INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 12
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012 ! ITHACA, NEW YORK
20 Pages – Free
New Students Cramped by C.U. Housing
News The Verdict Is In
Political experts debated the merits of the Affordable Care Act in an event held at the Cornell Law School Tuesday. | Page 3
Opinion Liberal Lessons
David Fischer ’15 touts the benefits of, and the knowledge he has gained from, his liberal arts education at Cornell.
By CAROLINE FLAX Sun Senior Writer
As Jamie Yang ’15 prepared to transfer to Cornell this fall, she looked forward to moving into a single room on West Campus. But when she received her housing assignment over the summer, she was “mortified and panicked.” “Dear Jamie Yang,” the letter said. “We are pleased to provide you with your housing assignment for the 2012-2013 academic year.” Yang read on to discover that she would be living in what she described as a “forced”
| Page 9 TIANZE PAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Two’s company, five’s a crowd | This dorm room, which houses five students, was originally a study lounge in Jameson Hall on North Campus.
quintuplet in Jameson Hall on North Campus, an area of campus that generally houses first-year students. “I knew living on West [Campus] would be the best place to acclimate to the transfer
Cornell students were among the participants at a rally in Albany last month protesting the possible implementation of fracking in New York State.
See HOUSING page 4
| Page 12
By JUSTIN ROUILLIER Sun Staff Writer
DYLAN CLEMENS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
and Dryden Avenues, has moved to a new location on Dryden Avenue.
Environmentally Friendly
situation, so I was beyond upset that I was stuck with this living situation,” Yang said. According to the email Cornell sent Yang,
Work for Chemistry Class ‘Exhausting’ for Prof,Too Out of the oven | Collegtown Pizza, previously at the corner of College
Science
This article is the first in a series on the most difficult classes to teach at Cornell. Every year, the class begins with a bang. Literally. This year, the bang came in a simple enough guise: a balloon filled with hydrogen to the point that it burst. As flame came in contact with the balloon’s plastic skin,
fire and sound erupted. The explosion heralded the start of General Chemistry — Chemistry 2070 — and it was loud, bright and visible. But what was harder to see was the sheer amount time, energy and money invested to put on such a class. The rest of the lecture was more mundane. Prof. Hector Abruña, chemistry, looked
Arts Movie Star
The Sun sits down with Trevor White ’07, a film major who is currently producing his first feature-length film, Jamesy Boy. | Page 14
Sports No Sophomore Slump
Sophomore tennis player Sam Fleck hopes to follow up a prolific freshman year performance with an equally impressive second season. | Page 20
Weather
Changes Planned for New Collegetown Pizza Location Fmr. Chilean President Advocates Women’s Rights Thunderstorms HIGH: 82 LOW: 63
See CHEM page 5
By TAJWAR MAZHAR
cheaper.” Attia hopes that the new location, which has approximately Many students returning to twice as much floor space as CTP’s campus this fall were surprised to former location, will attract more find the premises of late-night people to the eatery. food staple Collegetown Pizza, for“The space is more managemerly at the corner of College and able,” he said. “We can set it up Dryden Avenues, vacant. the way we want it to be … There After 10 is more space to years, the pizze- “We can set it up move around and to ria is moving to a the way we want it serve more people new home on efficiently.” Dryden Avenue, to be.” K r i s t e n occupying the MacFarlane ’13, former location Khalid Attia who lives in of Italian eatery Collegetown, agreed Mama T’s. The new location will that the new, expanded space open sometime between Sept. 20 could draw her to CTP instead of and Sept. 25, according to CTP other late-night food stops. owner Khalid Attia. “I would go there more often Attia said he decided to move than I did when it was at its previstore locations after his lease ous location. It used to be so expired in March and he was not ridiculously crowded when you able to reach an agreement on the went there late at night,” rental rate with the building’s MacFarlane said. “They definitely owner, George Avramis. needed to get a bigger place.” “I thought a new lease would Annelise MacLeod ’13 said be very expensive,” Attia said. CTP’s move will prove beneficial “[The location on Dryden Ave.] See CTP page 4 will be new, and it’s going to be Sun Staff Writer
By LIANNE BORNFIELD Sun Staff Writer
Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile, urged Cornellians to stand up for the empowerment of women at a lecture Tuesday, arguing that, if women are not allowed to occupy positions of power, gender equality cannot be achieved. Bachelet, the first woman elected president of Chile, led the country in that capacity from 2006 to 2010. She has served as the Chilean minister of defense and as the minister of health. She now works as the first Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of United Nations Women, which
advocates gender equality and the empowerment of women in the world. “The very creation of U.N. Women by the United Nations General Assembly illustrated the crucial, and I would say historic, recognition [of women] from the international community,” Bachelet said. According to Bachelet, gender equality and women’s empowerment are not only noble goals in their own right, but also serve as fundamental drivers of social, cultural, political and economic development. “There is rising awareness that we cannot
solve the great challenges of our time unless we unleash the potential of full and equal participation of women, whether we’re talking about addressing climate change or reducing poverty,” Bachelet said. Bachelet pointed to Senegal as an example of progress toward eliminating gender inequality. There, she said, village chiefs and women in more than 5,000 com-
munities are challenging the practice of female genital mutilation. “Senegal may very well become the first high-privileged country to succeed in ending this horrible centuries-old practice. And the beauty of this See CHILE page 5
GINA HONG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Feminist leanings | Michelle Bachelet urges women to take action in issues of gender equality.
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Today
DAYBOOK
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Weird News
Umpteen speedy televisions perused two sheep, then umpteen tickets towed Jupiter, and Dan untangles five progressive orifices. Umpteen quixotic aardvarks annoyingly bought two Macintoshes. Umpteen bureaux tickled two extremely putrid botulisms. Paul sacrificed one lampstand, then Jupiter marries the very quixotic pawnbroker. Five purple poisons laughed, yet umpteen chrysanthemums kisses five aardvarks. Batman noisily untangles one Jabberwocky. Two Macintoshes laughed, then one extremely schizophrenic Jabberwocky drunkenly untangles two sheep, however Quark telephoned umpteen obese Jabberwockies. Five irascible botulisms slightly lamely auctioned off the subway, and five chrysanthemums easily untangles one mostly speedy Klingon. Five dogs drunkenly perused Minnesota, however the mats ran away cleverly, although one partly progressive subway quite comfortably sacrificed
Daybook
of the Week
Today Memory and the Photographic Imge 10 a.m., Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Police: Buffalo Man Tried To Eat Bogus $50 Bills
C.U. Music: Midday Music for Organ 12:30 p.m., Founder’s Room, Annabel Taylor Hall Zen Meditation 5 p.m., Founder’s Room, Annabel Taylor Hall Marlon Blackwell Lecture: Figures and Types 5:15 - 7 p.m., Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium, Milstein Hall
Tomorrow Docent and Volunteer Opportunities at the Johnson 10 a.m. - Noon, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art The Origin of Retrograde Hot Jupiters 4 - 5 p.m., 105 Space Sciences Building
DARIEN, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say a 35-yearold man tried to swallow several counterfeit $50 bills after he was caught trying to use the bogus money at a New York amusement park. The Genesee County Sheriff's Office says deputies were called to Darien Lake Theme Park and Resort on Sunday night after Larry Jones, of Buffalo, bought french fries with a $50 bill. Deputies say a park employee spotted the fake and called security. While being taken away, deputies say, Jones stuffed five bills into his mouth and tried unsuccessfully to eat them. Investigators say Jones told them he had received the bills as pay for a remodeling job. He was charged with possessing a forged instrument and tampering with evidence and jailed without bail. He's expected in court with a lawyer Sept. 25.
Minn. Casino Cooks Up One-Ton Cheeseburger
Dilmun Hill Work Party 4 - 6 p.m., Dilmun Hill Student Farm Truman Scholarship Session 4:35 p.m., 103 Barnes Hall America’s Global Competitiveness: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future 4:45 - 5:45 p.m., 233 Plant Sciences Building
CARLTON, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota casino has cooked up a world-record bacon cheeseburger that’s 10 feet in diameter and weighs more than a ton. The behemoth burger was served up Sunday at the Black Bear Casino Resort near Carlton. It tipped the scales at 2,014 pounds. Guinness Records representative Philip Robertson
verified the record for biggest burger. He called the feat a result of “remarkable teamwork” and said the burger “actually tastes really good.” A Duluth News Tribune report says the previous mark was a mere 881 pounds, 13 ounces. Black Bear’s burger included 60 pounds of bacon, 50 pounds of lettuce, 50 pounds of sliced onions, 40 pounds of pickles and 40 pounds of cheese. It took about four hours to cook the patty. A crane was used to flip it.
Nigeria Uncovers Roast Chicken Filled With Cocaine LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The roasted chickens had an unusual stuffing — $150,000 worth of cocaine, according to Nigerian police. A Nigerian mechanic who struggled in Brazil for more than six years had hoped the drugs would buy him a life of luxury in his native land, Nigerian authorities said Monday. “This was like a retirement plan for him,” said Mitchell Ofoyeju, spokesman for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. The accused was arrested over the weekend at the airport in Lagos after he came in from Sao Paulo with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of cocaine, Ofoyeju said. The suspect, Vincent Chegini Chinweuwa, could not immediately be reached for comment as he remained in custody Monday.
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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 3
NEWS
Prof, Policy Expert Debate Obamacare By WILL RYAN Sun Staff Writer
Addressing a packed room of students and faculty in the Cornell Law School, two distinct political minds squared off in a debate Tuesday over the Supreme Court’s June 28 ruling to uphold most of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. At the debate, Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a right-of-center think tank based in Washington, D.C., and Prof. Michael Dorf, law, presented views from opposite sides of the political and legal spectrum. They engaged in a vigorous analysis of the court’s decision and the motives of the justices. The debate was sponsored by the Cornell chapter of the Federalist Society, which promotes conservative and libertarian theories in the justice system. Noted legal minds –– such as Robert Bork and current Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, as well as Chief Justice John Roberts –– count themselves among past members of the group. At Tuesday’s event, Shapiro argued that the Obamacare ruling –– which upheld the controversial individual mandate that forces Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty –– was in fact a victory for conservatives. In upholding the individual mandate as a tax clause, but not under Congress’ commerce clause, the court, Shapiro said, limited the coercive reach of Congress. “[It forbid] compelling activity in order to regulate it,” he said, arguing that the federal government should not be able to order economic activity into existence and then claim the ability to regulate it. Still, Shapiro was highly critical of the ruling itself. He repeated multiple times that Roberts, who joined the more liberal justices in upholding the law, had made a “political decision.” Roberts, he said, had sought a way to uphold the health care law while still avoiding an expansion of the federal government’s power, and had
FIONA MODRAK / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
A friendly debate | Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at a right-of-center think tank, and Prof. Michael Dorf, law, debate the reasons why the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
not operated according to purely legal principles. Dorf, in response, argued that the political stakes of the court’s ruling were “very high, while the judicial and constitutional stakes were relatively low.” Dorf said that in Congress’ history, there has been essentially no precedent mandating citizens to perform an activity, such as buying health insurance, as it did with Obamacare. Since Congress could essentially achieve anything it wanted without such a coercive mandate, the decision that such a mandate could not be justified under the commerce clause was essentially meaningless, Dorf said. “If we accept that Congress has never done this before, then it is simply not important that they used a power they have used once since the beginning of the Republic,” Dorf said. The forum appeared to be a debate in name only and functioned much more as a dialogue, with both participants exchanging jokes. Shapiro playfully called Dorf ’s argument that liberals had won a nine to zero victory on the taxing power of the mandate “too cute.” Dorf routinely elicited chuckles from the crowd by poking fun at an ineffective Congress and pointing out the legal
advantages of the Democrats creating a program called “Shmedishmare” to replace Medicare. The discussion, however, was not strictly limited to the legal realm. Asked whether a Republican sweep of Congress and the White House would yield a full repeal of Obamacare, Shapiro said that he believed it would, if “Republicans have the spine to do what they actually promised to do … [which is] never a sure thing in Washington.” Dorf, however, concerned himself with the legislation with which a Republican president would replace Obamacare. He argued that the popular provisions of the law, which some Republicans have promised to safeguard — such as allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health care plan until the age of 26 and preventing insurance companies from dropping those with preexisting conditions –– would essentially be keeping “the whole enchilada [Obamacare],” untouched. Will Ryan can be reached at wryan@cornellsun.com.
Tompkins County Reps.Push Fracking Ban By MATTHEW ROSENSPIRE Sun Staff Writer
With state and local elections rapidly approaching, Tompkins County politicians remain at odds over one of the most contentious issues in New York State: fracking. At an anti-fracking rally in Albany on Aug. 27, New York State Senator Tony Avella (D–11th District) said that if Democrats gain control of the State Senate in November, the legislature will be able to pass a statewide ban on fracking. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a method of extracting natural gas from large rock formations. While proponents of the process say it will create jobs and energy independence, environmental groups have argued that the potential health risks and negative effects on local water, caused by chemicals used in the process, are too great to allow fracking in the state. At the Aug. 27 rally, Martha Robertson (D–13th District), chair of the Tompkins
County Legislature, said the issue of fracking has the potential to affect local and regional elections this November — as well as the Congressional race in New York’s newly created 23rd District, which will include Ithaca and the rest of Tompkins County. “Three of the five counties that Governor [Andrew] Cuomo has identified as being in the ‘sacrifice zone’ — a proposal to only allow fracking in select counties — are in [the 23rd] District,” Robertson said. “There’s a lot of grassroots opposition to fracking here.” In December 2010, the Tompkins County Legislature voted 14 to one in favor of petitioning New York State for a statewide ban on fracking. While pleased with this step, Robertson said fracking is an issue that extends beyond New York State and deserves federal attention. “We’ve made tremendous headway in New York in educating lawmakers,” she said. “But there is fracking going on in at
Warming up
FIONA MODRAK / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Students limber up for a salsa dancing lesson taught by the Palante Dance Troup in Willard Straight Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
least 31 other states. It’s a federal issue. Even if we ban it in New York, it’s not enough.” There are several bills currently being considered by Congress that Robertson said she has urged U.S. Senators to support. One such bill is the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, which would require companies to disclose to state regulators which chemicals are used in the fracking process. The FRAC Act would also require state regulators to make public the composition of chemicals used in fracking. The bill –– which is co-sponsored by both New York senators, Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Robert Casey (D-Pa.) –– has been stuck in committee in the Senate since March 2011. Nathan Shinagawa ’05, M.A. ’09 –– the Democratic Congressional candidate for the recently redistricted 23rd District –– campaigned during his primary race as a proponent of the statewide fracking ban. In November’s general election, Shinagawa will challenge Republican Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y. 29), a member of the House Marcellus Shale Caucus –– a group dedicated to facilitating discussion of fracking in the Marcellus Shale area, which includes New York. Shinagawa has said he would support the House of Representative’s version of the Senate FRAC Act, H.R. 1084, which is cosponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (DN.Y. 22). “One of my top priorities in Congress will be to pass the FRAC Act, because I believe we need [the Environmental Protection Agency’s] oversight of fracking, or it will pose a danger to our water and our health,” Shinagawa said. “I also believe we need to disclose the chemicals used in fracking because we know that there are carcinogens which can have a terrible impact on our communities.” Matthew Rosenspire can be reached at mrosenspire@cornellsun.com.
Burglary on Campus
Cornell Police responded Friday to a student reporting that an unknown individual entered the student’s room in Ujamaa Residential College, and, in what appeared to be a burglary attempt, moved items around. Open Container
Xiao Yang He and Xio Hu, bothIthaca residents, were referred to the Ithaca City Court Friday evening for reportedly having open containers of alcohol. He and Hu were arrested on Libe Slope, according to the Cornell University Police Department. Stolen Wallet
A Cornell police officer responded to a student who reported that his wallet was stolen. The wallet contained a Trinidad ID, New York State ID, Trinidad driver’s license, credit cards and cash. The student later recovered the wallet intact. Turn It Down
Two tickets were issued to residents of a Prospect Street house late Sunday for hosting a noisy party, according to the Ithaca Police Department. Wegmans Run
IPD officers responded to a complaint of petit larceny at Wegmans Grocery on South Meadow Street on Sunday. — Compiled by Akane Otani
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
NEWS
Cornell Housing Struggles to Meet Increasing Enrollment HOUSING
Continued from page 1
her new home was a study lounge that had been converted into a quintuplet to accommodate an “unusually large incoming class.” The email also indicated that, at some point, Yang could be asked to move elsewhere. “We want to alert you to the possibility that you may be asked to move to a traditional room before or during the academic year,” the email said. “Our hope is to be able to return your room to a study lounge for use by all residents of your building.” Yang has since moved into a seven-person suite in Alice Cook House on West Campus. Although, according to Cornell’s housing website, “most transfer students are housed together in groups,” none of Yang’s new suitemates is also a transfer. “It would have been a lot more pleasant if I had roommates who were transfers as well. It’s easier to acclimate when people I’m living with are also in the same boat with me,” Yang said. Yang may be just one of many transfers who did not receive her first choice in housing. Sometimes, more incoming first-year and transfer students are admitted to Cornell than can be accommodated in on-campus housing, according to Carlos Gonzalez, assistant director of the Office of Residential and Event Services. However, since these students are guaranteed housing by Cornell, as many as five students at a time may be placed in a converted lounge and offered new rooms as alternative housing becomes available. “We have a handful of residence hall study lounges that we convert to quintuplet rooms [if there are too
many students],” Gonzalez said. “As other space becomes available due to students leaving the University for health or academic reasons, we usually offer students placed in these lounges with the option of moving to another room.” Students who are unhappy with their housing situation have the option of contacting the housing office prior to their move-in date, Gonzalez said. This year, the housing office already has arranged room changes for 112 new students and 172 students who are not freshmen. “All rooms are generally filled once housing assign-
“We have a handful of residence hall study lounges that we convert to quintuplet rooms [if there are too many students].” Carlos Gonzalez ments are made, but we keep track of student requests and offer room swaps whenever possible,” Gonzalez said. “Room changes sometimes are not possible for several weeks into the semester because we must first complete a room census to determine vacancies.” According to Lee Melvin, associate vice provost for enrollment, the current ideal freshman class at Cornell ranges in size from 3,180 to 3,250 students. This number, he said, can change based on the number of students each undergraduate college wants to enroll and how many students the University can handle without being overburdened. “You’re trying to balance [admitted students] out so we don’t place additional pressures on our colleagues
Recycle
around the campus, such as housing, classes and health services,” Melvin said. According to data released by the University Registrar, enrollment increased from 13,510 students in 2007 to 14,167 students in 2011. Melvin said that the class enrolling in Fall 2011 had approximately 125 more people than typical incoming classes. However, having too many students enroll because of an unexpectedly high yield — the percentage of admitted students who decide to attend — was “unusual for Cornell,” according to Melvin. Preliminary data indicate that the entering class this year is comprised of approximately 3,270 students — a number Melvin said “we’re comfortable with.” Though this year’s entering class will be, by administrators’ estimates, a manageable size, some students are still unhappy with how the housing staff handles the room assignments of incoming students. When Elizabeth Kuzmenko ’16, for instance, filled out her housing preferences, she did not expect to be placed in a program house. However, when her housing assignment was released, she was assigned to Ujamaa Residential College, which “celebrates the rich and diverse heritage of Black people in the United States, Africa, the Caribbean and other regions of the world,” according to the Cornell Housing website. “It’s rather difficult being in a program house when you didn’t personally want to be in one,” Kuzmenko said, noting that program houses are “pretty specific” to the people who requested to be in them. “It’s frustrating not having your housing request honored.” Caroline Flax can be reached at cflax@cornellsun.com.
C-Town Pizzeria Hopes To Attract New Customers CTP
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because it will decrease the number of people congregating at the intersection of College and Dryden Avenues late at night. “I prefer the new location because ... it won't clog up that intersection,” she said. Attia also hopes that CTP’s new upgrades –– including a wood oven, gluten-free pizza and a “whole new surprising part of the menu” — will attract both hungry students and new clientele. “[Dryden Ave. is] going to attract more people for lunch and dinner, especially people visiting town and construction workers,” Attia said. MacLeod said she likes that CTP has added gluten-free options, but does not believe the changes will attract a bigger crowd during lunchtime. “I don't think its use is going to change too much,” she said, adding that she thinks that people will still only go to CTP in search for late-night food. One aspect of the old restaurant will not follow CTP to Dryden Avenue: the wall filled from ceiling to floor with signatures and expressions of profanity. Attia said the wall, which
was visible from CTP’s College Avenue window, received negative comments and deterred out-of-town and adult clientele. “People want a clean environment,” Attia said. “I know it gets crazy at night, but people don’t appreciate it. This is one thing that we have to change.” Attia added that the new outdoor dining space will serve as a bonus for CTP. Meanwhile, Avramis, who also owns the premises of Starbuck’s and Stella’s Restaurant on College Avenue, said he believes CTP’s old location will soon be filled. “Since it was a pizza shop and it’s such a good location, a lot of pizza owners in the area and out of town have been asking about it,” Avramis said. He said other interested renters include owners of Chinese, Italian and sandwich eateries. “It’s going to get rented very soon. I’m kind of holding out for the right tenants,” Avramis said. As for CTP, Attia said the business hopes to start on the right foot by offering half-price deals for its grand opening later this month. “We hope this might double the business,” Attia said. Tajwar Mazhar can be reached at tmazhar@cornellsun.com.
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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 5
NEWS
Large Chem.Class Poses Bachelet Advocates Women’s Rights Logistical Challenges CHILE
Continued from page 1
CHEM
Continued from page 1
through the syllabus, highlighting the dates of prelims, homeworks and laboratory experiments. It was, except for the fireball, an average first day of class. In other words, it was easy to forget just how much time Abruña sank into this lecture, he said. “Every hour of lecture takes about eight hours of preparation,” Abruña said. It is an exhausting process that he is not eager to relive. Abruña, despite teaching at Cornell for the past 29 years, last taught the class in the mid-1990s. This semester, he is co-teaching the class with Prof. David Zax, chemistry. “It’s a fun class to teach, but it takes an enormous amount of time and energy,” he said. “Early on, it’s exhausting because you are trying to prepare lectures ahead. But I think it’s our most important course because in it, we are most exposed as a department.” Every year, about 900 students take the class. This year is no exception: 896 students, split across two lectures, are piled into Baker 200. As a whole, the chemistry department teaches about 2,500 undergraduates each year, according to Linda Glaser, staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences. Almost 36 percent of undergraduates taking a chemistry class in a given year are taking General Chemistry. The biggest challenge of teaching General Chemistry, professors said, is scheduling the lab sections. Each lab section can have 20 students at most. This means that there are nearly 40 different labs scattered throughout the week. Professor Barbara Baird Ph.D. ’79, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, said the logistics are almost
“Sometime over the past five to 10 years, Baker 200 got wireless ... Exploding something seems to help bring their attention back.” Prof. David Zax impossible to navigate. “We have to work very hard to serve the students to get them into the classes they want to be in,” Baird said. The administrative process begins in the fall. Chemistry professors are polled to discover who will leave for sabbatical the following year and to see who has any particular teaching preferences. In the spring, the professors are shuffled around until all teaching spots are filled. New freshmen comprise the majority of the class. Teaching freshmen, according to Zax, comes with its own peculiar difficulties. “Freshmen are often more enthusiastic, but they are also more easily frustrated and often have less of a sense as to how things get done,” Zax said. For incoming freshmen, the process begins in the summer. “Over the summer, incoming freshmen make decisions about the courses they want to take,” Baird said. “This gives us a starting number to work with in determining the number of laboratory sections that will need to establish.” This initial set of numbers is typically, however, an underestimation. “A sizable number of students don’t pre-enroll. Other students change their minds after they get here,” Baird said. “This includes whether they will take freshman chemistry and which of the options they will take. We usually come close prior to the start of the semester, but we are not able to determine the final number of lab sections until students actually show up for class.” New hires — who are frequently brought on in the spring — complicate the process, since the chemistry department tries to rotate its professors to ensure that no professor teaches the same class for more than three consecutive years. Zax, however, has been teaching General Chemistry for three of the past four years. This semester, Abruña is teaching the first half of the course, while Zax will teach the second half. Zax, like Abruña, spends multiple hours preparing for each hour of lecture. “For each lecture, I look at the book and see what the book did well and what the book did poorly. I look for places where the text has done a weaker job than I think is appropriate,” Zax said. “Then I ask myself, how do I make it a little more concrete?” Abruña also attempts to make the material more relatable, he said. “I try to connect what I teach with physical reality and everyday experiences, so it becomes a little more real to them,” he said. “I also try to interject little vignettes, in my particular case dealing with energy and energy related fields because that’s what I am familiar with. For example, when we burned the hydrogen balloon, I used that as a teaching moment to talk about fuel cells.” But, at the end of the day, an explosion is loud and attentiongrabbing. “Sometime over the past five to 10 years, Baker 200 got wireless. It’s fairly clear that some of the kids are not paying as much attention as they were,” Zax said. “Exploding something seems to help bring their attention back.” Justin Rouillier can be reached at jrouillier@cornellsun.com.
impending success and probably also the reason [for it] … is that it’s not imposed from the outside, but comes from within the society, between men and women,” Bachelet said. She added that education is a stepping stone to self-advancement. Citing her personal experiences, Bachelet said it was her education in medicine while in Chile that allowed her to become a pediatrician and later the Chilean Minister of Health. Bachelet acknowledged, however, that challenges such as violence against women and a lack of access to contraceptives hinder women’s ability to further their education. “The historic and persistent marginalization and discrimination is not sustainable. It’s not just hurting women. It’s hurting all of us,” she said. “It is both the right thing and the smart thing to do, to ensure women’s rights, to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, especially during this time of rising
inequality and up and down economies.” She said women have not always been allowed to be involved in work advancing public policies and laws that can help eliminate the disadvantages they face in society. “In particular, the right of women to take charge of their own sexual and reproductive rights seems far from secure,” she said, adding that she finds it “incredible” that it is largely men who are the decision-makers on these issues. According to Bachelet, countries need to level the playing field and strive toward gender equality. Without women in decision-making positions, countries cannot address some of the biggest issues facing women today, Bachelet said. Bachelet ended her talk with a call to action. “I urge you to stand up for equality and progress for all … so that the future women want is the future we all share,” she said. Lianne Bornfeld can be reached at lbornfeld@cornellsun.com.
6 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Don’t let the wind blow your paper away
RECYCLE
NEWS BRIEFS
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 7
Attorneys in Peterson Trial Deliver Closings
Clinton, Obama Set Aside Rivalry for Election
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Prosecutors in Drew Peterson’s murder trial implored jurors Tuesday to use common sense in assessing the circumstantial case against him, while the defense said the state fell far short of proving the former Illinois police officer killed his third wife. The attorneys delivered their closing arguments to jurors who will begin deliberating Wednesday in the trial for Peterson, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Kathleen Savio’s 2004 death. The former Bolingbrook police sergeant came under scrutiny in Savio’s death only after his fourth wife disappeared. Prosecutor Chris Koch began his closing remarks by walking up to the defense table, pointing at the 58-year-old Peterson and declaring in a booming voice, “It is clear this man killed Kathleen Savio.” Savio’s lifeless body was found in her bathtub — her hair soaked with blood and gash on the back of her head. Prosecutors contend Peterson killed the 40-year-old aspiring nurse because he feared a pending divorce settlement would wipe him out financially. The defense contends she died in an accidental slip and fall. As he spoke, Koch displayed a photograph of a smiling Savio, juxtaposing it with another picture of her bloated corpse jammed into her bathtub. Koch repeatedly told jurors to use common sense, telling them to consider how Peterson had threatened Savio several times and how he acted suspiciously after her death. As he has during most of the six-week trial, Peterson looked on calmly from the defense table, occasionally taking notes or whispering something to his attorneys. Savio’s death was initially deemed an accident; it was re-examined and ruled a homicide after the 2007 disappearance of Peterson’s fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. Peterson is suspected but hasn’t been charged in Stacy Peterson’s disappearance, and prosecutors were barred from mentioning or hinting that that she is presumed dead and that her husband is the lone suspect in her disappearance. Punching his fist into his palm for emphasis, Koch said Peterson broke into his estranged wife’s home — just a few blocks from Drew and Stacy Peterson’s house in Bolingbrook — in the early morning hours before March 1, 2004. “He went into that house, pushed her down, held her down until she inhaled fluid and drowned, Koch said.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — When Bill Clinton takes the convention stage in prime time Wednesday to praise President Barack Obama, it will be the most visible step on a path toward reconciliation for two former rivals whose political fortunes are now inextricably linked. That Obama would choose the former president for such a high-profile speaking spot and that Clinton would accept seemed unfathomable in 2008, when the two clashed bitterly during the Democratic nomination showdown between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president’s wife. Even though Hillary Clinton now serves as Obama’s secretary of state, resentments between the current and former presidents have been slow to ebb. But now, with the Democratic incumbent locked in a tight race with Republican Mitt Romney, Obama has fully embraced Clinton as a political partner in hopes of capturing the former president’s uncanny knack for political survival against tough odds. “President Clinton has an economic record second to none,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said at a briefing Tuesday hosted by ABC News and Yahoo. “He’s a very credible messenger ... he’s going to deliver a very compelling speech.” Obama called Clinton in July and asked him to give the speech that would place the president’s name in nomination. Clinton accepted enthusiastically, aides to both men said. If the arrangement seems like a forced marriage, it’s also a mutually beneficial pairing that brings Clinton back to the national political forefront and lends Obama the validation of the Democratic Party’s most popular elder statesman. With the economic recovery still tepid and unemployment stubbornly high, Obama campaign officials are eager to portray the president’s economic policies as mirroring those of his Democratic predecessor. Many voters remember Clinton’s tenure as a period of prosperity. The economy added some 22 million new jobs during his two terms in the White House from January 1993 to the start of 2001 and Clinton left office with a balanced federal budget and surplus. But it’s not a one-way proposition, as Clinton needs an Obama win in November to preserve his own legacy.
The Corn Daily S
OPINION
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 130TH EDITORIAL BOARD JUAN FORRER ’13 Editor in Chief
HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13
JEFF STEIN ’13
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How to Make The Most of Summer “T
rustee Viewpoint” is a biweekly column that allows your two student-elected members of the Cornell Board of Trustees to share their musings on matters relevant to campus life. Don’t be fooled! The trustees (the highest decision-making body at Cornell, and President David Skorton’s collective boss) deal with a lot of stuff that most students would deem “esoteric nonsense” at best. For example, debt financing, risk audits and capital development plans extending out 30 years. Nevertheless, this group of 64 dedicated Cornell policy makers also crafts and enacts decisions that define the Cornell experience. We authorize new
den, the extensive tree garden (or arboretum for those of you who speak Latin), a serene wildflower garden and miles of trails throughout our 4,300 acres of natural areas await the Cornellian who is willing to take even 15-20 minutes during the lunch hour to wander off the sidewalks of central campus. Freshmen, learn to take the stone bridge at the east end of Beebe Lake to class. Just doing this will carry you past some of the Plantations’ great assets. 2. Discover Cayuga. Last year, the Ithaca Times rated the middle of Cayuga Lake as the best place to be in Tompkins County. I couldn’t agree more. The moment life at Cornell
Outreach Coordinator
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ERIKA G. WHITESTONE ’15
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Darrick Nighthawk Evensen
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WORKING ON TODAY ’S SUN DESIGN DESKER PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKER SCIENCE EDITOR
Rebecca Coombes ’14 Fiona Modrak ’13 Dylan Clemens ’14 Akane Otani ’14 Kerry Close ’14 Haley Velasco ’15 Zachary Zahos ’15 Nicholas St. Fleur ’13
Editorial
A New MAP for Cornell Alcohol Policy SINCE 2002, THE MEDICAL AMNESTY POLICY has been an important tool for helping to keep Cornellians safe. It has given students the ability to call for help when a friend is seriously ill from alcohol poisoning without fearing the consequences of underage drinking laws. Recently, this policy was brought in line with New York State’s new Good Samaritan law, effectively expanding Cornell’s amnesty policy to include calls that arise from drug use as well. This is a welcome shift in the Medical Amnesty Policy and will make the campus safer. Since Cornell first began its Medical Amnesty Policy in 2002, the number of alcohol-related phone calls has increased while the percentage of those calls that has required medical transport has declined. In 2001, before the policy was enacted, there were 63 alcohol-related calls to Cornell University Emergency Medical Service, of which 62 percent resulted in medical transports. Last year, there were 174 alcohol-related calls, of which 54 resulted in medical transport, according to data from Gannett Health Services. While the data shows that the number of medical transports has continued to rise, it also suggests an increased willingness to call for help for a student in need. While the expansion of the policy is promising, this climbing number of medical transports on campus should continue to worry Cornellians. While a strong Medical Amnesty Policy that includes protection from persecution for both underage alcohol consumption and other drug use is a positive step toward a solution, it is not sufficient to ensure student safety. The University must also work to create safe spaces for underage students to spend their weekends. The University needs to seriously assess the extent to which new policies regarding the Greek System have simply shifted risky drinking elsewhere. We hope that one of these safe spaces will be the Bear’s Den pub, which opens Wednesday and will serve as a location where students both over and under 21 years old will be able to interact in a setting where alcohol is served and monitored. We hope that this will become a place where older students can relax with a beer in hand and younger students can enjoy late-night programming. We believe that it is this over-under policy that will most actively create safe spaces for students and decrease the number of medical transports. It is not enough for the University to provide help for these incidents only after they happen; it must work to ensure that students do not require medical transport in the first place. Instead of an outright ban on freshmen at fraternity parties, perhaps an over-under policy that is actually enforced will help mitigate some of the problems and make the campus even safer.
degree programs (e.g., everything happening at the new Cornell NYC Tech campus); we dictate what the physical campus looks like and how much construction you’ll need to contend with on your way to class; and we set your tuition rates. In short, we make sure that Cornell is using the resources it has to be the absolute best university we can be. As one of your two student trustees, I come to you through the pages of The Sun once a month to share relevant insight about Cornell and your experience here (and, hopefully, to stay as far away as I can from the esoteric nonsense that is also part of my job). For my column today, I’ll assume that most of you returned to campus — or first arrived on the Cornell campus — about three weeks ago. You’ve been here long enough to acclimate a bit, but not so long that you’re swamped with essays, problem sets and lab experiments. You have already heard multiple people who are unprepared for our winters, or who can’t handle the truth of what it means to live in the north, lament the blizzards, ice, several feet of snow, cold, cold and more cold that will attend us in a few short months. This cheery (re)introduction to campus, your lack of huge pressing assignments and the impending onset of autumn has made you realize that you possess only a few more weeks to really enjoy being outside in Ithaca’s glorious summer beauty. Now you are likely thinking, “Great, Nighthawk, but what does this have to do with the trustees?” Well, I promised to shelve the vapid and tiresome banter and to focus on matters related to the student experience in this column. The trustees are supposed to know the resources available at Cornell better than anyone else; so here’s some advice from one trustee on how to actively avoid wasting the last three weeks of summer at Cornell: 1. Visit the Plantations. If you still think that the Cornell Plantations is some sort of preserved historical artifact reminiscent of wealthy aristocrats growing cotton in the antebellum south, you need to wake up and take a stroll around campus. Stunning botanical gardens, a magnificent herb gar-
starts to stress me out, I call up a friend (who owns a sailboat), make my way down the hill and hit the water. It is amazing how the dismal grind of endless work in the library is transformed into monumental allure when you view the clock tower from a distance out on Cayuga. Don’t know how to get out on the lake? Try making friends with a member of the sailing team. There are also boats for rent down in the Inlet. 3. If you can’t make it to Cayuga, the next best getaway is staring you right in the face — Beebe Lake. Rent a canoe from Cornell Outdoor Education (COE) and take in the respite that accompanies floating across the lake and into Hemlock Gorge. Absorb the transcendent splendor around you. You will find it extremely hard to believe that you have not left campus as you enter this foreign world. 4. If you are willing to venture a little farther from campus, check out the bogs, boardwalks, woodlands and avian paradise at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. Shuttles to the Lab depart from Corson-Mudd Hall six times a day on weekdays. 5. For those of you looking to spice up your weekends, or if you have an afternoon free, you will find the exodus from campus to the solace of a state park more than worth your effort. Robert Treman is my favorite, but Buttermilk and Taughannock also offer invigorating hikes, a chorus of nature that fills your ears and the capacity to take a deep breath that somehow makes you think more clearly. Welcome back to campus. It is wonderful to be at Cornell, but please do not let your academics be the only thing that occupies your day. Experience the Ithaca summer before we start the long descent into our northern winter.
Darrick Nighthawk Evensen is a graduate student in the Department of Natural Resources and the graduate student-elected trustee. He may be reached at dte6@cornell.edu. Trustee Viewpoint appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 9
OPINION
Can’t Break the Ties That Bind I
t’s not often that one has a spiritual awakening at a horse racetrack, especially one averse to gambling like me. But after attending a Bruce Springsteen concert last Wednesday at Vernon Downs, I remembered why I believe in America and our future. While much of the country was transfixed on the vitriol and misinformation spewed at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, my friends and I were one with a message of hard work, tough times and determination. Contemporary Cornellians may tend to reject Springsteen and his peers in favor of less nuanced messages from such “artists” as Avicii, but perhaps revisiting the music of our predecessors could inspire our generation to abandon apathy in favor of difference-making. To say Springsteen’s performance helped stimulate such a transition would be an understatement. Nine of my friends and I made the two hour trip to Vernon with varying expectations. Some of my friends just wanted to have a good time, while others seemed to be making a religious pilgrimage. Nevertheless, all quickly realized it would be a memorable night. After tailgating (sorry, Professor Ehrenberg, for missing lecture), we entered the raceway infield to find a freefor-all. There were no corporate logos, luxury boxes or anything delineating rich from poor or old from young. You simply stood as close as you could to the stage and waited for The Boss. This led to some disagreement — my friends and I were accosted for intruding on an older man’s blanket space — but all was ironed out once Bruce opened with “Out in the Street” at sunset. Those standing near us came from all walks of life and we probably shared little in the way of common experience, but it didn’t matter. The distinct sound of a certain 62-year-old from New Jersey was all we needed to get along. As the concert progressed, so did my amazement and desire to play an active role in society. Some songs (including the majority of my favorites) were written decades ago and others more recently, but almost all messages were perfectly applicable to American youth in 2012. Springsteen himself noted, “I spent most of my time as a musician measuring the distance between the American dream and American reality.” One only needs to look at employment data for college graduates and dim forecasts from politicians to recognize why such disconnect should register on East Hill. But unlike us, Bruce
doesn’t just sit on and avoid pessimism and despair. He engages his audience to combat circumstances and additionally sings of love, angst, growth, activism and change. Those emotions were some of the many we experienced over the course of the evening. I’m not usually one to break out in song or dance, but we didn’t stop. When a few older individuals in front of us were ejected after a scuffle during “Prove It All Night,” my group immediately took their spot and starting jumping up and down. The aforementioned older man and his wife joined right in — there was no avoiding the pervading spirit of common struggle and perseverance. And persevere Bruce did, for an astounding three hours and 35 minutes without a break. As one who sings about hard work, Springsteen practices what he preaches. Many in our generation would find sitting and listening to 30 straight songs straight tiring, but The Boss made playing them look easy. He didn’t just stand on stage, but rather actively performed and engaged the audience. Springsteen’s solicitation and subsequent performance of the crowd’s song requests was conducive to an attitude of active involvement and interaction with public life. When a young child from outside Syracuse was brought onstage to sing “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day,” you didn’t want to wait — you wanted to do everything in your power to help him create a sunnier tomorrow for ourselves and our society. The Republicans last week in Tampa and Democrats this week in Denver each speak of their distinct, disparate visions for our tomorrow. But their visions are motivated by certain special interests, rather than our unique perspectives. Springsteen’s politics aren’t difficult to ascertain, but he by no means imposes them through song. It’s likely (in fact, probable, given the demographics of Upstate New York) that just as many conservatives as liberals were in the crowd at Vernon, but individual politics were irrelevant. All that mattered as we sat tight and took hold on our journey down “Thunder Road” was a desire to actively share and possibly change our circumstances.
Today at Cornell many prefer music that exists in a sphere separate from public life and conditions. The message conveyed by the likes of Avicii is one of just having a good time — which is okay, except for that it reinforces the general attitude of apathy prevalent on many college campuses today, including ours. We pretend that our individual lives and conditions have no bearing on larger circumstances, and seek to secure better futures for ourselves irrespective of any greater societal aim. Springsteen shows us, and previous generations proved to us, that this isn’t the case. My experience at Vernon
Jon Weinberg In Focus indicates that, on however small a scale, there are commonalities to build upon and discussions to be had. We, unlike political talking heads at the conventions, can have valuable conversations and be brought together. Like Bruce Springsteen, I don’t want to merely pursue my own, blind American dream but rather voice and improve the American reality. At Cornell, that means that not letting the notion of a public sphere and community “Fade into Darkness” while we enjoy our Avicii Homecoming concert and enter the working world. Our generation of Americans can too believe in “The Promised Land” if we accept that there is darkness on the edge of Ithaca that we shouldn’t ignore. I came to this realization while “Dancing in the Dark” at Vernon Downs, but you can come to it by looking around the Cornell community yourself and realizing we aren’t so different after all.
Jon Weinberg is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He may be reached at jweinberg@cornellsun.com. In Focus appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
Lessons Learned From the Liberal Arts M
any of my friends and classmates enrolled in technical, career-skills based colleges have told me that they look forward to my serving them coffee in the near future. My only crime for this jesting condemnation is that I am enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and am attempting to pursue intellectualism rather than preprofessionalism. Yes, freshmen, doubtless you have already heard upperclassmen calling Arts and Sciences “Arts and Crafts.” When they use that designation, they refer to me and to what I am study-
ests” (an expression used by those who are undecided) is that I have actually learned “practical” lessons from my classes. What follows are a few lessons that I have learned from my first year of a liberal arts education. 1. Asian Studies 1114 FWS: Buddhist Meditation Masters I am sure that your first response upon seeing that I learned something practical in a class about Buddhist Meditation Masters — let alone one that was a first year writing seminar — is one of sheer
David Fischer Fischy Business ing. Although my “practical” comrades use the term with some level of scorn, I actually like the expression “Arts and Crafts” because I think that it embodies the pursuit of intellectualism that is inherent in a liberal arts education. I have had the excellent opportunity of not being tied down by major restrictions (just yet) and have been able to take classes in humanities and other fields that tickle my interest. An unintended consequence (I learned about unintended consequences in Economics 1110: Introduction to Microeconomics) of “exploring my inter-
and utter disbelief. This class has actually had a profound effect on how I manage stress and time. The class itself was not much of a time commitment but learning about Buddhist monks and other figures in the canon of Buddhism was hugely influential on how I handle stressors in my own life. Furthermore, we practiced different forms of meditation. And I have a strong feeling that at some point in my life it will be useful to know the difference between samatha and vipassana meditation. Finally, I took the class my Freshman fall, a time when many students are overwhelmed by the increased
level of difficulty of college work as compared to high school (do not worry, freshmen, you will be fine). Taking a class where we learned about monks who would cut themselves out of the world in order to achieve inner peace made me think about ways to achieve a similar peace in my own life. 2. Government 1615: Intro to Political Philosophy There are actually quite a few pieces of practical knowledge to be mined from famous political theorists. The class covers the works of philosophers ranging from those of Niccolò Machiavelli to those of Karl Marx, and everything in between. One particular concept that I considered “practical” was Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s concept of alienation and how it affects the development of the human race. In short, the concept explains that contemporary man lives “outside of himself,” that the perception that other people have of us affects us deeply. This movement to an outside conception of self has also given rise to decorum, politeness and, ultimately, a liberal strand of political thought. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I shun decorum and politeness (just kidding, mom) but it was very interesting to think about the beginning of these twin constructs. Also, once we have recognized that, as a part of human nature, we do care about how people see us, we can express ourselves in ways that we could not without accepting this fact at first. So, random freshman boy, if you want to grow that beard, you should
grow that beard! But do not be alarmed if people start treating you differently. 3. Extracurricular Activities: Fraternity Parties I have an article from the New York Times posted on my wall back home that gives advice to incoming college students. It says, in a miniscule paragraph at the end, that your time spent in dark, dingy, black-lighted fraternity basements actually has some value. I agree. Although the time spent at parties in Collegetown and at fraternity houses throughout freshmen year were largely unfulfilling in an academic sense, it was hugely beneficial in cultivating social skills and (of course) in blowing off steam from the week. The single most important thing that I learned from my time spent in these Keystone Lightdrenched hell-holes (and this is great advice for any freshman boys reading this column) is to always see whether a girl sticks her hand out for you to shake when meeting her. It’s always awkward when a girl does not intend to shake your hand and you go sticking yours out anyway. I would not call that tip one of the most important practical lessons that I have learned so far, but it has definitely allowed me to be a more charming, winsome person.
David Fischer is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at dfischer@cornellsun.com. Fischy Business appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
10 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 11
12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday 5, September , 2012
SCIENCE
Environmental Activism
Science History
Cornell Students Rally at ‘Don’t Frack New York’ Activists deliver 3,000 signature anti-fracking pledge to Gov.Cuomo By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR Sun Science Editor
WATCH THE VIDEO AT CORNELLSUN . COM The southern tier of New York faces an eminent challenge: the legalization of hydraulic fracking in five of its counties. The area, which borders Pennsylvania and includes the counties west of the Catskills, sits on top of the Marcellus shale, a deposit of untapped natural gas that can be processed and turned into fuel. Currently no high-volume, thick water horizontal hydraulic fracking is allowed in New York State, but all that can change if Gov. Andrew Cuomo, accepts new regulations from the Department of Environmental Conservation, and allows drilling in the southern tier. But the so-called “sacrificial counties” are not without allies — they have received support from activists statewide. As Julia Fiore ’13, biology and society, said, “No people should be considered sacrifices for dirty energy.” She, along with 15 members of Cornell’s KyotoNOW and the Green Umbrella, joined with over 1,500 people from across the state in Albany at an event called “Don’t Frack New York” to deliver to Gov. Cuomo a pledge signed by 3,000 citizens stating that they do not welcome hydrofracking in New York State, and that they’re willing to take any nonviolent measure within their conscious to prevent it.They planned to show the governor that the “first to be fracked” won’t go without a fight. A Weekend of Training The events of Don’t Frack New York began on Saturday, August 25th with a weekend of training sessions moderated by members of KyotoNOW! and other grass roots organizations from across the state.
COURTESY OF THOMAS MOORE AND DONTFRACKNY.ORG
State support | Over 1,500 people rallied in Albany New York to issue Gov. Andrew Cuomo a pledge against fracking in the southern tier of New York State. (Right) Cornell student Thomas Moore ’14 screams to the crowd during a skit at the rally. During the first day’s session, the activists learned about their spectrum of allies and opponents in the fracking fight. Kelsey Erickson ’13, natural resources, described the spectrum as consisting of active allies, passive allies, passive opponents and active opponents. “Active allies,” she said, “are the people who work alongside you, go to rallies with you, and help you out.” She also explained that passive allies are in support of the antifracking movement, but are not necessarily actively participating in the protests. She added that the passive opponents are people who don’t actively speak out against you, but at the same time are not willing to work with you. And then finally active opponents, like the natural gas companies, are
COURTESY OF DONTFRACKNY.ORG
COURTESY OF DONTFRACKNY.ORG
Fists clenched | Activists from across New York State took to the streets of Albany during an event called “Don’t Frack New York” to protest against hydrofracking in the state.
willing to fight against you. The training methods gave the activists lessons on how to shift people from being neutral supporters and passive allies into active participants joined in the fight. “There’s a lot of people who are maybe on the fence and think they don’t know too much about fracking,” K.C. Alvery ’12 natural resources said. “But we’re mostly focused on helping to shift those people into taking action and feeling inspired that there is this movement out here and that we have the potential to make a difference.” Alvery noted that the goal of the trainings was to prepare people to continue organizing against fracking throughout this fall. She said that the sessions gave people the facts they needed to explain to their town board why fracking, even in neighboring counties, could devastate their local economy and damage their water supply. The Sunday session provided the group with non-violent direct action training which covered how to organize peaceful protests and rallies. Members from diverse grassroots organizations offered tips on how to increase local public engagement in the fight against fracking by using examples from their own experiences in their towns. Thousand-Person March The more than 1,500 activists began their march on a sunny Monday morning outside of an amphitheater located by the Hudson River. The beautiful scene with the speakers lined along the Hudson reminded the marchers of the natural sites throughout New York State that they were marching to protect from fossil fuel extraction. From there they marched to the steps of the Department of Environmental Conservation office building. Here they put on a skit that alluding to the influence of industry within the government which featured a mock wedding between the DEC and the Chesapeake Energy Company, whose office is right across from it. Speakers included Josh Fox, director of the documentary Gasland, and Bill McKibben, creator of the grassroots organization 350.org. The rally continued to march down the streets and then stopped in West Capitol park outside of the governor’s office where Sandra Steingraber, a biologist and environmental activist, led the crowd, fists in air, in reciting their pledge of resistance – a moment which Alvery remarked
was reminiscent of a civil rights leader from the 1960s. Dominc Frongillo ’08, Councilor and Deputy Town Supervisor Town of Caroline, New York, said that “seeing over 1,000 people with their firsts in the air saying ‘I commit to resisting fracking’ sends chills down one’s spines when you realize the passion that people have about protecting their communities. Gov. Cuomo has no idea what he’s stepping into.” Chris Dennis ’14, international agriculture and rural development, who was video recording the event had a similar reaction. “I saw how so many people were so passionate about this issue because they felt that their livelihoods and their health and family were being threatened by this industry.” With that energy, a delegation of 20 people delivered the over 3,000 signatures, collected in only three-weeks to a representative of Gov. Cuomo. The pledge, Fiore said, is not a passive petition — it’s saying that we have thousands of people willing to put their bodies on the lines to stop fracking from happening. It’s now up to Gov. Cuomo if he’s going to listen to those 3,000 signatures, or instead allow fracking in the southern tier. Interconnected Environmental Action Frongillo said that with Don’t Frack New York “we’re seeing a historic grassroots movement that’s uniting everyday New Yorkers in wanting to protect their state.” Don’t Frack New York helps mark the end of the “Summer of Solidarity” which saw dozens of grassroots actions nationwide such as the Tar Sands action blockade in Texas, the coal export action in Montana, and the ramps campaign in West Virgina. Alvery said that with the Summer of Solidarity people are recognizing that these fights for clean energy are interconnected. “The industry and the government seem like really big opponents,” said Fiore. “But we just have to remember as citizens we have a lot of power in our collective action and that if we work together we can make our voices heard even against the millions of dollars that they are putting up against us.” Nicholas St. Fleur can be reached at science-editor@cornellsun.com.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 13
SCIENCE
Marshall Hayes and Eric Nelson Bring Role-Playing Into the Science Classroom Vishesh Kothary ’12, who took the class last year, said that, in the course, he and his classmates dressed up as characters from 19th London, summer 1854: A cholera out- century London, adopted Victorian accents break near Broad Street has left more than and congregated in the crypt of Sage Chapel 500 people dead in the past few days. You are where they replayed public health discussions a member of an emergency response com- as they would have occurred in the past. “The aim was to slip into character and mittee, tasked with addressing the situation and preserving the health of the community. re-create the dynamic considering the political, social, religious and scientific views in How do you proceed? That’s the prompt that research associate force at the time, and seek to understand how Marshall Hayes, plant pathology and plant rational decisions were made despite lack of biology, and Prof. Eric Nelson, plant patholo- modern scientific knowledge,” he said. As Prof. Nelson explained, “Games have gy and plant biology, use with their new teaching method, “Reacting to the Past,” in which rules. We are now in 1854. We do not know students learn about historic scientific events what germ theory is.” At the time, it was not widely believed that by re-enacting them. “Reacting to the Past” is a new approach to diseases were caused by organisms too small to be seen with the naked learning that Hayes eye. The common view brought to Cornell. of that time, miasma theIt uses role-play to “The aim was to slip into ory, said that disease was immerse students in caused by bad air. the background of a character and re-create the During this epidemscientific issue. The dynamic considering scientific ic, scientists used obsergame helps students vation, logic and deducactively learn be- views in force at the time.” tive reasoning to discover cause they research that cholera was being their roles in ad- Vishesh Kotary ’12 transmitted from drinkvance and then act ing water that was contathem out in studentrun situations. They learn about the scientific minated by a leaking cesspit. This discovery topic by pretending to be key players in the helped develop germ theory. The students in the class used similar techniques to historic event. “Reacting to the Past,” or RTTP, was first arrive at the same result. “The fundamental process about thinking developed in the late 1990’s by a small consortium of colleges and universities led by critically about scenarios is what the people Mark C. Carnes at the University of Barnard back in 1854 did, and they did it to the effect College in New York. First designed as a tool that basically established the field of epidemito teach humanities students about historical ology,” Hayes said. Hayes and Nelson have thought of other events, RTTP has since grown in popularity and now features games that examine past games that could potentially be developed, to problems through a scientific lens. Hayes has represent a broad spectrum of historical eras. Hayes planned that cholera would be used money from a National Science Foundation grant to bring more role-play played as the first game in a three-part series of role-playing exercises in a microbiology class. games into science classrooms. “The ultimate goal is to create a classroom The second scenario would be the 1903 environment in which your students are not Typhoid epidemic that affected Cornell, and only active participants but are also leading the third scenario would be a modern day the discussion and are heavily engaged in Haiti cholera outbreak. Hayes explained that material assigned to them,” Hayes said. He there are different teaching objectives related noted that role-playing historical events is to each. In 1854, the causes of cholera were not especially effective for teaching complex and controversial scientific concepts such as the understood. In 1903, the transmission evolution debate and the trial of Galileo. He dynamics of typhoid was not known. But as is currently spearheading the use of role-play- of 2011, germ theory, microbiology and moling on campus and has encouraged its imple- ecular microbiology are in place and understood. Still, thousands of people are dying of mentation into courses across campus. PLPA 2950: Biology of Infectious cholera in Haiti. “The kinds of questions we address in this Diseases, taught by Nelson, with help from Hayes, involves students in a role-playing lesson are what kind of data is necessary when game called “London 1854: Cesspits, you are studying an outbreak in order to Cholera, and the Conflict over the Broad decide cause and effect, and to decide about Street Pump.” Hayes and Nelson worked proper management strategies,” Hayes said. With all the information we have access to together to make the game as scientifically and historically authentic as possible by today, the issue is not access to the facts; it is exposing the students to original raw data “how do we produce people that can have the confidence insights and foresights to be able and first hand reports from that time.
By LISA GIBSON and SHAUNTLE BARLEY Sun Staff Writer
LISA GIBSON / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHY
Active learning | Marshall Hayes helped Prof. Eric Nelson create a course that uses “Reacting to the Past” to get students to actively take part in learning about science.
to deal with really complex issues?” Hayes said. He and Nelson said the primary objective of the role-play technique is to have students develop critical thinking and analytical skills. The two also agree that students take a lot away from the class and have fun as well. “Professor Nelson goes out of his way to make sure we learn many of the skills necessary to become good scientists and leave the class with critical thinking skills that will last for a lifetime, even when the information we learn in this class is long forgotten,” Kothary said. This is the second year the course will be offered at Cornell. Each summer, faculty members participate in a conference in which they play the developmental games and give feedback to improve them. Hayes said at least three other universities will be playing the cholera game as early as next spring. “It has been as much fun researching and preparing for it as it is for the students. It is not only fun but, challenging. I can only envision the extent to which you can take something like this,” Hayes said. “I envision the course that would allow us to go to London and play the exact game and visit the spots and walk the path, immersing students not only in history but in ideas, cultures, and understanding what it really means to be involved in a really active thought process.” In addition to his help utilizing “Reacting the Past” techniques in microbiology classes, Hayes has also helped incorporate this technique into environmental courses at Cornell. Deborah Sills ’11, a post-doctoral student in earth and atmospheric sciences, decided to try science role-playing with her students in her Freshman Writing Seminar, EAS 1420: Sustainable Earth, Energy and Environmental Systems, after hearing about the teaching technique from Hayes. In the course, students reenacted the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference debate, in which world leaders met for ten days to develop a plan to tackle global climate change. “I thought this might help students, and myself, gain insight on the challenges of coming to an international agreement on such a controversial issue,” Sills said. She also noted that the role-playing technique served as a more effective method of educating students about the controversy surrounding climate change than lecture. This is because students were able to experience firsthand that different countries hold different views on sustainability standards. Sills also said that the reenactment game moves students away from passive learning and will help those who are used to writing purely scientific papers formulate arguments, write persuasively and learn to communicate complex ideas. Hayes said he is very enthusiastic about the positive benefits of “Reacting to the Past” in science classrooms. He pointed out that, through the method, students are not only
COURTESY CORNELL DEPARTMENT OF PLANT BIOLOGY
COURTESY CORNELL DEPARTMENT OF PLANT BIOLOGY
Scientific thespians | Marshal Hayes (top) and Eric Nelson (bottom) incorporate roleplaying into teaching science lessons.
learning content, but are also thinking critically, developing confidence in their knowledge and challenging others. Hayes added that, by using this technique in science classes, students can successfully learn the subject matter because they are often on the spot, which forces them to be adequately prepared. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of the teaching method, however, is that it demonstrates firsthand the intersection of science and real life, and reinforces the importance of communication in such critical times throughout science history. Lisa Gibson and Shauntle Barley can be reached at egibson@cornellsun.com and sbarley@cornellsun.com.
COURTESY OF MARSHALL HAYES
Repeating history | Students enrolled in Nelson’s microbiology course learn about the 1854 cholera outbreak in London by reenacting it in student-run role-playing games.
A&E
14 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Jamesy Boy: Words With Trevor White ’07 BY NATALIA FALLAS Sun Staff Writer
Amid economic turmoil and funding cuts for humanities studies, Cornell students have been leaning towards secure future professions. Those in the arts are not among them. It is thus welcoming and affirming to learn of Trevor White ’07, a rising star in the movie business. Graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences as a film major five years ago, White is currently wrapping up post-production on his first feature-length film, Jamesy Boy, starring James Woods, Mary-Louise Parker and Ving Rhames. The Sun spoke over the phone with the writer-director last Tuesday on his filmmaking roots, his humbling experience working on Jamesy Boy and his future Cornell-related movie in the works.
stantly practice like you can as a writer or actor. Luckily I have a lot of actor friends and constantly volunteer to help them out. SUN: Your latest project, Jamesy Boy, is based on a real life ex-inmate who ended up changing his life around. How did you come across this story? T.W.: My brother produces all of my films — we actually have this production company [Star Thrower Entertainment] together. We were in the middle of another project at the height of the economic downturn and it was really hard to get an independent movie
your short films? T.W.: The writing process was not that different. What did make it different was the fact that we were developing the script with more cooks in the kitchen. More opinions bouncing around can be scary, but collaboration is far more helpful in giving a script shape. Directing, on the other hand, was very different than anything before. Before, there were an even amount of actors to crew. Previously, I would spend five days shooting, but this time we shot for 23 days with incredibly long hours. There was also more pressure
THE SUN: How did you get started in filmmaking? TREVOR WHITE: My parents gave me my first camera when I was 10 years old. Ever since then, I started. At Cornell, that’s all I ever wanted to do. SUN: What projects did you work on as a student and how did studying at Cornell impact your filmmaking technique? T.W.: When I started at Cornell, I made my first short film the second semester of my freshman year. Every semester after, I would make at least one film, all the way through senior year. I worked with other students on their films, as well as have them work on mine. With each new film, I tried to take it to a new level, whether challenging myself creatively, budget-wise or with the telling of the story itself. Truthfully, the film program also opened my eyes to movies that I would never see otherwise. I considered myself a movie buff up until that point, but the majority of the films I saw in class were some I had never seen or heard of, such as classics or more experimental films. They were films that never crossed my mind. It gave me a better-rounded concept of what films are out there and what can be done with them. SUN: What is one thing you learned at Cornell, whether it be a certain resource or advice, that has really stuck with you until now? T.W.: I don’t know if it’s something I learned from a professor exactly, but I discovered that you can always create. Even if you graduate with the dream of making films but end up taking a different job, you can always find time to create. In school, I constantly wanted to be doing something; I was always involved in a project or film and continued that after graduation. Kids come out to Hollywood and get beat up by assistants and the industry. And then they don’t want to do anything. But if it’s what you truly want to do, you can always practice that. Directing is a little tougher. It costs money and you need a crew, actors and screenplays. You can’t con-
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TREVOR WHITE
Above, Trevor White ’07 (second to right) directing actor James Woods (left). Below, White (right) with actors Spencer Lofranco (center) and Ving Rhames (left).
made. That’s when my old friend James suddenly reappeared in my life, and I got to know him really well and know his story. I had known him for a long time, but it was the first time I really got to know him. I asked him to let me turn his story into a movie. At first, I thought no way was this going to happen — it’s just a pipe dream. But eventually we got closer and closer, talking almost every day and writing everything down. The overall process took a year long and we brought in another writer [Lane Shadgett] to help. SUN: This is also your first feature-length film. How is this experience different than
overall even though there was similar preparation — rehearsing and finding the right angle for each scene and how you wanted to tell it was no different from short film to feature film. SUN: You co-wrote and directed this film. Not a lot of writers tend to do that. Is there a specific vision you had in mind during the writing process that made you want to direct as well? T.W.: It’s actually not that way for me at all. I have no attachment to my own writing. Writing is scary and tedious for me. I want to work with writers who are better than me. I’m far more a director than a writer. In the future
I probably won’t write too much. What I truly love is the adaptation process and giving life to what is in a great script. It can go either way, in any case. You can make a great film out of a bad script and vice versa. It’s really all about how you present the characters. SUN: How is it working with big name actors such as Mary-Louise Parker and James Woods? Is that daunting as a young and new director? T.W.: It can be intimidating but it’s important for me to have confidence in my vision. My goal was to show them I had a clear vision for the movie and characters. You have to take the project seriously so that they will take you seriously. Then the scariness had dissipated with confidence. On set, I had a great working relationship with everyone. Each actor is different so there are different learning curves — it was definitely fun directing them. I learned a lot and it was an overall amazing experience. SUN: You and your brother run the production company Star Thrower. Is it difficult to work with a sibling or does it provide comfort? T.W.: It’s great. Tim and I really challenge and trust each other a whole lot. It’s a huge advantage to work with him and have a partner who is honest all the time. We work really well together; there are some heated arguments, but they always turn out for the better. I feel fortunate to have the person I trust the most always there when shooting a film. SUN: Can you tell us about any new projects? T.W.: It’s actually a Cornell story. My brother and I are both producing and I’m also set to direct. It’s called The Billionaire Who Wasn’t — based on the book by Conor O’Clery. It’s about Chuck Feeney ’56 who became a billionaire by 1980 and in 1984 gave it all away. He has given more to one university than any other individual — he even helped finance the tech center on Roosevelt Island. The story is just unbelievable, and it was all done anonymously until revealed in 1997. Anyways, I’m set to direct it and I’m really excited about it. SUN: Any last advice for aspiring writers/directors? T.W.: Don’t quit. If you want it, keep pushing. I really do mean that. It’s a tough town, tough industry and there are going to be a lot of times when you feel like quitting. Don’t give up. Sounds cheesy, but it’s happened to me. I thought many times that it wasn’t going to happen for me. Also, you’re never going to direct by being an assistant. You need to create, and create opportunities for yourself. It’s a relationship business at the end of the day, so it’s very important to make those connections. Natalia Fallas is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences She can be contacted at nfallas@cornellsun.com.
A&E BY ALEX REHBERG Sun Contributor
With the accessibility of parties and casual hook-ups for college students, growing old alone is probably absent from our rambunctious minds. When that premise is sugarcoated with an unexpectedly serious fling between a New York City waitress and cook, the result is a touchingly familiar commentary on loneliness and the depths people travel to be together. Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, currently playing at the Kitchen Theatre in the Commons, reflects the struggles of finding and accepting love in modern times. Its 1987 off-Broadway debut, 2002 Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival and 1991 film adaptation were all well received. The Kitchen Theatre’s adaptation, directed by Rachel Lampert, also succeeds in bringing to life the very true and human experiences McNally packs into Frankie and Johnny. The Kitchen provides the perfect setting for this intense and intimate play. The setup resembles a black box theatre, where about 120 seats comfortably surround an open stage without a curtain. This open layout instantly embraces the audience as the exciting opening scene depicts Frankie (Rachel Burttram) and Johnny (Brandon Morris) engaging in an animalistic one night stand. If the Kitchen was any smaller, the audience
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 15
In the Bedroom would be in bed beside them. This personal setup drags the audience into the scene, almost as if looking on from a one-way mirror three feet off the edge of their bed. However, the close proximity to your neighbor makes the taboo nature of the opening scene more enjoyable as you share a laugh that is fluent throughout the theatre. Despite the too-calculated placement of scattered clothes and other objects in the room, the use of real food and drink throughout the play adds to its realism. Cooking sessions cleverly separate scenes while still remaining in the same environment of a studio apartment. Rachel Burttram makes her debut at the Kitchen Theatre after numerous stints at the Florida Repertory Theatre, including the plays August Osage County and Amy's View. Burttram plays Frankie, the 39-year-old waitress whose life experiences prompt her to treat potential love interests with caution. Burttram’s thick New York accent raises some confusion since her character is supposed to have grown up in Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, her overall disposition is believable and evocative. You can feel her aching with frustration as she stares at a building across the street, holding Johnny and whimpering. Her pain overwhelms the audience. Growing up in an impoverished single parent household, Frankie is a cultured woman trapped under miserable circumstances. Burttram’s performance grips
the heart of the viewer long after the stage lights have dimmed. Also making his debut at the Kitchen is Brandon Morris, who frequents Burn Notice as Agent Lane and has starred in the world premiere of Lee Blessings’ Black Sheep. Morris and Burttram are dynamic counterparts; not only are both totally underdressed, but their onstage chemistry also sizzles. As Johnny, Morris belts out pure emotion when reacting to Frankie’s hesitance in accepting his love. He also manages to bring out McNally’s lyrical subtleties. Through his gait and mannerisms, Morris simultaneously hints at Johnny’s poor upbringings and debates the meaning of Shakespeare. Morris highlights the very essence of Johnny’s abstract character and willingness to give himself completely to Frankie. Besides some very minute slip-ups in timing and set details, this two-act play pulls in the audience from the first second and does not let go until long after the play has concluded. The Kitchen’s rendition trans-
COURTESY OF THE KITCHEN THEATRE
poses time, leaving the audience unaware that the play was meant to be viewed within the window of 1987. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is exciting (probably too exciting to take your parents to), thoughtprovoking and real, leaving the audience tangled up in an everyday fairytale. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune plays at the Kitchen Theatre until September 16.
Alex Rehberg is a freshman in the College of Human Ecology. He can be reached at ajr286@cornell.edu.
The Nearsighted Nolan
“I
don’t think you go to a play to forget, or to a movie to be distracted. I think life generally is a distraction and that going to a movie is a way to get back, not go away.” That is a quote from actor Tom Noonan, who courageous moviegoers will remember as the mysterious doppelganger in Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York. He expresses a sentiment so clear and true that I wonder why I did not assemble those exact words in that exact order by myself. Personal failings notwithstanding, the idea that we watch film to connect within ourselves rather than merely ‘escape’ via fleeting distractions fits with my fondest memories of the medium. So, why have movies been so distracting lately? Tired platitudes blame directors Michael Bay (Transformers), Roland Emmerich (2012) or actor Nicolas Cage, who has about trademarked a style of acting/shouting in eternal meltdown. While I will personally defend Cage’s talents against his detractors, right now I charge a filmmaker who I also hold in high regard: Christopher Nolan. Our greatest living director; the man who turned superhero movies serious; the legend who dreamed of Inception? Oh, yes. It would be borderline libel to denounce Nolan as ‘talentless,’ a ‘hack’ or a ‘talentless hack.’ He is a crafty director who challenges the audience’s expectations of linear storytelling and soundstage action scenes — see Memento for the former and Inception’s jaw-dropping revolving hallway sequence for the latter. I am quite a fan of those works, as well as of Insomnia and the modern classic The Dark Knight. As Larry David would say, he’s “pretty, pretty … prettay good!” But there is a signature touch of his that represents a nagging trend in filmmaking of recent years, and that is his crippling obsession with minutiae, both in plot and style. Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom) rolls some eyes with his painstakingly crafted, colored and positioned props and sets. Stanley Kubrick (The Shining) drove his producers and actors mad as a notorious perfectionist. Yet the films of these two directors utilize their creator’s obsession as either a background detail or an essential key in unlocking their themes and secrets. For Nolan, he seems to be afraid of letting images speak for themselves. To secure audience comprehension, he adds flourishes that feel extraneous, like an auteur struggling to leave his mark and thus tacking on a Post-It note.
v In The Dark Knight Rises, which collects the worst of Nolan’s tendencies, we are introduced to Bruce Wayne after eight years of isolation with a tabloid’s worth of gossip. At a party on the grounds of Wayne Manor, the Gotham City Mayor notes Wayne’s absence, policemen remark how Wayne has not been seen for years, maids chatter about how “disfigured” the unseen Wayne has become and adversary John Daggett jokes that Wayne is some Howard Hughesesque recluse, “peeing into Mason jars.” This repetitive exposition is an example of ‘tell’ over ‘show,’ where we do not feel a grain of the solitude Wayne suffered but simply hear how bad it must have been from (mostly) unknown talking heads. Nolan loves to parallel cut between several proximate locations in order to string together a bustling setting, but he forfeits any moments of silence or contemplation in his depiction (see film theorist David Bordwell’s recent essay, “Nolan vs. Nolan,” for an in-depth analysis of the director’s overactive editing style). Plot is clearly Nolan’s focus and his number one goal to communicate. Why, then, do his stories end up so twisted and full of holes? Allow me to clarify: I believe plot holes are one of the weakest arguments you can impose against a movie. Plot holes may not be apparent on a cursory viewing, and thus spotting them gives a viewer the impression that they are closely analyzing the film and engaging in nuanced ‘film criticism,’ as scholars call it. However, this approach can be likened to disassembling a movie’s SparkNotes, divorcing themes, composition and intent from a film and instead studying often-irrelevant inconsistencies in a film’s universe. Unfortunately, Nolan perpetuates this increasingly mainstream method of pseudo-analysis by tying theme and plot so strongly and, at least in the case of The Dark Knight Rises, so sloppily. To those who have seen that movie, you are aware of that already infamous plot twist A Lover’s Quarrel at the end (accompaWith the World nied by a literal twist of a knife, to jog your memory). It razes most of the film’s fiction up to that point, leaving dozens of ruinous and unfathomable assumptions in its wake. The inclusion of the twist was likely out of necessity to spice up the final act. Roger Ebert coined the phrase, “Keyser Soze syndrome,” in observation of the trend following The Usual Suspects’ release when a film drastically alters its reality in the final act. See Fight Club, The Sixth Sense and
Zachary Zahos
SANTI SLADE / SUN STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
Nolan’s own Memento for the fad’s winning protégés. Perhaps Nolan’s greatest weakness is his inability to give into the mystery of his subjects. Inception spends nearly an hour explaining the logic of dreamworlds to the viewer, along with throwing out a handful of inconsistent “dream within dreams” time scale ratios. Think how much more unpredictable and, according to both psychologists and personal experience, realistic a lack of rules would have been. The Dark Knight actually carries a soul — the silent shot of The Joker with his face out of a police car window, basking in chaos shakes your bones. But Two-Face’s circuitous speech at the climax divulges the Hollywood tendency for too much closure. And as for The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan told Rolling Stone magazine in July that it was not “political.” The plot’s prominent populist uprising — with insurgents brandishing Soviet AK-47s — precludes this notion, regardless of his stated clarification. Saying all this, I still love much in Christopher Nolan’s work and would be lying to say I was not counting the days until his next feature. He is in the unique position to reach a sizable fraction of the world’s population, not only to entertain, but to inspire, comment and provoke. He could even doodle with an experimental film and people would see it. I want to leave his movies pondering big questions, and not just whether or not that damn spinning top fell. Zachary Zahos is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at arts-and-entertainment-editor@cornellsun.com. A Lover’s Quarrel With the World runs alternate Wednesdays this semester.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
16 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Sun Sudoku
ACROSS 1 Home to the Ibsen Museum 5 Online auction payment, say 10 Animation 14 Part of a Clue guess 15 Salsa holder 16 Political pal 17 *Saw 19 1997 Peter Fonda role 20 Like some stadiums 21 Drove (on) 22 *Head 26 Like prison windows 30 Doesn’t mention 31 Toe the line 32 Peach pit 33 Close, as a windbreaker 36 *Come 40 Glamour VIPs 41 Denmark’s __ Islands 42 Suffix with tip or trick 43 Erin of “Happy Days” 44 Mathematician Pascal 46 *Board 49 Decree 50 Tummy soother 55 One in a fourpart harmony 56 *Do 59 Gubernatorial turndown 60 Cassette half 61 Prefix missing from the starred clues 62 Composer Satie 63 __ once in a while 64 Like Broadway’s Yankees
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)
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
DOWN 1 Inexact words 2 Gazpacho, e.g. 3 Easy run 4 Hint of things to come 5 Begrudged 6 Meaningful pile of stones
7 Bldg. coolers 8 “Steady as __ goes” 9 Mason’s tray 10 Comic’s rewards 11 “Any volunteers?” reply 12 Sails force? 13 Scrutinized 18 Award two stars to, say 21 Glyceride, for one 23 Improper 24 Start of a parliamentary proposal 25 Math ratio 26 Hint of things to come 27 Not yet stirring 28 Game callers 29 Caraway-seeded bread, often 32 Comic Silverman 33 Tubular pasta 34 Urban addition 35 Ceremonial pile 37 In progress, to Sherlock 38 Causing puckers
39 Fed. benefits agency 43 N. Zealand’s highest peak 44 “Deep penetrating pain relief” brand 45 Subject to a penalty fee, maybe 46 Thumb twiddler 47 Capone henchman
48 More wise 49 Roof overhang 51 2007 A.L. MVP 52 Vena __ 53 Gossip column couple 54 “Coming Home” actor 56 Language suffix 57 Letters for Louis Quatorze 58 Lemony quencher
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
COMICS AND PUZZLES
Puzzle #2
Pick up your FREE COPY of The Corne¬ Daily Sun at the following locations: xwordeditor@aol.com
By Mel Rosen (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Doonesbury
Mr. Gnu
Strings Attached
09/05/12
09/05/12
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Travis Dandro
by Ali Soloman ’01
SPORTS
McIlroy Wins Championship
NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Rory McIlroy needed three weeks to catch his breath after his first major victory, and it took him until the end of last year before he was back in the form that would eventually make him the No. 1 golfer in the world. The hangover was much shorter after he picked up his second major last month. In his second tournament since winning at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island by eight strokes, McIlroy shot a final-round 67 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday. McIlroy finished at 20-under-par, one stroke ahead of Luis Oosthuizen and two in front of Tiger Woods, to earn his third victory of the year, move to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and establish himself as the favorite for the PGA’s player of the year. “He’s not No. 1 in the world for nothing,” said Oosthuizen, who led by three strokes heading into the day but fell to second with a double bogey on No. 5. “He’s a great young talent, (with) a lot of majors left for him to win. He’s such a cool kid on the course. It’s great playing with him. He makes tough shots look really easy sometimes.” McIlroy won the U.S. Open last year for his first victory in a major and then took some time off for the commitments — and celebration — that followed. He struggled when he returned, including a 25th at the British Open and a 64th at the PGA Championship, before righting himself in the fall with a slew of top-five finishes. “I had a lot going on at that time, and probably didn’t handle it the best,” McIlroy said after claiming a check for $1.44 million. “I’ve learned how to handle winning big events and carrying myself forward and not dwelling on what’s happened.” McIlroy won the PGA Championship on Aug. 12, becoming the youngest player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros. He finished tied for 24th last weekend at The Barclays and hovered near the top of the leaderboard all Labor Day weekend with a pair of 65s in the first two rounds followed by a pair of 67s to join Woods as the only three-time winners on the PGA Tour this year . “There’s a time and a place to celebrate and to enjoy what you’ve done, and going into the playoffs isn’t it,” said McIlroy, who also won the Honda Classic in March. “This run that we’re on, we just have to keep thinking about the next week, and once Ryder Cup is over, for sure I’ll think back and I’ll celebrate and I’ll enjoy the great golf that I’ve played over the last few weeks.” Woods, who won here in 2006, never got closer than three shots until a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th gave him a 66 — good for third place and a check for $544,000 that made him the first $100 million man on the PGA Tour. Woods has earned $100,350,700; next on the list is Phil Mickelson — more than $30 million behind at $66,805,498 after finishing fourth at the Deutsche Bank. “The purse increase helps,” Woods said. “I won fewer tournaments than Sam Snead has, but obviously he was in a different era. It’s just that we happened to time it up right and happened to play well when the purses really had a nice spike up.” Mickelson shot 66 on Sunday to tie for fourth with Dustin Johnson, who had a 70 and likely played his way onto the Ryder Cup team. Brandt Snedeker made a strong case for a captain’s pick with a 65-67 weekend to finish sixth. Davis Love III will announce his four picks Tuesday morning in New York. McIlroy had a three-shot lead with six holes to play, but needed a bogey putt on the 17th to stay in
front after Oosthuizen, despite pain in his right shoulder, came back with two birdies to get within one. McIlroy hit a chip shot over the 17th green into more rough, but Oosthuizen missed the green from 140 yards in the fairway, chipped poorly to 10 feet and missed his par putt. McIlroy calmly sank his 5foot bogey putt to stay one shot ahead. “I had a couple of wobbles coming in,” McIlroy said. “But I obviously did enough and I’m very excited to get a victory.” It was the second time this year that Oosthuizen, who won the British Open by seven shots at St. Andrews two years ago, failed to convert a thirdround lead into a victory. McIlroy quickly cut into the three-stroke lead with three straight birdies, but Oosthuizen also birdied the fourth hole to move to minus-20. Then came No. 5. Oosthuizen hit a snap hook off the tee that left him reaching for his right shoulder as the ball dove into the woods and landed in the middle of shoulder-high bushes. He had no option but to take a penalty drop out of the hazard, then laid up short of the creek and two-putted for double bogey. McIlroy’s tee shot found a clump of native grass on the edge of a bunker, and he had to chip out short of the creek to make bogey. They were tied. But Oosthuizen was hurting. He couldn’t get through his swing on the next tee shot, which sailed into the bunker. He said adrenaline helped him forget about the pain. But it was too late. McIlroy went right at the sixth flag, hitting 9iron into 3 feet for birdie and a lead that he never gave back. “It was a great bonus after making bogey at the fifth to bounce straight back with that birdie,” McIlroy said. “Once I got into the lead, I felt very comfortable. ... It worked for the most part. Obviously had a couple wobbles there coming in, but did enough in the early part of the round to have enough of a cushion to get the job done.” Woods lurked until the end — he had a 23-foot eagle putt on 18 that would have put him within a stroke of the leaders — but it was really a two-man race until Oosthuizen missed from just inside 10 feet for par on the 17th and from 12 feet on the 18th. “I probably made all my putts yesterday,” Oosthuizen said. The drama wasn’t only at the top of the leaderboard, though: Charlie Hoffman was trying to salvage a spot in the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings to advance to the third playoff event next week in Indianapolis. Hoffman, who won here two years ago, was 13 under after a birdie on the eighth hole before playing his next nine in 8-over par — including a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 11th. He came to the 18th needing a par to advance. Hoffman went over the green in two, barely chipped on and then ran his putt 12 feet past the hole. He made the putt for par. “I didn’t expect to be playing next week,” Hoffman said. “Shooting 42 on the back nine, I don’t think I deserved to play next week. But I guess I’ve got another chance.” Others who advanced included Dicky Pride, who birdied his last two holes to get the 70th spot by one stroke over Jonas Blixt; and Chris Kirk, who stumbled at the start only to birdie four of his last five holes.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 17
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18 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012
SPORTS
Fantasy Fans Get Excited For Gameplan to Begin LIAO
Continued from page 20
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Both players will need some time to turn around their franchises, but nonetheless, watching their progress throughout the year will be very interesting and the battle for Offensive Rookie of the Year should come down to the wire. The Saints have been one of the biggest offseason stories for their bounty scandal and ridiculous negotiation of Drew Brees’ contract, but through it all, they still have a damn good team. Although their division has gotten much stronger (Panthers, Bucs and Falcons have all improved), they still have a top-3 quarterback and a ridiculous array of weapons led by Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles. Also, their defense without Gregg Williams will lack some ‘motivation’ (heh, get it?), but will probably be better than last year with the addition of Curtis Lofton and David Hawthorne. Additionally, new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the architect of the 2007 Giants’ defense, will overhaul their defensive schemes after finishing 24th in the league in total defense. The biggest issue they will face is the suspension of head coach Sean Payton. His leadership, energy, and gutsy play-calling were huge advantages for the Saints and they will surely miss that. Another interesting storyline will be watching some key players in different jerseys. Apart from Peyton and Lofton changing teams, the Bears, Bills, and Patriots also made big offseason additions. The Bears reunited Jay Cutler with Brandon Marshall, finally providing Cutler with an elite receiver in Chicago. Although the pair did not accomplish much success from 2006-2008 in Denver, Cutler has drastically improved as a quarterback and the dangerous duo should help the Bears make the playoffs this year. Although the Bills have many holes to fill, their biggest need last season was a pass rusher, as they finished last in the league with just 23 sacks (Jared Allen collected 22 sacks by himself). By adding Mario Williams, arguably a top-5 pass rusher, they may have the team necessary to make the playoffs, especially with the expected struggles of the Jets. One team in the AFC East that will not drop off is the Patriots because they keep adjusting and collecting talented players. This time, it’s the addition of Brandon Lloyd. With Deion Branch losing his battle with age (he was cut this week), the Patriots really had no quality wide receivers other than Wes Welker (third on the team last year was Chad Johnson with 15 receptions). Lloyd is a Pro Bowl-caliber talent and he will improve an already stupidgood offense, giving the Patriots another great shot at a Super Bowl. Despite all these exciting storylines, for most fans, the most exciting thing about the NFL season is…their fantasy football team. At this point, fantasy football is ingrained in our football watching experience. Whether it’s a channel dedicated to fantasy football (NFL Red Zone), outdated announcers making bad fantasy references or reporters asking players about their own fantasy teams, it never leaves our conscious as football fans. Although it may interest no one else, the biggest offseason movement for you may be your ‘trade’ of Tony Romo for Aaron Rodgers or Adrian Peterson for Arian Foster. I’m glad you’re happy with yourself, but please keep it to yourself; no one likes hearing about other people’s fantasy teams. Enjoy the NFL season everybody. Albert Liao is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be contacted at aliao@cornell.edu. Playing the Field appears alternate weeks this semester.
Cornell Prepares to Take Back Ivy Championship M. TENNIS
Continued from page 20
ly help the team achieve that objective. “It’s a realistic goal. It’s tough because the Ivies are all getting stronger … but that’s what we’re aiming to do,” said Fleck. He also spoke about the team’s fitness as a central component to the success the Red is seeking this year. “We’ve been doing lots of running and strength work,” he said. “We’ve been training well [and] we’ve been training hard, playing lots of matches against each other.” The Red has two new recruits this season, one of whom is a junior transfer student who has more in common with Fleck than just prowess on the tennis court. “The junior [Alexander Wilton] is actually English as well, so it’s great to finally have another Englishman on the team that I can relate to—that’s been good fun,” Fleck said. He added that the whole team has really bonded, which makes sense as nine members of the
squad share a home in Collegetown. “I feel like we’re more of a team this year because we spend so much time with each other,” he said. “And even though only about half the team lives in the house, we’re just as close to the other guys who don’t live there.” Fleck noted that although there are some funny memories his housemates and he have had this semester .—“there’s a couple of really crazy stories from o-week, but I don’t really want to share them with the paper.” “We’re all very sporty, so we talk about sports a lot, and girls, and just whatever normal people talk about. We don’t talk about tennis as much, [but] at the moment we do because the U.S. Open’s on.” And when asked who he thinks will win the tournament at Flushing Meadows this year, Sam stood by his countryman without hesitation, “Oh, Andy Murray, all the way.” Olivia Wittels can be reached at owittels@cornellsun.com.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 19
SPORTS
EQUESTRIAN
Back and Ready for Action With New Coach Todd Karn By ARIEL COOPER Sun Staff Writer
ESTHER HOFFMAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Involved in Excellence| New head coach Todd Karn comes to the Red to continue the team’s winning history and to match the success in this season.
Refreshed from last year’s successful season, the equestrian team is back and ready to compete. However, besides the fact that some of the squad’s members are now alumni there is something else that has changed in the team’s composition. After being coached by Chris Mitchell for the past 13 years, the team has now been handed over to Todd Karn. Karn comes to the squad with a strong showing background. In fact, he still competes today. This past summer Karn showed in a hunter classic in Vermont as well as in HITS, a horse show in Saugerties. In addition, Karn continues to judge horse shows. “We like that he knows what a judge is looking for,” said senior tri-captain Emily Kowalchik. “He’s from the area and knows the schools well … he knows what it’s going to take to get us [to nationals].” “The experience he has will be good for our team,” senior tri-captain Zofia Hilton said. “His judging background will help.” The season does not start until the end of October — when the team will travel to Rochester to compete in a show against RIT — so practice has not quite begun. Still, Karn has already stepped into his new role. “He’s already become very involved,” Hilton said. “He reorganized things [and] came in with a fresh perspective,” said Kowalchik. “He’s very enthusiastic.” “He’s going to bring the team to the next level,” added senior tri-captain Emily Webster. “He really
wants to be here.” Karn said that he was drawn to Cornell because it was an opportunity to work with younger people again. Before accepting the position as head coach, he managed a training barn in Cazenovia which he will continue to do part time. In coaching the team, Karn hopes to brush up on the riders’ basic skills. According to Kowalchik, he does not plan to undo anything that former coach Chris Mitchell has done. “Todd has an appreciation for what Chris built,” she said. “We’re not going to lose any ground.” Karn’s ultimate goal is to take the team to a national title. The squad also has the same thing in mind. “Our goals are the same,” said Kowalchik. So far, the team has received their new coach well. “Everyone thinks highly of him,” Hilton said. “He’s going to be a great coach.” Karn is equally enthusiastic about leading the squad. “I’m excited to be here,” he said.” The new season will bring new challenges along with it. After a nearly undefeated season, a regional champion title, a Cacchione cup rider, and two riders at nationals, the team has a long way to go in order to become even more successful than it was before. Karn hopes that the team will be a competitive force this season as well. “He’s a dream to work with,” Webster said. Ariel Cooper can be reached at acooper@cornellsun.com.
Leading by Example: Tretter Steers Red Into New Season FOOTBALL
Continued from page 20
football coaches of Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges — a liberal arts institution in Geneva, N.Y. — agreed that Tretter could play both sports if he wished to do so. However, Tretter ultimately decided to turn down his father’s former team to attend the school of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell, a university that had always been on his radar and the alma mater of his sister and three uncles. During his first two years in Ithaca, Tretter juggled recreational hoops with his studies and varsity football until opting to drop his passion on the hardwood to focus exclusively on the Red’s pursuit of an Ivy League Championship. “I’ve stopped playing this last year because I don’t want to get hurt for football. I’ve poured everything into these last two years of football and with what we have to do this year, you know you can’t have any setbacks and you can’t have anything standing in your way. I definitely miss [basketball], it’s a great game, but football has definitely taken priority now.” On the turf, Tretter plays a critical role protecting record-breaking junior quarterback Jeff Mathews’ blind side, but it took a meandering journey to land Tretter at left tackle. A three-time first-league selection at Akron as a quarterback and defensive end, he was recruited as a general athlete without former head coach Jim Knowles ’87 nailing down a certain position. “They kind of left it open as to what position I’d play, and I chose tight end. That was the position my dad played, and I thought my basketball background could make me a natural at it. I loved tight end … it came naturally to me.” As a sophomore in 2010, Tretter caught four passes for 62 yards and a touchdown while recording four special teams tackles. At 6-4 and 250 pounds, he was a big and gifted target for the then-freshman Mathews. “He has very good hands, and he still does at left tackle,” Mathews said. “We always had him in a lot of bigger sets, but we did utilize him down the field as well. [He is] just an all-around phenomenal athlete with great hands and just a big-bodied guy.” After Mathews put together an impressive rookie season, though, Cornell wasn’t sure it was using Tretter in the most effective way. Red opponents in 2010 sacked Mathews 49 times, necessitating an upgrade on the offensive line both to keep the promising young quarterback healthy and to maximize his ability — talent that still surfaced despite Mathews being pulled to the ground more than any other signal caller in the nation. Nudged by his competitiveness
and selflessness, the athletic Tretter volunteered to bulk up enced Red O-lineman, serves as the unit’s vocal leader. However, players also follow the example Tretter sets with and give it a shot as a lineman. “We’d have guys running down the field wide open but his work ethic and demeanor, even though last season he we just weren’t giving Jeff enough time to make the throws,” was more inexperienced than some freshmen linemen. “J.C. is always going to do the right thing whether it be Tretter recalled. “We knew we could make them — [Jeff has] a phenomenal arm … I knew you only have so many in the weight room, on the field or off the field,” Mathews years of football and winning is what matters. You’ve got to said. “He talks when he needs to talk, but more importantdo what’s best for the team and that was the main priority.” ly he does the right thing. The younger guys can definitely The transition worked out for the Red in 2011. The look up to him and say, ‘This guy does it the right way and squad nearly cut its sacks allowed total in half, a tribute to that’s someone I want to follow and emulate.’” For Tretter, though, the work is simple because all the Tretter, who had put on 25 pounds over the offseason, and members of the experienced Cornell offensive line have the rest of the hard-working O-line. “J.C. was a huge reason for our turnaround on the offen- assumed responsibility. In addition to Tretter and sive line,” Mathews said. “Not only his skill level — he’s Bullington, the likely opening-day starters are junior left probably the best offensive lineman in the League — but guard Josh Grider, junior right guard Brad Wagner and also just the attitude he brings to the offensive line every- senior right tackle Dylan Cunningham. “The best part about being a leader is when guys don’t day.” Nonetheless, Tretter’s transition to left tackle wasn’t a need to be led anymore,” Tretter said. “Our offensive line is very mature — [we] all come out piece of cake. He tore his ready to play every day. It takes meniscus in early 2011, the onus off both Bob and me sidelining him for the “This guy does it the right way and because we don’t have to worry spring and most of the sum- that’s someone I want to follow.” about people not showing up mer, which left him about a ready to play or doing dumb month to actively prepare Jeff Matthews things on the weekend.” for last season. Although Tretter’s noble move to solidify some of the responsibilities of left tackle, like run blocking, were familiar to Tretter the Red offensive line, and the grit he displayed in doing so, from his tight end years, others were mostly foreign, like has made his fellow shoot-for-the-moon teammates proud. “What’s been awesome about [Tretter’s transition] is by pass blocking. “Tight end-wise, I knew how to run block. But pass set- doing it, he’s worked really hard and put on a ton of weight ting is a totally different part of the game, and it was tough and now he’s in a position to go to the NFL if he plays because with my knee injury I wasn’t able to do much for well,” Mathews said. “I think that whole process is pretty that summer. That was the most nerve-racking part — awesome from a teammate’s perspective.” Tretter, now 295 pounds, acknowledges that earning a making sure I’d be able to pass set, especially in our offense professional career — and becoming the first drafted … I’ve gotten a lot better.” Besides adjusting to the technical nuances of the offen- Cornellian since New York Giants offensive lineman Kevin sive line, Tretter also had to embrace the namelessness of Boothe ’06 — would be a dream come true. However, the blocking for skill position players for the sake of the pro- senior has more important tasks at hand that he cannot afford to compromise for future aspirations. gram. “Everything is a distraction, positive or negative,” he “It’s tough as a lineman [because] you go into that nottalked-about group. You’re not seen as an athlete — you’re said. “I’m focused on winning a championship this year just seen as that big guy who lets the athletic people do ath- with these guys — guys I’ve spent three years with, now letic things … [But] now our offensive line is extremely ath- going into my fourth. We’ve got guys just dying to get that letic — we’re not the chubby kids of old. You need to be title and we’ve talked about it starting in freshman year. So that way with how much we pass the ball … If the team’s that’s all I’m worried about right now … and good things winning and if we’re running the ball well and throwing the come in bunches.” ball well, the offensive line is getting in the paper that way. We know what it takes to be successful.” Mathews believes one of Tretter’s best qualities is his Quintin Schwab can be reached at leadership. Senior center Bob Bullington, the most experi- qschwab@cornellsun.com.
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Sports
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2012
20
Starting the Season With Giants, God and Fantasy T OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
MEN’S TENNIS
Sam Fleck Prepares for Winning Season With C.U. By OLIVIA WITTELS Sun Staff Writer
After a successful first season, sophomore Sam Fleck has returned from his hometown over the pond ready to begin his second season with the Red. The Englishman spoke about his reflections from last year, hopes for this season, and what it’s like living in Collegetown with eight other tennis players. Last year, Fleck was named No. 12 in the Northeast by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He also earned an All-Ivy Second Team spot — the first time a Cornell freshman has earned an All-Ivy First or Second Team position since the league separated itself from the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association in 1999. Junior captain (and one of Fleck’s roommates) Evan McElwain noted that Sam’s impressive performance freshman year certainly solidified his role as a leader on the team. “It was really big that he was able to get so many wins and actually be competitive that high
up in the lineup,” McElwain said. “We had a lot of freshmen playing last year and he played the highest out of all of them. I think the fact that he was able to do so well at that position, kind of automatically, people looked up to him. And that’s something that just repeats into this year … they’re always just going to instinctively rely on him, you know, for results, but he’s also going to be a leader in practice and in matches as well.” “That was a big achievement for me,” Fleck said, referring to his ITA ranking and overall accomplishments last season. “I’m glad that I was noticed and it meant a lot to me.” Fleck added that he would have “preferred it if the team had done slightly better … in the Ivy Leagues,” but emphasized that his goals for this year are centered upon reclaiming the Ivy League title (which Cornell won in 2011). His drive— McElwain mentions that off the court, Sam “plays a lot of FIFA and gets really competitive at video games, like really, really pissed off” — will certain-
onight marks the start of the 2012-2013 NFL season as the defending Super Bowl Champions New York Giants take on their personal NFC East punching bag, the Dallas Cowboys. Although every year someone says, “This season will be the most exciting in recent memory,” it really is true this time around. So let’s go over some of these great storylines, making a few snide comments on the way, shall we? Let’s start with the biggest move of the offseason; Peyton Manning growing up from a Colt into a Bronco. It’s uncommon that a 36 year-old coming off a season-ending neck surgery makes such big news, but that’s what happens when said athlete is Peyton Manning. There are many varying opinions of how he will perform, but my personal one is to never doubt a legend. After being ignored last season and little brother Eli making things awkward at family reunions by winning his second Super Bowl, you know he’ll play great or get horrifically injured trying.
Albert Liao Playing the Field For me, as long as his commercials are still just as awkward and funny, I’ll be satisfied. Now we must awkwardly transition from the best quarterback of his era to a second stringer on a non-playoff team; yes we must bring up a God among men, Tim Tebow. Despite being a special team player, he still gets more publicity than half the starting quarterbacks in the league. If he stubbed his toe at home, ESPN would do a special feature on how it would affect the universe. Please stop media; he’s really not that important. Bringing it back to players who are important, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III will make their NFL debuts this week. Although they are two of the best quarterback prospects to come along in years, it is highly improbable that they will do much in their rookie seasons. It is very unfortunate that they will make their debuts on the heels of Cam Newton’s incredible rookie campaign and will be (at least partially) judged on that standard.
See M. TENNIS page 18
See LIAO page 18
FOOTBALL
Tretter Attributes Success to His Father
By QUINTIN SCHWAB
teenagers like J.C. “I had a lot of fun playing with them, and that taught me how to With the same open mind he had play [basketball]. It was kind of old in 2011 when switching from tight school, how it used to be played end to left tackle, Cornell senior J.C. before it turned into the highlight Tretter listened to his father’s advice dunks and the one-on-one games — daily as a child and teenager in it was all about doing what it takes to Akron, N.Y., a small village 25 miles win … You were playing with guys northeast of Buffalo. Even when the who were 48 years old that knew elder Tretter, a former Hobart they didn’t have many years left football player, no longer “My dad did a lot for me and I thank on their legs, so they wanted to coached his son’s teams, he still win at every moment. You were worked hard to maximize the him often for everything he did.” playing guys with a sense of receptive J.C.’s potential. urgency, and that shapes an ath“Once I hit high school, [my J.C. Tretter lete the right way.” dad] wasn’t my coach on the The men were no average field but he always worked out with much work it takes to get to where I Joes, and neither was Joseph Carl me and trained me off the field and wanted to go. So he was there push- (J.C.) Tretter Jr. He stands as Akron let the coaches coach me on the ing me, even when I was young, Central High’s all-time leading scorfield,” Tretter said. “My dad did a lot because he understood and he had er and rebounder, and as a senior he for me and I thank him often for gone through it.” led the Tigers to their first-ever seceverything he did and for pushing Tretter also credits his dad for tional title en route to being named me … My dad was especially impor- including him in pickup basketball the Western New York Player of the tant to me in my athletic endeavors. games at the gym in nearby Oakfield, Year. He definitely shaped me into the N.Y., with players of many age Not only was basketball Tretter’s athlete and the man I am today.” groups — from middle-aged men favorite sport, but the basketball and According to Tretter, his relation- like J.C.’s father, some of whom were ship with his father had some frater- the elder’s collegiate opponents, to See FOOTBALL Page 19 Sun Staff Writer
nal qualities, which he believes made the tutoring more effective than a typical father-son dynamic. “Working out hard isn’t easy — you have to have someone there with you and he was kind of like a brother in that way. You hear about older siblings bringing their younger brothers along, and he had played college football and he knew how
OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Heart and soul | Thanks to his father’s influence, senior left tackle J.C. Tretter gives his all on the field.