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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 134, No. 3

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2017

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News

Arts

Sports

Weather

Ithaca to Mar-a-Lago?

Aliens and Spiders

Baseballers Gone Pro

Sunny HIGH: 76º LOW: 53º

An Ithaca-based firm has been helping recruit foreign workers for President Trump’s private club. | Page 3

Over the summer, four former-Red players were picked up by professional squads. | Page 16

Zach Lee ‘20 reviews the new Spider-Man movie and Viri Garcia ‘20 talks about Aliens. | Page 11

Understaffed Identity Programs Can’t Keep Up Identity and ethnic based programs struggle to match rising student demand

By ANNE SNABES

struggling to match the demand of growing Sun Staff Writer enrollments.

This past spring, students demanded res"It challenged a lot of the assumptions olutions to these concerns from members of that I had of the way that gender operates, the administration, including Dean of the the way that sexuality operates,” said College of Arts and Sciences Gretchen Ritter Hadiyah Chowdhury ’18. ’83 and Dean of Students Vijay Pendakur.

Chowdhury was an undeclared sophoIn May, more students organized at a more in the College of Arts and Sciences meeting with Ritter and Pendakur to when she decided to enroll in a Feminine, address the state of ethnic and identity based Gender & Sexuality Studies course. programs. Dissatisfied with the meeting, “It was just a more than half totally different the attendees “Our courses fill up way of thinking out of very quickly. ... The walked about gender, the meeting thinking about challenges that we early. race, honestly,” With low have are staffing she said. “We numbers of those courses.” talked a lot faculty in these about race in programs and Prof. Durba Ghosh that class, beone program --cause it was about — LGBT sex and sexuality in a cross-cultural context.” studies — having no appointed faculty, the Following this course, Chowdhury pur- inevitable result is some students are left sued other courses in the discipline and unable to pursue classes in identity-related declared a FGSS major, along with anthro- programs and the programs themselves canpology. not expand.

Identity studies programs like FGSS and ethnic studies programs like AsianShortage of Faculty American Studies have battled numerous Despite what Prof. Durba Ghosh, direcproblems in recent years, leaving them tor of FGSS, refers to as a “high demand”

for classes within FGSS, the program is understaffed.

“Our courses fill up very quickly, which is really great,” Ghosh said. “We’ve increased the capacity, so the courses are bigger than they used to be. The challenges that we have are staffing those courses.

FGSS enrollments have almost doubled in the last three years — from around 700 in 2014 to around 1,200 in 2017, according to Samara Selden, FGSS program assistant.

Ghosh said juniors and seniors fill up the introductory FGSS courses, preventing underclassman from taking them.

“Now we’re reserving 10 spots in the intro FGSS courses for the first-year students, but that’s still not enough,” she said.

“What we’re getting are juniors and seniors who take the intro courses, but they’re not here long enough to take the more advanced courses or take on majors or minors.”

Five faculty members are jointly appointed in FGSS and other departments, according to Ghosh. So far, the program has been able to hire three tenure-track faculty members since 2010.

“While the faculty in the program feel stretched in our ability to staff all the courses we would like to offer, we have not been

FGSS CLASS ENROLLMENT Though student enrollment has been steadily increasing, FGSS struggles to offer more courses.

See PROGRAMS page 5

DATA COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY BRIAN LAPLACA / SUN DESIGN EDITOR

New Open Syllabi Feature to Help Students Choose Classes

By JOSH GIRSKY

tion that eventually led to the change.

At Brown University, data are collected by a student-run organization called The Critical As students return to campus and reconsider Review, which publishes information on courses the classes they signed up for during pre-enroll, such as the difficulty of the course, the amount they may notice some added information on the of time it required per week and other aspects course roster that may help them decide if a class based on student surveys. is right for them: the syllabus.

The idea to do something similar at Cornell Class instructors are now able to upload their was originally proposed in the 2014-15 academic syllabi onto Cornell’s online course roster, allow- year but was quickly shot down by then Cornell ing students to view them before the first week President David Skorton, said Kaufman. of classes. This feature will help students during Since then, a Student Assembly task force the add-drop period this year and during pre- reviewed the issue and came up with the idea for enroll in the future. professors to upload The change, which “It has the potential to make everyone’s their syllabi. Since most was brought about by classes already have syla Student Assembly lives just a little bit easier, which I think labi, this change meant resolution, went live that no new informais something we all deserve.” on the course roster tion needs to be gathwebsite in July.

Gabe Kaufman ’18 ered.

While instructors Although the origiare not obligated to nal idea was to make upload their syllabi, many professors said the it mandatory for professors to upload them, that process is easy and straightforward. An average was also rejected. of around 20 percent of undergraduate classes in However many professors have voluntarily each department already have a syllabus avail- uploaded their syllabi. Prof. Barbara Correll, able.

English, said it allowed her to “be as inviting as The change was inspired by the amount of possible and as open as possible about the work information students receive at other Ivy League load” in her course on Shakespeare. schools before signing up for classes, said Gabe Kaufman ’18, one of the sponsors of the resoluSee SYLLABI page 4 Sun Managing Editor

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Green slime | The toxic algae that covered parts of Cayuga Lake with murky goo over the summer has disappeared for now.

Cayuga Lake Clear of Toxic Algae

By JOHN YOON Sun Assistant News Editor

After blue-green algae bloomed on Cayuga Lake at unprecedented levels in late July, the potentially harmful species have disappeared for now, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

This year the presence of the toxic algal blooms — taking the form of a smelly, green, floating slime — was confirmed for the first time in Ithaca and Tompkins County.

This bloom threatened swimmers, boat riders, fishers and families who use the lake for drinking

water.

“The southern part of Cayuga Lake had not been impacted by these blooms in the past,” said Samantha Hillson, the public information officer at the Tompkins County Health Department.

Some of Tompkins County’s summer destinations — including the Ithaca Yacht Club, Taughannock Falls State Park in Trumansburg and Myers Point in Lansing — underwent temporary closures in late July when they were awash in murky goo before they reopened in early August, See ALGAE page 4

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 207

Daybook

DAYBOOK

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

ORIENTATION WEEK EVENTS Today The Magic of Mushrooms 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., 2nd floor, Mann Library Economics: Coffee and Conversation 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., 477 Uris Hall Churchill Scholarship Information Session Noon - 1 p.m., 103 Barnes Hall Biological Statistics And Computational Biology Seminar 1:45 - 2:45 p.m., Bear’s Den, 226 Weill Hall Finding Your Way: Maps 101 2 p.m., Lower Level, Olin Library LEPP Theory Seminar: Simon Kast (KIT) 2 p.m., 401 Physical Sciences Building

Veterinary Senior Seminars 4:30 - 5:45 p.m., College of Veterinary Medicine Herb Garden Tour 6:30 p.m., Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center Free Showing of Tomorrow for New Students 7 - 9 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre

Tomorrow Tree Phenology Walk Series 10:30 - 11 a.m., Cayuga Nature Center Get Started with Library Research at Cornell 4 p.m., Stone Classroom, Mann Library

Walking Tours of Olin, Kroch and Uris 3 p.m., Upper Lobby, Uris Library

Jared Enriquez: Sustainable Water Management In the Tourism Economy 4:30 p.m., 115 W. Sibley Hall

Exploring Cornell University Library’s Rare Books And Manuscripts, Kroch Library 3:40 p.m., Rotunda on top floor, Kroch Library

Presidential Inauguration: Festival of Scholarship 4:30 - 6 p.m., Physical Sciences Building

Fine Arts Library Tour 4:30 p.m., B56 Sibley Hall

A Very Waffling Welcome to Cornell 5 - 7 p.m., Risley Dining Room

Cornell Performing and Media Arts Town Hall 4:30 p.m., Flex Theatre, Schwartz Center for Performing Arts

Presidential Inauguration: Academic Symposium, “Universities and the Search for Truth” 6:30 - 8 p.m., Bailey Hall

Walking Tours of Olin and Uris | These libraries are home to the social sciences and humanities collections.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 2017 3

NEWS

Ithaca Firm Helps Recruit Foreign Labor for Mar-a-Lago Company led by Cornell alumnus seeks guest-worker visas for hires at Trump businesses

By EMMA NEWBURGER Sun Assistant News Editor

While President Donald Trump’s Mar-aLago club may lie hundreds of miles remote from rainy Ithaca, a local firm has closed the gap.

Ithaca-based recruitment firm Petrina Group International works to hire foreign guest workers for the club. Founded in 2001 by Peter Petrina ’94, the company provides international staffing consulting services to clients in the private club industry and has offices in Ithaca and Romania.

Last month, Mar-a-Lago asked the Labor Department for permission to hire 70 temporary workers from overseas and requested visas from the government, according to The Washington Post.

Petrina finds foreign workers for Trump’s resorts, golf clubs and vineyard, looking for young people with hospitality experience, according to The Washington Post.

Petrina Group International did not respond to request for comment.

Since 2010, federal records show that nearly 300 American workers have applied to or been referred for jobs at Trump’s private club, but only 17 of those workers have been hired.

Instead, the club has relied on employing foreigners largely from Romania and Haiti, pursuing more than 500 visas for foreign workers, according to the United States Department of Labor.

The H-2B visas requested by Mar-aLago are commonly used for temporary, “less-skilled” workers in the seasonal hospitality industry, according to Prof. Ben Rissing, industrial and labor relations.

TOM BRENNER / THE NEW YORK TIMES

Alternative resorts | Ithaca-based firm, Petrina Group International, works to find foreign workers for Trump’s resort at Mar-a-Lago.

U.S. employers like Mar-a-Lago are legally mandated to advertise job openings at least twice in local newspapers to target U.S. workers. They then must report the number of local U.S. applicants to the federal government before they can be granted approval to hire foreign aid through H-2B visas.

Rissing said the primary concern with this regulation is the majority of it was written in a time before the internet.

“The current labor certification law has employers advertise primarily through physical newspapers or trade journals,

which doesn't really meet the reality of how workers typically search for jobs today,” he said. “With the employment-based green card, employers can place jobs … in a local newspaper in such a way that the actual advertising may not necessarily reach qualified and available U.S. workers.”

According to the Labor Department, Trump’s businesses have asked for guestworker visas for at least 15 years.

Rissings commented that a number of firms use this type of visa for outsourcing purposes.

“A portion of U.S. firms seek out highly

skilled immigrants, such as those with unique skills and graduate degrees,” he said.

However, other firms take the opposite approach in hiring.

“Another group of firms bring in a lot of immigrants on temporary visas and tend not to transition these workers onto permanent visas,” Rissings said. “So they bring immigrant workers in for a short period of time and pay them right at $60,000, which can avoid certain minimum advertising requirements targeting U.S. workers in some visa programs.

“These are employers that presumably might be able to find some of those skills in U.S. workers, but who see value in bringing in foreign workers for a short duration,” he added.

The timing of Mar-a-Lago’s visa requests for foreign recruits occurred last month during the “Made in America Week” at the White House, which incited controversy among critics.

Trump’s previous calls for tightened border restrictions on immigration, as well as his “Buy American, Hire American” executive order, seemed to some critics as antithetical to his own business hiring practices.

The number of guest workers has been growing in the U.S., according to The Washington Post, and labor advocates have accused employers of using cheap foreign labor to replace American workers.

However, Mar-a-Lago has maintained that they hire foreign workers only after they are unsuccessful in filling open positions with qualified American workers.

Emma Newburger can be reached at enewburger@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Bhangra Team Follows Beat Into 20th Year

By JULIETTE OVADIA Sun Staff Writer

The Punjabi term “bhangra” means “intoxicated with joy,” and judging by the longevity of competitive dance team Cornell Bhangra and the enthusiastic smiles of its performers, the activity is indeed as joyful as it sounds.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Cornell Bhangra, making the group the longest continuously running collegiate Bhangra team in North America.

The traditional folk dance — originating in the state of Punjab in northern India — has long been an integral part of Punjabi culture. Though originally performed to celebrate the harvest in farming cultures, Bhangra dance choreography has since evolved.

With the influence of neighboring regions and the creation of an international collegiate circuit reaching from the United States to Australia, Bhangha has expanded from its rural roots. “[Bhangra] choreography now

is not just about using those core moves, but about using them in a unique and interesting way,” said Sonali Razdan ’19, president and co-captain of Cornell Bhangra.

In this unique and interesting way, Cornell team is innovative in their use of modern choreography, including hip hop and other Indian dance moves in their sets, Razdan explained.

“If you've seen our performances at Pao Bhangra … you'll see that we fuse traditional Punjabi … folk dance elements with modern pop music to make the experience memorable for the crowd and exciting for the dancers on stage,” said Samir Jain ’19.

That creativity has turned them into an eminent team, winning consecutive World’s Best Bhangra Crew competitions in 2013 and 2014, and Bhangra Blowout in 2015.

The team even reached the quarterfinals in the 2014 season of the NBC television series “America’s Got Talent.”

The team’s spectacle can also be seen at Pao Bhangra, Cornell Bhangra’s annual March exhibition, in which four collegiate Bhangra teams are invited to Ithaca to perform their sets on Cornell’s stage.

Razdan said she’s hoping to further elevate the team’s past success. This year, she wants to emphasize the team’s folk roots and define the team identity, hoping to “bring back the heat and the fire we had in past years.” “[We are] a young team, with only one senior, so the next two years will be especially important [in] defining what Cornell Bhangra is,” Razdan said.

Cornell Bhangra owes its success to the “dedication and commitment” of its members, Razdan said, and the community spirit of the team is evident in both their energetic performances and behind-the-scenes.

Amanda Pathmanathan ‘19 highlighted the inclusive recruitment process that emphasized the close bonds among Cornell

Bhangra members.

“Everything we do comes from the idea that we’re a family and we want to be here,” she said.

Participation in Cornell Bhangra is rigorous and intensive; the team practices for seven to ten hours every week, according to Razdan, and members give up study and social time to attend competitions on weekends.

Most of all, Cornell Bhangra seeks to celebrate the diverse cultural identities that coexist here at Cornell.

“In a world like today, with a

lot of tensions … we’re spreading Punjabi culture in order to open it up to everyone, trying to show there’s a good side to every culture, there’s a lot everyone is contributing. Even if we’re not Punjabi, we can still appreciate the culture and the dance,” Pathmanathan said.

As Deepthi John ’19 put it, “to come together, to dance together … [it] shows you can overcome whatever differences you have.”

Juliette Ovadia can be reached at jovadia@cornellsun.com.

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Fun-jabi | Cornell’s award-winning Bhangra team celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, with hopes to boost its past success and “bring back the heat and the fire.”

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4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 2017

NEWS

Open Syllabi to Bring Ease SYLLABI

Continued from page 1

www.cornellsun.com

load” in her course on Shakespeare.

Other professors echoed Correll’s sentiment and added that the process was quick and took only a few seconds.

But others have still not uploaded their syllabi for a variety of reasons. One professor pointed out that when teaching courses that include sensitive topics such as race, they may not want to invite criticism by posting their syllabus for the entire world to see. Other professors said they just have not gotten around to it yet or that students have not asked to have them published.

The change may have a minimal impact in the short run.

Unavailable during pre-enroll for the current semester, it will only be helpful to students during the adddrop session.

But Kaufman said that, although the change may not be groundbreaking, it is still important.

“I’m not changing anyone’s life here,” he said. “This isn’t going to be huge, but it’s a bunch of little things. And so I feel like it has the potential to make everyone’s lives just a little bit easier, which I think is something we all deserve.”

Josh Girsky can be reached at managing-editor@cornellsun.com.

Algae No Longer Toxic ALGAE

Continued from page 1

according to the DEC. Meanwhile, at the northern end of Cayuga Lake, Cayuga County has been impacted by harmful algal blooms for the past few years — and even had to address concerns about the public water supply because the extent of the contamination was so far reaching, Hillson said.

Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, can be found in all bodies of water on earth, said Prof. Nelson Hairston, environmental science, who studies harmful algal blooms on Lake Honeoye, one of the Finger Lakes. But the combination of warm weather, stillwater and high nutrient runoff gives the algae perfect conditions to bloom into green, slushy scum.

Under these conditions, the algae then float and are blown by the wind toward the shore, he said, where they can accumulate against the shore and stink while it rots.

Besides the unsightly appearance of the harmful algal blooms, exposure to toxins that the algae sometimes produces can cause skin irritations, allergic reactions and even death to people, wildlife and pets, he said. Further, once the algae decompose, they can sink and use up a lot of oxygen, which creates dangerous conditions for fish.

The cause of the sudden appearance in Tompkins County remains unknown, but Hillson said the high rainfalls and warm temperatures in late July could have contributed to the anomaly.

After several rounds of storms that brought flash flooding and above-average rainfalls to Ithaca in the last week of July, the Tompkins County Health Department saw a sharp rise in the number of suspect blooms reported from individuals concerned about their beach wells and waterways being covered in suspicious goo.

“Then it cooled off,” Hillson said. “And we hadn’t gotten this much rain the past few weeks, so, after that, the reports of harmful algal blooms decreased.”

Hairston said there has also been a lot more farming in the Finger Lakes’ watershed, leading to increased nutrient runoff in the whole region. Agriculture, espe-

cially on big farms and concentrated animal feeding operations, gave a big nutrient pulse that was linked to the increase in algal blooms, he said.

Following reports of suspicious outbreaks on Cayuga Lake in July, the Tompkins County Health Department had issued warnings about the harmful algal blooms over the summer, with a plea for observers on public and private lakefronts to avoid exposure to untreated water.

The DEC’s laboratory tests confirmed the presence of harmful algal blooms and cyanotoxins, produced by the harmful algae, at various lakefronts on the lake’s southern end.

The health alerts — warning against swimming at Cayuga Lake and drinking untreated lake water — continued for two weeks from late July through early August.

Once tests indicated the toxic algae were absent, the warnings were lifted and closed locations reopened in August, the New York State Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation said.

While certain lakefronts and parks in Ithaca have not been issued any warnings or undergone closures, occurrences of harmful algal blooms are not rare throughout the Finger Lakes region.

Over time, the department has seen reports of algal bloom sightings steadily rise. So far in 2017 more than 60 waterbodies have gone on the list, and, as soon as an occurrence has been identified, the DEC has issued warnings to health departments, parks and private lakefront owners.

“It’s a problem in Cayuga Lake and we need to worry, for sure, but it’s also a problem worldwide,” Hairston said.

The Environmental Protection Agency stated in a report that warmer weather, higher carbon dioxide levels and more intense storms also contributed to increasing algal blooms across the United States.

“The documented occurrence of harmful algal blooms in the Finger Lakes has been increasing,” said Dr. Lisa Cleckner, director of the Finger Lakes Institute at the Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

John Yoon can be reached at jyoon@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 2017 5

NEWS

Staffing Issues, Budget Cuts Plague Identity Programs PROGRAMS

Continued from page 1

restricted as much as other departments and programs,” she said.

Ghosh said the college has “done very little hiring” in recent years. She did note that this is soon to change.

"I learned on Friday that the Arts college has increased the number of positions it will fill in 2017- 2018, due, in part, to some new hiring initiatives,” Ghosh wrote in an email in late July.

The College of Arts and Sciences is planning to hire a new faculty member in FGSS and Africana Studies, according to Ghosh.

However, Chowdhury believes there is more work to be done.

“My number one thing would be to hire more people,” she said.

“But if they’re doing that, I’m happy to hear that. My only concern is that the administration would hire someone and then be like, ‘we’ve done our job, that’s enough.’”

Another such program, Asian American Studies, has also faced a shortage of faculty, according to Prof. Derek Chang, former director of Asian American Studies.

Despite significant student demand — 101 students enrolled in courses cross-listed with AAS last fall semester, and 198 students enrolled last spring semester, according to Chang — the program has a total of 3 professors.

Chang said three professors are appointed to the program and an additional professor offers courses in the College of Human Ecology that are cross-listed with Asian American studies.

He said additional faculty members would allow the program to “teach classes more regularly,” allowing for student demand to become “fairly steady” rather than “fluctuating widely.” In doing so Chang said that Cornell “might be able to grow the program.”

Cornell’s AAS program has kept the same number of faculty, while other universities’ programs have grown, according to Chang.

This lack of growth has left Cornell trailing behind.

“I could come up with arguments for having faculty of seven,” Chang said. “There was a time when Cornell was the most important, and in some ways, the most vibrant Asian American studies program outside of the West Coast. Right now, it’s the University of Illinois.”

Latino/a Studies is also in need of more faculty, but in a particular discipline: the social sciences.

Prof. Debra Castillo, director of Latino/a Studies, said the Latino/a studies classes with the largest enrollment numbers are social science courses, in fields like sociology and health. However, a majority of LSP professors are in the humanities.

“We are very aware … that there’s a lot of interest on the part of our students in some of the social studies areas where we don’t have enough faculty,” Castillo said. “We are actively engaged in conversations about new faculty hires particularly in the social science areas.”

“With the student interest moving increasingly towards social sciences, we are planning ahead for a good balance between student needs and faculty expertise,” she continued.

LGBT Studies confronts its unique problem: there are no faculty members appointed to the program.

Instead, the program relies on faculty in other departments volunteering to make their course be a LGBT Studies course.

In fact, the LGBT Studies program was created because of faculty demands in the 1990s, according to Prof. Judith Peraino, director of LGBT Studies.

“The position that I’m in is hardly compensated, so it’s almost completely volunteer.”

Prof. Judith Peraino “LGBT Studies exists because of a negotiation that occurred to retain a faculty member,” Peraino said.

The negotiating faculty member was Prof. Biddy Martin, now president of Amherst College. As a result, the administration started to provide funds for a LGBT lecture series and agreed to hire an English professor who specializes in queer theory, according to Peraino and Prof. Ellis Hanson, English, who was the hired faculty member.

Peraino said that in 1996, faculty created the LGBT Studies program to differentiate it from Women’s Studies. However, little has changed since then.

“No further commitments or funding to the LGBT Studies program has been made by the administration since the 1990s,” she added.

In such situations, Peraino said searching for faculty to teach courses depends on her “work[ing] with the good graces of other departments.”

“When I am trying to staff the Introduction to LGBT Studies, which is a healthy course, I can’t always find someone to staff it because I have to try to work with the good graces of other departments and ask if they will allow their faculty member to get a course release in order to teach the intro course,” she said.

Lack of Administrative Support

In addition to difficulties with student to faculty ratios, many identity-based programs and departments have struggled to serve their students due to minimal administrative assistance.

Without sufficient administrative support, student enrollment, program planning and keeping track of the majors and minors with the programs become greater challenges.

Fiscal cuts in 2010 caused FGSS to reduce its administrative assistant’s position from threequarter-time to half-time.

“That’s a kind of substantial cut, especially at a time when our enrollments are going up, so we’re dealing with more students,” Ghosh said.

The LGBT Studies program only has one part-time administrative assistant, which it shares with FGSS. “We’re grossly understaffed in terms of office staff,” Peraino said.

“It’s not easy to grow a program when you only have a part-time program manager and only volun-

teer faculty.”

Program directors may also personally feel the effect of low funding. Peraino’s position itself is minimally compensated.

“The position that I’m in is hardly compensated, so it’s almost completely volunteer,” she said. “A little bit of money. And it goes into my research account.”

Peraino said that directors of departments are exempt from teaching the full course load, as they have administrative work to carry out. But program directors like Peraino still have to teach two courses during the semester.

“If something called the ‘Director of LGBT Studies’ doesn’t get a course release, that severely limits the time that they can put into growing that program,” she said.

Budget Cuts

According to the administration, these problems plaguing ethnic studies and identity programs are partially a result of the University’s fiscal landscape over the past decade.

Ritter told The Sun that Cornell had “significant budget shortfalls” both in 2008 to 2010 and in 2014 to 2015, leading to budget cuts in identity based programs.

“In each case, when the university allocated a reduced budget to the College of Arts and Sciences, we distributed these cuts across the college evenly (with only a few exceptions),” Ritter said in a statement to The Sun. In 2016, all departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences — including ethnic studies programs — received a 0.5 percent cut. Ritter said the college made “additional cuts or pull backs” on departments or programs that could afford them. The chemistry department for example lost $490,000 in 2016, the history department $140,000 and the physics department $25,000.

Ghosh said the budget for FGSS has increased since 2008, partly because the program has hired three faculty members since then. To be able to afford these new faculty members, other parts of the FGSS budget have been stretched. The programming budget for FGSS, for example, is 30 percent less than what it was in 2010, according to Ghosh.

“We’d like to be able to have a really robust group of speakers and high profile people come to visit,

particularly because our classes are “limited” amount of AAS faculty. so popular,” she said.

“Right now the teaching capacity Other departments and pro- of the staff is limited because there grams were affected by the 2008 just isn’t enough,” Lee said. “The fiscal crisis, but their endowments limited number just means that offered them more security. there are limited classes available.”

Prof. Kurt Jordan, director of Luckily for Lee and other AAS the Cornell Institute of students, the program submitted a Archaeology and Material Studies, hiring proposal to the dean of Arts said the College of Arts and & Sciences which was approved Sciences reduced the archaeology this summer, according to Chang. program’s operating budget by 50 FGSS is also lacking in certain percent, from $1000 to $500, after opportunities. Chowdhury stressed the fiscal crisis of 2008. The bud- the importance of programming, get has not changed since then. of which FGSS has little.

However, much of CIAMS’ “I remember one time actually funding comes from endowments. FGSS brought two spoken word These endowments pay for archae- poets to Biotech for an evening of ology’s programming and for their spoken word poetry, and it was postdoc. incredible,” she said. “It was so “The endowments are good for good. I would love to see that kind a program because the program of stuff happening more.” decides how they’re going to be Students are the ones who spent,” Jordan said. “The more ensure that these ethnic studies endowments you have, the less programs survive, according to you’re reliant on the college. So Mayra Valadez ’18, a Latino/a that the college stuff can go up and studies minor. down quite a bit, as the 2008 “Obviously, the reason why financial crisis showed, but if you these programs were created oftenhave your own endowment, it’s a times [was] because the students lot more stable.” demanded that they be created,” The English department also Valadez said. “So the sustainability has endowed funds that go of these programs rests on the stutowards lectures and reading series, dents themselves, while students according to Prof. Roger Gilbert, should be at Cornell as students chair of English. and not as quasi-administrators.”

However, not all programs can In fact, the onus fell on stucompensate for “The sustainability of these programs budget cuts with endowrests on students themselves, while ment funding. students should be at Cornell ... not as As a relatively new proquasi-administrators.” gram, FGSS Mayra Valadez ’18 does not receive as much alumni-fundings. dents this past spring, as they “English is different and history helped the Latino Studies program is different because they are raise $20,000 to support the prodepartments,” Ghosh said. “They gram, according to Valadez. are departments that have a pretty Members of the Student Assembly big alumni base, that have some have even proposed that the S.A. independent funding of their own. give its surplus to ethnic studies Programs like FGSS, LGBT, pro- programs. grams like Latino studies or Asian “[It] shouldn’t be an expectaAmerican studies have some of the tion of the students to keep same issues. These aren’t very old reminding the administrators that programs. They’re not super well they have this commitment to established, so we’re dependent in make sure that students of color, terms of our funding on the col- who have been continually disenlege.” franchised, can learn from professors who look like them, about Students Left as “Quasitheir own culture, in what courses Administrators” they are able to take, in the Ivory Students of ethnic studies have Tower,” Valadez said experienced the effects of low funding firsthand. Rebecca Lee ’18, an Asian American Studies Anne Snabes can be reached at minor, noted that there is there is a asnabes@cornellsun.com.

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Ara Hagopian | The Whiny Liberal

L

Of Mice and Statues

ast semester I took a history of science class. During one discussion section we focused on Werner Heisenberg, the eminent German physicist who spearheaded the Uranverein (Uranium Club), Nazi Germany’s nuclear weapons project. Our T.A. asked us if Heisenberg should be held accountable for his actions. Many people, myself included, gave answers that basically amounted to no. “It’s not that simple,” I said, “They killed you if you dissented or tried to leave. I’d like to think that I would have stood up for what I believed in, but I can’t be sure.” Nate, the T.A., was surprised and a little affronted by what he heard. He claimed that we were being “good little millennial relativists” (or something to that effect). “He worked for the Nazis,” he said, “The Nazis. Jesus, I thought I’d have to balance out the conversation the other way.”

In the current social and political climate, this story is a germane one. In a philosophical context, relativism is defined as “the doctrine that knowledge, truth and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.”

It is a tenet of the modern American ethos.

But how much moral relativism is too much? This question has been raised, both directly and indirectly, in relation to the recent controversy over Confederate monuments. The rioters in Charlottesville were rallying to the defense of a statue of General Robert E. Lee. President Trump said days later, “This week, it is Robert E. Lee and this week, Stonewall Jackson… George Washington was a slave owner. Are we gonna take down statues of George Washington?” Many of my more right-leaning family members seem to agree with his point. I believe that liberals need to get outside of our so-called “echo chambers” and engage with arguments from the other side. If we don’t, experienced conservative talking heads like Ben Shapiro will keep making us look like idiots on television. How can this one be refuted?

In a recent Chicago Tribune article, Northwestern Law Professor Steven Lubet explicitly disagrees with the above quote. He writes, “During his entire life, Washington was never exposed to the idea that slavery could be entirely abolished… [He] lived in an age

when there were few who challenged slavery. Slavery was often considered distasteful, or even morally questionable, in Washington’s lifetime, but ending slavery was never actually a political issue. In contrast, Lee came into adulthood when slavery was the political issue dividing the United States.” Essentially, Lubet argues that the important difference between the two men is one of ideological environment. If that were the case, then picking out cultural heroes from our country’s troubled past becomes akin to another notorious redactional dilemma; voting steroid era baseball players into the hall of fame.

“Bonds hit 762 home runs in the steroid era, more than anyone else. In any other era of baseball, maybe he hits about 600. He should be in Cooperstown. George Washington bought and sold other human beings, but everyone was doing it back then. If he lived today I’m sure he’d recycle. Let’s give him a statue.”

Professor Lubet’s argument is self-refuting. If, as he claims, individuals are products of the ethos of their time, then nothing is more important than an ideological paradigm shift. Our heroes should be the ones who do the incredibly hard work of overcoming their own social conditioning and bring about these shifts. In one of the great “atta-boy” moments of human history, a few people in Judea started a religion based on the teachings of one such man. There were such men in Washington’s time too. To say as Lubet does, that there were “few who challenged slavery,” is patently false; there were thousands of African slaves who did just that.

Like Lee, Washington had the other side of the issue available to him. And like Lee, he refused to see it.

I’m not arguing that we should tear down statues of the founding fathers as a protest.

What we should do is think more carefully about where people deserving of our admiration may be found.

Our heroes should be the ones who do the incredibly hard work of overcoming their own social conditioning and bring about these shifts.

Ara Hagopian is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at ahagopian@cornellsun.com.

The Whiny Liberal appears alternate Fridays this semester.

Jason Jeong | Jeongism

Balancing the Affirmative Action Tightrope T

he summer of 2017 will be one for the history books. It was a truly a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows. My hometown Golden State Warriors had undoubtedly the greatest postseason in NBA history, but at the same time, the South Korean men’s national team looked like the Denver Nuggets of international soccer. And last month, President Trump announced that the Department of Justice would investigate the discrimination of Asian students in college admissions, only to announce a few weeks later that he would unleash “fire and fury” on my peninsula.

Although I could do without the nuclear warfare, the role of Asian Americans in the affirmative action discussion is an issue that hits pretty close to home. I grew up in a largely Asian neighborhood in Northern California, where academic excellence superseded mental and physical health and where you could hear the neighbors’ five-year-old kid practicing the piano into the wee hours of the night. Here, one’s college admissions letter was the golden ticket and there was a visceral understanding among my peers that our race might very well prevent us from spending four years in the chocolate factory of one’s dream.

Although Trump promised to investigate further, it appears the movement against Asian “negative action” probably won’t gain political momentum any time soon. It is hard to sympathize with upper and middle class Asian kids at Cornell or U.C. Berkeley who complain about how unfair it is that they didn’t get accepted into Harvard… and the issue at hand is one whose advocates are almost exclusively Asian kids at Cornell and U.C. Berkeley who didn’t get accepted into

Harvard. However, because the size of the concerned party is relatively small, liberals need to create a more nuanced platform that not only promises more equitable evaluation for Asian candidates, but also embraces the diversity of other disadvantaged minorities.

In an episode of the Netflix comedy Master of None, there is a scene where a black mother explains to her daughter and her Indian friend what a minority is. She explains that a minority is, “a group of people who have to work twice as hard in life to make it half as far.” For Asian Americans, the issue is slightly more complicated, as they fall somewhat ambiguously between the spectrum of economic privilege and social disprivilege.

What is not ambiguous is that in a country where education can be a catalyst for the profound reinvention of one’s economic fortunes, institutions of higher learning are designed to protect the interests of wealthy, white Americans from those who could benefit from it the most. Negative action against Asian students at top universities like Cornell and Harvard sets up a cycle of white socioeconomic privilege masquerading under the guise of preferential treatment for “legacy” students and “holistic” evaluation of candidates. In 2015, the Harvard Crimson reported that legacy students were three times more likely to receive admittance than others. Similarly, a 2009 study by a sociology professor at Princeton showed that Asian students had to score 150 points higher on the SAT than their white counterparts for the same chance of admission into top universities.

Negative action against Asian students is never for the sake of campus diversity, but rather to ensure admission for kids whose dads play golf with the Board of Trustees

on weekends.

It’s an interesting time in history to be debating affirmative action. A few weeks ago, we saw protests in Charlottesville where white supremacists (let’s call them what they really are) rallied to protect “white heritage,” proclaiming “white lives matter.” Socioeconomic and race-conscious affirmative action is clearly still necessary on campuses across America. The purpose of affirmative action isn’t to give each race an equal slice of the demographic pie on every college campus in America, but rather to mitigate a history of disenfranchisement and to prevent generations of cascading disadvantages for minority families. However, affirmative action today exists in an education system that is designed not to protect the disadvantaged, but rather uplift the wealthy.

Negative action against Asian American students is an obstacle for first-generation families and a crutch for the most advantaged members of our society.

Every year, Cornell sends out the same email blast that the incoming Class of 20XX is “the most diverse in school history.” In order to truly embrace diversity on campus, Cornell must protect affirmative action and their dedication to minority students by getting rid of preferential treatment for legacy and trust fund students. Too often, the victims of these programs are high achieving Asian students. By ending these specific programs, we can preserve affirmative action while moving higher education away from its historically white and upper-class bias.

Jason Jeong is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at jj357@cornell.edu. Jeongism appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | W Wednesday, August 23, 2017 7

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A&E

Wednesday, August 23, 2017 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Spidey Swings Home

BY ZACHARY LEE Sun Staff Writer

After a semi-successful trilogy by Sam Raimi and two over-the-top films from Marc Webb, it seemed like everyone’s neighborhood wall crawler was going to put up the cowl for good, while studios battled over whether SpiderMan should be portrayed as an emo teenager or an emotionally challenged Tobey Maguire. Yet, who would have thought that thirty minutes of Tom Holland donning spandex in Captain America: Civil War was a sign of better things to come? Holland’s performance earned him stripes for his own solo movie in the form of Spider-Man: Homecoming, the title of which references the eponymous high school dance and is symbolic of Spider-Man joining the larger Marvel family owned by Disney. As with anyone who has to interact with new relatives, Homecoming can feel awkward and terse as it attempts to navigate and connect with past films, but once it finds its own footing, the movie flips into high gear. In the end, the latest Spidey excels as a greater extension of the Marvel Universe, and also as a solid standalone feature buoyed by a stellar supporting cast, infectious humor and a fresh, contemporary high school setting.

Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place soon after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) attempts to fight crime and prove his worth as an Avenger while struggling to adjust to the monotony of high school life. Right from the start, director Jon Watts establishes a tension between the “civilian world” and the “superhero world.” While New York was explored in past MCU movies, Watts focuses specifically on highlighting Queens, keeping the camera focused on the ground and only slightly oscillating the view up when Spidey was swinging throughout the city. There’s an emphasis on Queens’ business but also its idiosyncrasies, from hole-in-the-wall sandwich shops to creviced alleyways, perfect for hiding one’s super suit and backpack. Likewise, shots of Avengers Tower, PSA announcements given by Captain America and casual conversation about Hulk in Peter’s high school gymnasium remind viewers that this Spider-Man movie very much takes place in a post-Avengers world, where the public has largely accepted that superheroes are a part of daily life. This evolution is interesting to note in comparison with the first Iron

Man and also adds pressure on Peter, as he is forced to grapple with what makes his superhero antics special in a world of demigods and super soldiers.

As Peter wrestles with his superhero side, one of the more offputting elements of the film is that it feels like Jon Watts was attempting to shoot a high school drama (think along the lines of Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club), pitched his film to the studio and Marvel forcefully reminded him that he was hired to make a superhero movie. Montages of Peter and his best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) raising their hands in Spanish class may seem out of place, but these unadulterated looks into Peter’s life is what makes him relatable. Watts likewise provides a fresh spin on traditional high school angsts: we can relate to wanting the bell to ring. But, there is always an element of the unordinary, as most high school kids might hang out with friends after school, but Peter has already donned his costume, ready to serve his community whether that is giving directions to an old lady or stopping a bike thief.

Tom Holland’s zealous and effervescent portrayal of Peter Parker was a highlight of Captain America: Civil War and it continues to the anchor of Homecoming. He dually portrays the quirky and shy nerd archetype, perhaps best fleshed out in his hilariously realistic and awkward interactions with his crush, Liz (Laura Harrier) or as he fumbles to lie to Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) why he was out late on a school night.

At times he even seems Peter’s innocence to be self-sacrificial, as he cares fiercely for the people around him. This contrast between Peter Parker and Spider-Man is brilliantly fleshed out as Peter has all the right to brag and be egotistical, yet he remains humble whenever the spotlight shines on him.

Spider-Man has always had a great supporting cast and this trend continues with Homecoming, as the film masterfully balances its great star power with equally admirable responsibility. At long last, the problem with MCU Villains is rectified in the form of Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes,

COURTESY OF WARNER BROTHERS

also known as the Vulture, whose mechanical flight suit makes Falcon’s harness look pathetic by comparison.

Toomes has a compelling and genuine motivation that drives him to turn to a life of crime, and Michael Keaton steals the show in every scene that he is in, being able to turn from the sneering villain caricature to a cold and calculating genius at a moment’s whim. People may have been worried that Homecoming was secretly Iron Man 4 featuring SpiderMan, but Robert Downey Jr.’s role as Tony Stark (Iron Man) thankfully does not eclipse Tom Holland’s. Jacob Batalon’s portrayal of Ned is another standout, providing many hilarious moments in the film. Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May is wittier and more deductive than past incarnations, but is not given too much to do. Other characters such as Zendaya’s Michelle and Donald Glover’s Aaron Davis are unfortunately given only a handful of minutes on screen.

Spider-Man: Homecoming has all the elements you would want from a superhero movie: action, humor and great character development, yet those elements also make for a great high school drama film. Like its titular protagonist, Homecoming lighthearted without ever being insincere, thrilling yet also humorous. It is one of those rare films that defies all typical genre conventions while being an exemplar for what superhero films can and should be.

Zachary Lee is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He can be reached at zjl4@cornell.edu

An Alien Knows More About Me Than I Ever Will

BY VIRI GARCIA Sun Staff Writer

Be it often or seldom, we are reminded just how ridiculous our society and morals are. We get sad for no reason, we get grumpy, we’re ungrateful when we have everything given to us and treat each other like garbage. Jonny Sun’s illustrated novel, Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, is all about the weird ways of “humabns,” the concepts they’ve created and the way that they deal with feelings, fears and each other.

The book is one of the few that are meant to be read from cover to cover, as the first and last pages contain Jomny the alien’s “activitey log,” which can be both a preface and an epilogue. Jomny, an alien who is not quite good at spelling human words, has been sent to Earth with a mission to meet and research Earth’s creatures, or “humabns.” Jomny wanders back and forth between the same places and makes friends with them as instructed.

However, he comes to realize that each human he meets has a special set of fears, anxieties and emotions. His first friend is a tree that has “learned to stop giving things to sombody just because they want somthing” and goes on to teach him countless confusing things about what everyone feels, while providing constant emotional support.

As mentioned, each creature that Jomny meets has a specific set of problems, such as an owl that thinks he doesn’t deserve to be an owl because he is not wise, an egg that is worried about who it will become, bees who can’t make friends because they fear they’ll sting them and a dog who loves everyone but doesn’t know how to express happiness in words that everyone can understand. The book is

full of rich allegories that any reader can decipher and appreciate right away, and they also become more meaningful once the reader thinks more. For example, a character called Nothing makes appearances, but once Nothing realizes that when it shows up everybody else leaves, it feels unappreciated and leaves, causing all the characters to become cluttered and chaotic on the pages. They all tell Nothing that they appreciate it and ask it to come back, restoring order. Such allegories hold a lot of meaning even though they are cute and easy to understand thanks to the bubbly, friendly illustrations.

COURTESY OF JOMNY SUN / HARPER PERENNIAL

In addition to the illustrations, Sun has given all of the characters greater depth by using a unique fonts when one of the characters speaks. Jomny, most of the creatures and his alien colleagues all share a casual, soothing font, while Nothing has a thin, formal font, representing greater pres-

ence and meaning. No character in the book is trivial, which in itself is another metaphor. Sun has created a book full of nuance from cover to cover, from the “map of earbth” found at the beginning of the book, to the “About the fonts” and acknowledgements pages. If one were to dissect and understand each metaphor in its entirety, life would achieve greater meaning and we would all be less sad and lonely Throughout the book, Jomny’s alien colleagues visit him on Earth to check how he has progressed on his mission. However, when they find out that Jomny has befriended the “humabns,” they inform him that he is failing because he’s strictly supposed to be researching them, especially since their species functions perfectly without friends. Jomny spends at least 100 days on Earth and gets to experience loneliness, happiness, sadness, everything and nothing. However, he never finds the definition of “♥,” which is what a dog tells everyone he meets. One of the big ideas in the book is that some things can’t be defined, don’t need to be defined and don’t happen for a reason. Some things are better experienced than explained.

I hadn’t picked up a book since Darcie Wilder’s literally show me a healthy person, which could be frustrating and hardly a book to some, but I hold it very dear to my heart.

Similarly, Everyone’s a aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too is mostly cute pictures and few words, which could make anyone question whether it should be considered “a book,” as the author himself anticipates. However, the few words in the sea of illustrations hit home, crawl under your skin and curl up in your heart to stay.

Viri Garcia is a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at vg235@cornell.edu

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 2017

SCIENCE

Astronomy

Weill Researchers Partake In Eclipse Astrobiology Experiments Team will analyze RNA expression and genetic mutations of bacteria sent into stratosphere 1

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

High flying l (1) The eclipse, as viewed from Ithaca. (2) A high-altitude balloon, similar to those used in Monday’s experiment. event. 34 of these balloons were carrying samples of bacteria.

Sun Staff Writer Each balloon carried a small metal card, coated with spores of the harmbacterium According to an ancient Korean less myth, fire dogs sent by a power hungry Paenibacillus xerotherking attempt to steal the fiery sun or modurans. These spores ice cold moon. When they bite either are resistant structures that the bacterium utiorb, an eclipse results.

But on August 21st, as parts of the lizes to survive in unfaUnited States were treated to a total vorable conditions. An solar eclipse, astronomers all over the identical card stayed on country were not be searching for the ground to allow these creatures. Instead, they were researchers to compare, taking part in experiments to try to among other things, the understand the plasma around the spore’s survival and any Sun, the Earth’s atmosphere and the bacterial mutations.

“Our collaborators at ability of life to survive beyond NASA recently isolated Earth. strain of Researchers at Weill Cornell this Medicine will be analyzing data gath- Paenibacillus xerotherered during one such experiment. modurans and found it Spearheaded by Montana State was highly heat-resistant.

University, over 50 high-altitude bal- We now want to see whether it can loons were sent into Earth’s stratos- withstand other extreme conditions in phere to livestream footage of the its spore state and how it does so,” said P r o f .

Christopher 2 Mason, physiology and biophysics at Weill C o r n e l l Medicine.

According to Mason, the eclipse presented researchers with an excellent opportunity to study the effect of Marslike conditions on the bacteria. “ T h e stratosphere is a Mars analog environment, combining low PHOTO COURTESY OF EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY temperature,

By ARNAV GHOSH

low atmospheric pressure, low humidity and high radiation conditions in a way that are nearly impossible to replicate in a laboratory setting,” Mason

and the spore state. Previous studies have found low RNA expression in bacterial spores, but haven’t looked at this species or used modern techniques like RNA-sequencing.

Depending on how quickly we can retrieve the samples and preserve RNA, we’ll then look at whether exposure to stratospheric conditions affects RNA expression,” Mason said.

With NASA and private entities locked in a race to put a man on Mars, experiments like these could help shed light on the genetic mutations that take place in such conditions. Mason expects to see pyrimidine dimers or molecular lesions on the bacterium’s RNA due to UV exposure. In humans, such lesions are the primary cause of melanomas.

Furthermore, according to Mason, recent studies of bacteria isolated from spacecraft assembly facilities found that stratospheric conditions induced substitutions of different bases in DNA, without any being added or deleted and something similar may be seen during the eclipse.

“The experiment will help determine whether this particular species is capable of survival beyond Earth. If it does show significantly increased survival, or even partial survival, compared to other species that NASA considers potential contaminants, then that could in theory guide changes to existing procedures [used to prevent contamination of extraterrestrial bodies]. This has yet to be determined though,” Mason said.

“It could also provide insight into microbial adaptation and the limits of habitability as we search for life beyond Earth.”

Prof. Christopher Mason

said.

Though atmospheric ultraviolet levels are usually higher than those seen on Mars, the moon blocks certain types of UV radiation during an eclipse, bridging this difference and bringing atmospheric temperatures down further.

“Characterizing bacteria capable of surviving in the stratosphere can help identify potential contaminants of extraterrestrial bodies from human space exploration — called Planetary Protection,” Mason said. “It could also provide insight into microbial adaptation and the limits of habitability as we search for life beyond Earth.”

With this in mind, a key feature researchers will be examining is the bacterium’s RNA expression, the process by which information from genes is used to create a functional product, often proteins.

“We will first be characterizing the differences in RNA expression between cells in the vegetative state

Arnav Ghosh can be reached at aghosh@cornellsun.com.

COMICS AND PUZZLES

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

ACROSS 1 Sporty British cars, for short 5 Omelet option 8 Reef material 13 Power co. output 14 Shaped like an avocado 16 Dig deeply?

17 Fey with many Emmys 18 Baltic port 19 “Unbroken” director Angelina 20 Come out on top 23 Intends to hit 24 Sushi roll fish 25 “NewsHour” channel 28 Novelist Rita __ Brown 29 [I give up!]

32 Vacation location 34 Retail showcase 36 Per item 39 Area for critical patients, briefly 40 Diamond great Sandberg 41 Particle physics concept 46 Pub quiz fodder 47 Red Muppet who refers to himself in the third person 48 Bit of toy “ammo” 51 Gentle touch 52 Okay mark 54 Knuckleheads 56 Reporter’s delivery ... and what 20-, 34and 41-Across are literally doing?

60 Humdinger 62 Kitchenware brand 63 Blueprint detail 64 Subject of a certain management class 65 They may be choppy 66 Fit together nicely 67 Highmaintenance 68 “That’s the spot” 69 Art Deco luminary

DOWN 1 Goods thrown overboard 2 “Girl on Fire” singer Keys 3 Biological mapping subject 4 Permanent marks 5 Fictional captain Hornblower 6 Tel __, Israel 7 Christmas trio 8 Persuades with flattery 9 Air Wick target 10 Short and chubby 11 D-backs, on scoreboards 12 Jack Reacher creator __ Child 15 Doily fabric 21 __ Los Angeles 22 Actress Polo 26 Dietary fiber 27 Eye problem 30 Determination 31 Anne of “Wag the Dog” 33 Nimble 34 Improvised blade 35 Fight that may involve drawing 36 Started, as a co.

37 Gillette brand 38 Pegboard game 42 “So close, yet so far” 43 Mother Earth, in Greek mythology 44 “Holy cow!”

45 Curtain supports 48 Writer for whose father the National Baseball Hall of Fame city was named

49 Idle 50 Freudian analyst’s concern 53 __ out: barely makes 55 “Who’s there?” answer 57 Was sorry about 58 Furniture chain popular in dorms 59 Sweet Sixteen org.

60 Prohibit 61 Suffix with ethyl

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 2017 13

Sundoku 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)

# 1002 3

6 1

4

8

8

2

6

1

4

5

2

7 6

9

8 4

8

4 2

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CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Restructuring the program | Liz Dennison will be leaving her position as the women’s rowing head coach to take on a newly created position, announced Athletic Director Andy Noel on Tuesday.

ROWING

New Position Created in Rowing Former women’s coach promoted to program’s associate director

By JOSHUA ZHU

the 2004 Athens Olympics in the men’s coxless four and a gold medal at the 2003 FISA World Championships in the same event.

Athletic Director Andy Noel has "We are thrilled [to] welcome Barney to announced that Liz Dennison will be stepthe staff this year," Dennison said. "He ping into the newly created role of Associate brings a wealth of knowledge with his own Director of Rowing after serving as head personal success as an Olympic medalist for coach of the women’s team for three years.

Canada as well as his recent coaching sucFormer Canadian Olympic national cesses on the national and international team member Barney Williams will serve “I am looking forward to the opportunity scene." as the interim head coach of the rowing "I would like to thank the Cornell to engage in strategic planning and pro- University Athletic Department for this program in Dennison’s place.

Dennison’s new role will entail “supervide support for all of Cornell Rowing.” incredible opportunity to share my pasvision of the interim head women's sion for rowing with the coaches and athLiz Dennison coach and the Boatman, coordinating letes of the entire Cornell crew," the training information among the rowWilliams said. "I look forward to building coaches on staff, establishing a buding on the foundations that have been get and facilities strategy for Cornell Taking Dennison’s place is Barney laid by [Williams] and her team over the Rowing, and more,” according to the Williams, who is coming off a summer in past couple years. This is an exciting chalAthletics Department. which he worked as the U23 Program Coach lenge and I am committed to helping every "I am looking forward to the opportunity for the Rowing Canada's men's heavyweight student athlete realize their goals on and off to engage in strategic planning and provide program. Williams has also spent the past the water." support for all of Cornell Rowing in this dif- five years as the Lead Coach in Victoria for ferent role,” Dennison said. ”I am thankful Rowing Canada's Row to Podium Program. Joshua Zhu can be reached at to be able to continue my support of the As an athlete, Williams won a silver medal at jzhu@cornellsun.com.

Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Cornell women's program, as well as heavyweight and lightweight men's teams, in this new role."

During her eight years with Cornell, Dennison has served the past three as the head coach of the women’s team and won the EAWRC Co-Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011 before taking the helm.

FOOTBALL

Football Gets Time in Spotlight Team will have four televised games in 2017

By ZACH SILVER Sun Sports Editor

As part of a league-wide push to revamp football’s television presence, Cornell football will have four of its seven conference games broadcasted on television during the 2017 season.

The increased exposure includes a league-record 23 games to be broadcasted on television, and includes all eight schools with one nationally-broadcasted matchup per week. For Cornell, that contest will be Saturday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. on NBCSN — a road date with Princeton.

The three other televised games will be Sept. 23, when Cornell travels to Yale; Oct. 7, when Cornell hosts Harvard for Homecoming; and Nov. 18, when Cornell travels to Penn for the season finale. All three games will be broadcasted on Eleven Sports.

In total, eight of Cornell’s 10 games will be broadcasted on the Ivy League Network — the league’s subscriptionbased online streaming service. The only ones excluded from this list are the NBCSN game against Princeton and the season opener at Delaware on Sept.

16.

“We are proud to once again showcase Ivy League football on the national stage and continue our relationship with NBC,” Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris said in a press release. “This year’s schedule features multiple national television appearances from all eight programs and will entertain fans throughout the 10-week race for the Ivy League title.”

Zach Silver can be reached at zsilver@cornellsun.com.

Cornell’s Streaming Schedule Sept. 16: at Delaware — 3:30 p.m.

Sept. 23: at Yale* (Eleven Sports/Ivy League Network) — 1 p.m.

Sept. 30: vs. Colgate (Ivy League Network) — 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 7: vs. Harvard* (Eleven Sports/Ivy League Network) — 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 14: vs. Bucknell (Ivy League Network) — 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 21: vs. Brown* (Ivy League Network) — 3 p.m.

Oct. 28: at Princeton* (NBCSN) — 7 p.m.

Nov. 4: at Dartmouth* (Ivy League Network) — 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 11: vs. Columbia* (Ivy League Network) — 1:30 p.m.

Nov. 18: at Penn* (Eleven Sports/Ivy League Network) — 1:30 p.m.

Bold denotes home game * - denotes Ivy matchup

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, August 23, 2017 15

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Sports

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 23, 2017

16

BASEBALL

Four Cornellians Sign Pro Deals This Past Summer

Former first baseman Cole Rutherford ’17 signs with San Diego Padres

By Jamil Rahman Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Former Cornell baseball first baseman and California native Cole Rutherford ’17 did not hear his name called in the MLB draft earlier this month, but has signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres, it was announced in late June.

“It was a dream come true. I remember when they called me I was ecstatic,” Rutherford told the Sun. “I hung up and gave my dad a huge hug and started tearing up a bit. I was absolutely overwhelmed with emotions.”

Rutherford said that the team called him on June 15th, but didn’t make it official until the 23rd when he went out to Arizona to sign.

“I was once again overjoyed and called both of my parents my brother and my girlfriend and was almost at a loss for words,” Rutherford added about the signing.

Rutherford becomes the first Cornell field-player to join a professional organization and fourth overall this summer after Paul Balestri ’17, Peter Lannoo ’17 and rising senior Justin Lewis — all pitchers — were drafted during the 2017 MLB Draft.

Rutherford will also be joining his younger brother, Blake, in the professional ranks, who was drafted straight out of high school by the New York Yankees with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 draft. Blake currently plays for the Charleston RiverDogs, the Single-A affiliate of the Yankees. But Rutherford said the idea of facing off against his brother hasn’t crossed his mind yet.

“I think mainly just because we're in completely different leagues,” he said as to why it has never come up, “but that would definitely be something special if that happened some day.”

Cole spent his freshman and sophomore years playing for Orange

Coast College — a two-year community college in Orange County, Ca. — helping the team on its way to state championships in both of his seasons with OCC and a national championship in 2014 before transferring to Cornell.

“The biggest adjustment was just the level of commitment to both baseball and school and balancing the two,” Rutherford said about the transition. “There is so much to do in order to be successful at both and only so many hours in the day to get it all done. You have to really stay on top of everything and be diligent in everything that you do.”

Rutherford immediately made an impact for the Red. He was named AllIvy League honorable mention after the 2016 season, and led the team in home runs in his two seasons in Ithaca with six in 2016 and seven in 2017. Rutherford also led the team in RBI’s in both of his seasons with 26 and 33, and led last year’s squad with a .512 slugging percentage and a .314 batting average in Ivy League play.

Jamil Rahman can be reached at jrahman@cornellsun.com.

Odd-man in | Cole Rutherford ’17 was the only Red nonpitcher to sign a deal this summer.

Pitchers Balestrieri ’17, Lannoo ’17, Lewis ’18 drafted day three of Major League Baseball draft

By JAMIL RAHMAN Sun Assistant Sports Editor

On the final day of the MLB draft. three former Cornell baseball players were drafted in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. All of the players selected thus far have been pitchers, bringing the total in the last four years to six Red players being drafted.

Paul Balestrieri

With the 784th overall pick in the 26th round, the St. Louis Cardinals drafted former RHP Paul Balestrieri ’17.

Balestrieri knew a few picks ahead that the team was preparing to pick him. “[Sean Moran, the team’s area scout] called me a few picks before,” Balestrieri told the Sun. “He asked how to pronounce my last name.”

But for the New Jersey native, the emotions didn’t sink in until the pick became official.

“Disbelief, excitement,” he said he felt, “but I didn’t really go crazy until I saw I was officially picked. Then it all hit me. My family, [my] girlfriend and I just freaked out. [It] was a really special moment.”

Balestrieri also gave a great deal of credit to his college coach, Dan Pepicelli.

“Coach Pep is such a great man, I can’t say enough great things about him,” Balestrieri said. “[He] was by my side the whole time, setting up workouts and giving advice. I love that guy to death.”

Balestrieri graduated this past spring, and in his senior year he appeared and started in nine games and posted a 54 record. In his 57.2 innings pitched, he notched 36 strikeouts and sported a 2.18 ERA, good for second in the Ivy League. Balestrieri was also named CoSIDA Academic AllDistrict team.

Balestrieri was named second-team All Ivy at the conclusion of the season and earned Ivy League Pitcher of the Week after Cornell defeated Michigan State, 21, in the Spider Invitational in Richmond, Va. Balestrieri ranks sixth alltime in Cornell history with six saves.

Peter Lannoo

Two rounds later, with the 846th overall pick in the 28th round, the S a n Francisco Giants selected classmate

RHP Peter Lannoo ’17.

The closer from Indiana posted a 3.86 ERA in his 21 innings pitched. Lannoo appeared in 17 games and came away with eight saves, tied for most in the Ivy League. The number also puts him in second all-time in program history for saves in a season. Lannoo was one of two Red players to be selected to the All-Ivy first team at the end of the season.

Lannoo began his Cornell career as a walk-on, then made six appearances during his sophomore season before suffering an injury that cut his year short. Lannoo was bumped up to the varsity level starting his sophomore year and made a few appearances, then moved into the rotation his junior year.

Justin Lewis

Just four picks later with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 850th pick, another pitcher came off the board for the Red. This time it was rising-senior LHP Justin Lewis, the only southpaw in Cornell’s rotation.

The California native finished his junior season with a 5.32 ERA in 45.2 innings pitched. Lewis started in eight of his nine appearances, posting a 3-2 record.

Lewis had the option come back to Ithaca to finish out his college career. Lewis decided to forgo his senior season and sign with the Dodgers..

Jamil Rahman can be reached at jrahman@cornellsun.com.

SUN CAMER PHOT PHO O O TOG N POLL S BY RAP HY E ACK / DITO R

The pitching core | The baseball program is confident it will rebound despite losing Justin Lewis ’18 (left), Paul Balestrieri ’17 (middle) and Peter Lannoo ’17 (right) this past summer.