH: 85º LOW: 60º
Cornell Graduate Students United geared up at its orientation, planning to increase its community outreach. | Page 3
Planet of the Apes should be digested slowly so audiences can fully grasp its commentaries, writes Zachary Lee ‘20. | Page 20
inflatable Catch up on all you missed in Cornell sports while you were away on summer vacation. | Page 28