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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 133, No. 10

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

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News

Arts

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Weather

Ithaca Alphabet

Watch and Learn

Battling the Best

Thunderstorms HIGH: 78º LOW: 54º

Cole Stefan ’18 discusses creating a painting inspired

by Cornell and Ithaca landmarks. | Page 3

Andrei Kozyrev ’20 calls AAP’s Polyphony is a multifaceted experience and a “definite success.” | Page 6

The women’s cross country team took fourth at an invitational last weekend. | Page 12

Former Cornell Liaison Convicted of Conspiracy Nicholas indicted for misspending funds

By ISABEL LING

bid in 2007, was found guilty of all counts against him in June. Fattah’s sentencing trial will take begin on Former Engaged Cornell NYC Oct. 4. liaison, Karen Nicholas, was conNicholas, a longtime friend of victed of conspiracy this June in Fattah, was a former aide at Fattah’s connection with Philadelphia former PennCongressional “[ The cooperative aims Office, and the s y l v a n i a Represen tative to] expand the capacity CEO of the nonChuck Fattah’s profit Educaand interest of Cornell (D-Pa.) corruptional Advancetion scandal. ment Alliance, an faculty and students ...

Nicholas was organization and enhance community funded indicted for misby Fattah. spending The Educaengaged scholarship.” $50,000 in fedtional AdvanceCornell University eral grant funds ment Alliance — — intended to which provided be used for an supplemental education conference — on a polit- academic programs to underrepreical consultant, attorney fees and in sented high school, college, and checks to herself. She resigned her graduate students — was a key playpost in May in order to focus on her er in the laundering of $600,000 in legal defense. federal grants to other Nicholas was hired by corporations in order to New York City’s Cornell pay off Fattah’s campaign Cooperative Extension loan. in March to “expand the Nicholas was found capacity and interest of guilty of conspiracy to Cornell faculty and stucommit wire fraud, two dents…and enhance counts of wire fraud, and community-engaged two counts of falsificaNICHOLAS scholarship and teaching tion of records. The posiefforts involving New tion of Engaged Cornell York City communities, organiza- NYC liaison remains unfilled. The tions and residents,” according to University declined to comment on the University. the charges against Nicholas.

Fattah, whose case involved the racketeering of money to repay a $1 Isabel Ling can be reached at million loan from his failed mayoral iling@cornellsun.com.

Sun Staff Writer

COURTESY OF BEN NORTON GRAD

Better together | Members of Cornell Graduate Students United are in the midst of campaigning to become the formal union of graduate workers.

After NLRB Decision,C.U. Grads Step Up Union Campaign

By JOSH GIRSKY

paign for recognition from the University as the collective bargaining representative for graduate employees, according to its website.

While the National Labor Relations Michaela Brangan grad said that CGSU Board’s decision to classify graduate students formed when student workers began to as employees this notice inequities like August spurred mempay differentials that “[The group realized] that bers of Cornell Gradthey could not ex there are workplace issues plain. uate Students United to seek University “[The group realthat come up and that recognition, Cornell’s ized] that there are ... we share.” unionization campaign workplace issues that actually began about come up and that ...

Michaela Branagan grad two years ago — and we share,” she said. has not stopped since.

“Or we find out that In the fall of 2014, CGSU ratified its con- one group of grad students might have somestitution in an attempt to become a collective thing completely unheard of from another voice for graduate workers to the University.

Shortly afterward, the group began its camSee CGSU page 4 Sun News Editor

Lighting up listservs Due to the ongoing construction in Barton Hall, students explore clubs at Clubfest in Bartels Hall on Sunday.

Students:C.U.Seems Safe After Stabbing

By RUBY YU Sun Staff Writer

JASON BEN NATHAN / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

In the wake of a fatal stabbing in front of Olin Hall on Aug. 28, many students who called the incident unfortunate and shocking still maintained that they do not unsafe at Cornell.

“My parents texted me that they heard there was a stabbing and asked if I was O.K.,” Cindy Huang ’18 said. “But after that it was fine and none of us were really worried.”

Many students say

their parents grew concerned about safety on campus following the stabbing, especially since police have yet to identify any suspects in the case. However, others said they believed the incident was a onetime tragedy.

“I was concerned when I heard [about the stabbing]. More concerned after reading articles and noting that the assailant must have had to exit the campus going past [my daughter’s] apartment,” said See STABBING page 4

2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, September 12, 2016

Daybook

DAYBOOK

Monday, September 12, 2016

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS Today

Off-Campus Housing Info Session 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., The Tatkon Center

Subaltern Speak: An Indian Soldier’s ‘Travelogue’ of China, 1900-1901 12:15 - 1:15 p.m., G08 Uris Hall

CAMERON POLLACK / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The Making Of the President 2016 4:30 - 6 p.m., Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall

Department of Physics Colloquium 4 - 5 p.m., Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall

Svetlana Alexievich: Bartels World Affairs Lecture 4:30 - 6 p.m., Statler Auditorium

Tomorrow Cornell Fluids Seminar Noon - 1 p.m., 178 Rhodes Hall

ORIE Colloquium: A Dual Framework for Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes 4:15 p.m., 253 Rhodes Hall

Virtual Testing of Two-Phase Materials And Field Assisted 3-D Printing 4 p.m., 205 Thurston Hall

History Major Social Hour 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., 365 McGraw Hall

World literature | Svetlana Alexievich, 2015 Nobel Prize in literature winner, will discuss the Russian-Soviet dream in Statler Auditorium today.

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THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, September 12, 2016 3

NEWS

Students’ Stories

Cole Stefan’18 Designs Ithaca Alphabet Painting

By JACOB WEXLER Sun Contributor

In an attempt to capture the spirit of Ithaca, Cole Stefan ’18 designed a painting called the “Ithaca Alphabet” that depicts the diversity of the city. The artwork became available for purchase from several vendors in Ithaca this August.

The painting includes one image for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet — including Cornell landmarks like the statue of Ezra Cornell and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Other Ithaca geographic, cultural, and business icons such as the Ithaca Commons, Robert Treman State Park, and the Ithaca Farmer’s Market are also featured in the artwork.

“There’s a lot of community pride [in Ithaca], which is definitely something you need to do the alphabet,” he said. “[The painting contains] what I would think signifies Ithaca. People who have lived here for a long time might have a different opinion.”

A Seattle resident, Stefan says his “outsider’s perspective,” informed the choices of Ithaca locations he used in the alphabet; however he was continuing a family tradition by participating in the alphabet project.

“My mom did the first Seattle alphabet three or four years ago,” Stefan said. “I’ve helped my mom with all of the alphabets, but obviously with Ithaca is there is more of a connection to me.”

Once Stefan chose an Ithaca landmark Know someone remarkable? Send your suggestion to managing-editor@cornellsun.com.

for each of the letters — a process that he said began about a year ago — he enlisted the help of an artist to paint the images. To find the artist, Stefan said he did not need to look further than his own family.

Stefan’s mother, Melinda Curtin has partnered with nonprofits in the past to create alphabets for several other cities including Los Angeles, Seattle, Tacoma, Wash. and Portland, Ore. Following in his mother’s footsteps, Stefan is sending a portion of the proceeds to the nonprofits Hospicare and Palliative Care Services.

“Hospicare seemed like a good choice because my grandmother was in a hospice, my girlfriend’s mom works at a hospice in Auburn, New York and one of our vendors, Sunny Day, had a good connection with a hospice,” he said. “It was just meant to be.”

Stefan said he enjoyed learning about Ithaca, adding that contacting Collegetown Bagels and Moosewood — the two businesses represented in the painting — in order to get their approval was perhaps the most challenging part of the process.

In the future, Stefan said he might turn the Ithaca Alphabet into either a puzzle, poster or greeting card. The painting is currently sold at Cornell Store, Moosewood Restaurant and the Sunny Days store on Cayuga Street downtown.

Jacob Wexler can be reached at jsw339@cornellsun.com.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNNY DAYS OF ITHACA

Ithaca alphabet | The painting features Ithaca landmarks, including the State Theater and the Ithaca Farmers Market.

Cornellians Gather to Heal After Campus Tragedies

By BARBARA ESUOSO Sun Staff Writer

Approximately 100 Cornellians gathered to discuss the recent tragedies both across the nation and closer to home at a dinner and presentation entitled “Finding Well-Being in the Face of Tragedy” on Friday.

The event aimed to unite the campus after a summer and early semester of tragic events — which included the stabbing of Ithaca College sophomore Anthony Nazaire on Cornell’s campus and the death of Darryl Wu ’18 in his Collegetown apartment — according to Yamini Bhandari ’17, student-elected trustee.

Ulysses Smith ’14, department of inclusion and workforce diversity strategies lead, spoke about the process of understanding and coping with the disparate responses to trauma. He also addressed how to be an ally to community members severely impacted by recent tragedies.

“We need to make sure that we create spaces to talk about the social issues that are going on,” Smith said.

Broadening to a national focus, Angela Winfield, director of inclusion and workforce diversity, explained the origins of the “hashtag movements” such as #blacklivesmatter, #bluelivesmatter and #alllivesmatter.

“People come to these words with their own lenses and their own interpretations, and so they hear these [hashtags] and have an initial response to what they mean,” Winfield said.

Bhandari said we as a generation need to “define what the role of social media is in our lives.”

“The way that we receive news now is through our news feed, so we’re receiving news about a wedding engagement in addition to horrific and sometimes traumatic events that are happening,”

CORRINE KENWOOD / SUN PHOTOGRAPHER

Social justice dialogue | Members of the Student Assembly, ALANA and administrators discuss the resources available to help students heal from national and local incidents this semester.

she said. “Is [social media] a purely organizations on campus provide outlets social thing or is it a social justice [plat- for these students so that they can maintain a good mental health,” Kidane said. form]?”

Bhandari added that a tone of selfJordan Berger ’17, Student Assembly care separated this event from others in the past. Joseph “We need to make sure that we create Kidane ’17, ALANA vice presispaces to talk about the social issues dent of programming, said these spaces for self-care are fundathat are going on.” mental to the well-being of the campus.

Ulysses Smith “There is a new freshman class that is experiencing these tragedies, and given the difficulties of a president, added that it is important to first semester at Cornell, I think it’s very “examine our resources available to important that ALANA as well as other help people heal on an individual

basis.”

Matthew Indimine ’18, S.A. executive vice president, said the event “provided a safe space to discuss individual experiences in coping with tragedies, and allowed for affirmation and validation of feelings while learning from others’ perspectives.”

Related events also will be available in the future, including a campus-wide “Breaking Bread” dinner to discuss community and police relations on Sept. 21, according to Smith.

Barbara Esuoso can be reached at besuoso@cornellsun.com.

4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, September 12, 2016

NEWS

Students,Parents Call CGSU Campaign Aims To Create a ‘Real Union’ Stabbing ‘One-Off Event’ CGSU

STABBING

father’s sentiments, saying that, although she is mindful of her safety, she does not plan to drastically change her behavior Harrison, the father of Lauren Harrison because of the crime. ’18. “I believe it to be a one-off and very “I’ve always been conscientious of tragic event. [However] I don’t see it as a where I walk at night and make sure I precursor to other similar events in the stick to well-lit paths, therefore I’m not future.” too concerned about my safety,” she said.

Harrison said that while be believed the “Cornell has many different safety pre“University reacted well at the time,” he cautions implemented like the blue said he wished administrators had commu- lights and CUPD patrols. They can’t be nicated more clearly with everywhere at once. In parents in the wake of the my opinion, bad things “I’ve always been consci- are bound to happen incident.

“There was a lack of entious of where I walk at and you can’t live your direct communication to life in fear of them.” night and make sure I parents,” he said. “I Others blamed externever received an email nal substances rather stick to well-lit paths.” alert or a robo call. I than security presence, Lauren Harrison ’18 found out from a colsaying that, although the league who showed me event preceding the staban article then had to go bing in Willard Straight on the web to check the University’s web Hall was dry, alcohol may have influenced site and check the news sites for more the aftermath. details.”

"I think the situation got out of control Harrison also stressed that at public because it was probably fueled by alcohol,” campus events, “especially at night where speculated Kwan Yong, father of Kaitlyn people from off-campus can attend” he Yong ’18. would expect to see a more significant security presence.

Ruby Yu can be reached Lauren Harrison shared several of her at ryu@cornellsun.com.

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group of grad students and we can work together to try to get some of these things fixed.”

After the NLRB ruled in favor of graduate workers at Columbia, asserting that such students are can be categorized as both students and workers, a door opened, allowing graduate student unions to form at private universities.

Although now CGSU performs many union-like duties, its members are campaigning for recognition from the University and will eventually call a vote for graduate workers on whether they can deem CGSU their official representative.

Without formal recognition, graduate workers often dictate the terms of their employment and have few options if issues arise such as wrongful termination or workplace harassment, according to Maggie Gustafson grad, grievance chair for CGSU. “As of now we’re the friend that gets to be there to advocate for them,” she said. “The whole point is advocacy. It’s that approaching the administration — this bureaucratic wall — as this individual student with a problem is daunting and sometimes stifling. There are graduate students every year who leave Cornell because that wall is put up to prevent them from really dealing with a grievance.”

Although her official title is friend and not a union representative, Gustafson added that CGSU aims to help students understand their options in the event of a grievance.

Once there is an official contract between CGSU and the University, formal procedures and standards will aid and protect student workers, according to Gustafson.

“The official contract is really

going to strengthen the position we already have to be able to help,” Gustafson said.

Archishman Raju grad emphasized that, during the campaign process, in addition to trying to obtain enough votes for formal recognition, CGSU hopes to solicit more information about graduate student concerns.

“We’re not just trying to get people to vote in this election,” he said. “We’re building a real union.”

Campaigning has proven difficult for CGSU at times. Finding any contact information for graduate students is difficult, and obtaining correct contact information can be even harder.

“At a university this big, in buildings this convoluted, it’s complicated.”

Maggie Gustafson grad However, the organization was aided by a provision in the agreement reached between the University and CGSU in May, which states that members of CGSU may puruse student records to find information on students they would like to contact.

“At a university this big, in buildings this convoluted, it’s complicated,” Gustafson said.

“That’s information we’re going to use to make sure that we don’t leave anybody out of these conversations we’re having.”

CGSU representatives said that the long process of assuring recognition will be worthwhile if the group is able to sign a labor contract with the University to become the official union of graduate workers. If graduate workers are happy, the movement could benefit not only those in the union, but everyone that they work with, according to Brangan.

“Everyone in this area is affected by the quality of life that the workers have,” she said.

Gustafson agreed and stressed that teaching assistants are a vital component of Cornell’s education system, often providing a personal touch or contact in large classroom settings.

“At a university like Cornell where you have so many undergrads, where we do have 400 student classes, the T.A.’s are an essential part of our academic ecosystem,” she said.

Katherine Quinn grad added that unionization could benefit many constituent bodies at Cornell, pushing for greater collaboration and unity among University workers and students.

“To be pro union is not anti Cornell,” she said. “It’s pro everyone getting a voice and everyone who’s affected by what goes on at Cornell being able to say how it’s run. It’s not like it’s us fighting Cornell, it’s just us wanting to all come together.”

Josh Girsky can be reached at jgirsky@cornellsun.com.

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, September 12, 2016 5

NEWS

Carriage House Opens Upstairs Cocktail Lounge,‘The Loft’

By JAMIL RAHMAN Sun Staff Writer

The Carriage House Cafe, popular for its brunch menu, has officially opened a new cocktail lounge, The Loft, in an effort to fill the void left by an epidemic of bar closings in Collegetown.

The owners say the space’s soft opening on Sept. 1 and the grand opening last Wednesday were successful, with visitors demonstrating enthusiasm for the new lounge.

“It was so fun to talk with guests and hear how happy they were to be in our space and enjoy the setting,” said Jessica Chandler, bar and lounge manager for the cafe. “We didn’t have too large of a crowd over the course of the night, but it was perfect for a good start. There were lots of positive feedback about the setup of the outdoor and indoor areas, the drink menus and more.”

While the Carriage House’s downstairs area “We don’t necessarily have a target audience has long seen a steady stream of eager lunch and — we have a vision for our space and whatever brunch-goers, the Loft is meant to better use the type of person enjoys that, we are happy to welupstairs area while come into it,” Chandler maintaining the cafe’s said. “It doesn’t target a “We don’t necessarily have a customer looking for a vibe. Chandler added that the owners were target audience — we have a nightclub, but maybe eager to try fill the void it’s a place where they vision for our space and what- want left after a fire forced the to start their Chapter House to close ever person enjoys that, we are evening.” in 2015.

Loft has been a happy to welcome into it.” workThein progress “The Chapter for sevHouse has been a pereral years, taking shape Jessica Chandler sonal loss for us as we gradually. were frequent patrons and “We added a full had close connections with the staff,” Chandler liquor license onto our wine and beer license said. two years ago and built our first bar in the While Chandler said the lounge is not meant upstairs,” Chandler said. “That was a step in this to target a specific audience, the owners focused direction, but immediately [it] was meant for on creating a vibe that would attract a broad the private events we were doing at the time.” array of Ithacans.

Chandler said.

New Libe Slope Lighting Triggers Environmental, Safety Concerns

By STEPHANIE HENDARTA Sun Staff Writer

After years of precarious, late night trips up and down Libe Slope, a new solution may finally light the way.

At Thursday’s Student Assembly meeting, two executive committee members, Mitchell McBride ’17 and Varun Devatha ’19, joined by Prof. M. Elizabeth Sanders, government, raised environmental concerns about the recent installation of lampposts along the path on Libe Slope.

The installation of lights — between Baker Flagpole and Willard Straight Hall — is the result of a collaborative initiative between the Student Assembly Infrastructure Fund Committee and the Infrastructure, Properties and Planning office, and was completed in the first week of September.

The SAIFC undertook the $30,000 project at the end of the spring semester of this past academic year, after receiving multiple proposals from students about installing lampposts on on the slope.

McBride, Devatha and Sanders proposed exchanging the bright white light bulbs of the new lampposts for sodium-vapor lamp bulbs, which they claim are more environmentally friendly and better for the eyes.

“I know that light pollution is not something that a lot of people pay attention to, but white, bright light is not safe,” Sanders said. “They can be blinding.

They also create harsh shadows, which is not safe. It’s the same effect like driving on a bright highway and then going into a dark exit. By replacing them with softer, yellower lights, we can protect our eyes better and see better.”

According to Miranda Kasher ’18, SAIFC chair, the committee decided to fund the Libe Slope lighting project with IPP funds due to widespread concerns about safety on campus.

“Lighting on the slope is important for reasons such as physical safety, in terms of not falling down the slope...as well as perceived safety,” Kasher said.

“We want to make sure that students feel safe wherever they are

on campus. If you can’t feel safe on this campus, then I don’t think you can feel safe anywhere.”

McBride, Devatha and Sanders also argue that the additional bright lighting does not improve student’s well-being.

Sanders said that white lights “have been scientifically proven to impair melatonin production,” in addition to being harmful to animals such as birds and insects and a light pollutant.

“It’s good for our bodies to have time in the dark. Our bodies produce melatonin at night.

For the students living on West Campus, the presence of more lights might be disturbing when they’re trying to sleep,” Sanders said. “Studies have also shown that along brightly lit streets there’s a much higher rate of breast cancer. Birds also navigate by moonlight, and so the lights affect them negatively. It’s all very complicated and interrelated.”

During the duration of the S.A. committee meeting, several members proposed alternatives to the lampposts, including handrails, personal use of flashlights and motion-sensitive lighting, all of which take into consideration accessibility and environmental issues.

After several rounds of voting, the S.A. committee decided to pass McBride, Devatha and Sanders’ resolution.

Hanna Reichel ’18, representative of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning on the S.A. committee, said that the proposal gave the S.A. committee an opportunity to balance its interest in student safety and well-being with environmental and sustainability issues.

“This is actually an opportunity for us really think about what we’re doing and to set an example for other campuses and other institutional spaces on how we’re going to take all of this research and apply it to plans for lighting infrastructure that makes a difference,” Reichel said.

“I think here we definitely have to make compromises without losing our criteria and goals.”

Stephanie Hendarta can be reached at shendarta@cornellsun.com

This year, the Carriage House added an additional eight foot bar on the long wall of the room which was “open with a more consistent schedule.”

“Once it started coming together, we thought the fall would be a very fun time to officially open,”Chandler said.

As each passing week seemed to bring news of the longtime Collegetown bar closing, students hope The Loft will provide a much-needed alternative to the quickly dwindling line-up of nightlife venues.

“I think this may be a great space in Collegetown for students,” Matt Indimine ’18 said. “Though I haven’t yet personally been there, I do hope that it is a physically and economically accessible place to all students, as many other places in Collegetown are not.”

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

Day of remembrance

AL DROGO / THE NEW YORK TIMES

President Barack Obama pauses before speaking at a ceremony commemorating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the Pentagon on Sunday.

A&E

6 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Monday, September 12, 2016

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Art You’re a Part of: Polyphony at the John Hartell Gallery

BY ANDREI KOZYREV Sun Contributor

Underneath the Sibley dome, adjacent to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning Dean’s Office, is Polyphony. It is an interactive art installation designed by Liu (Leo) Jingyang ’15, Shining (Christina) Sun ’17 and Yue Gu ’16 — all architecture students. To say that the project sounds interesting — “an interactive audio-visual installation that generates a simultaneous feedback loop between performance, image and sound” — is to say nothing of the installation. Yet, how does it actually look, sound and perform?

The first time I entered the John Hartell Gallery (where Polyphony is installed), I sensed that something was wrong.

There were multiple stands with computers and other devices in the middle of the room, but all of them were turned off.

TVs mounted onto one of the walls showed pictures of how, presumably, the entire room should have looked. At the Dean’s Office, I was told that someone accidentally unplugged a part of the system, which shut down the rest. Before leaving, I reached out to Jingyang, hoping the exhibition would soon resume. A few hours later, I received a response from Sun, who assured me the system was back up.

The next day, I met Sun in the gallery as she showed me the installation. She was enthusiastic and soft-spoken, wearing a cream colored dress with silver, iridescent brogues. The computers were working, connected to two motion sensors with cameras. Each was pointed in the opposite direction, facing a wall. Two projectors were set up side-by-side, also turned away from each other. One showed a water texture — a computer simulated water graphic — and the other seemingly nothing.

As Sun walked in front of the sensor responsible for the blank wall, she turned and waved her arms in sweeping motions.

Suddenly, glitter-like trails illuminated the wall. They followed her hand movements and could be reset by clenching one’s fist.

The trails were computer simulated animations. The computers in the room analyzed and processed data from Sun’s movements in real-time. Along with the animations, polyphonic sounds emerged from the speakers (hence the title Polyphony).

In music, polyphony refers to two or more tunes played simultaneously, as opposed to a single coordinated melody. Perhaps, though, cacophony would be a more fitting word to describe the exhibition. As long as there was movement, there was “an audio-visual response.” Between the image and acoustic elements, “there is a simultaneous feedback loop,” said Sun. This

allows each system to generate responses to the same input data, in this case people’s movements.

She told me to try it out. I moved in front of the device, flapping and swinging my arms while praying not to look like an imbecile. It worked.

I had just directly influenced a work of art by creating a pattern on the wall. It was a liberating experience.

Polyphony gave agency to the viewer, allowing one to create images and sounds that fulfill the purpose of the work itself. The other wall reacted to movements by disturbing the water texture.

Sounds played without delay. The artwork looked professional with an aura of D.I.Y. ingenuity on a budget. The sensor tools were Xbox Kinect devices, developed by Microsoft for interactive gaming without the need to use a controller. The team used open-source software, such as Supercollider for the audio responses. They received a grant from the Cornell Council for the Arts and additional support from the Hartell Gallery, which also helped finance the opening reception. For the College of Art, Architecture and Planning, “this was one of the first interactive art exhibitions,” said Lindsay Lavine, the Exhibitions and Event Coordinator at the college.

When we left the gallery, Sun invited me to talk at her desk in the architecture studio in Milstein Hall. Her desk had several 3D printed models, a laptop and sketches. There was also a computer mouse, which shape was deconstructed into individual panels with sharp, aggressive edges. At that point, I had to ask about the age old question of form and function, especially in the broader context of architecture. “I think they [form and functions] are inseparable, it is not either or.

Something could be beautiful and functional as well. I cannot design without thinking about one or the other,” she said.

Jingyang joined us after a few minutes, wearing jeans and a button-down. He graduated Cornell with a masters in architecture. and implemented most of the technical aspects of the

project. I inquired about any challenges, such as the accidental shut down, he encountered during the development stage.

“The pipeline between these [various systems] can be fragile,” he said, referring to the line of communication between the parts that collect movement data and those that implement the audio-image duet based on that data. “It’s a hurdle that every interactive artist will face, but fortunately for this project, I think it is very robust,” he added.

Gu, the third partner, now works in New York City at RAMSA, one of the world’s premier architectural firms. She also graduated from Cornell’s masters in architecture program this past spring. “I kind of dragged them both into [the project],” joked Sun, who was the mastermind behind Polyphony.

The inspiration for the project came from a variety of sources, but also seemed to be a product of organic, artistic growth. Sun comes from a family of art collectors. She hosted her first exhibition at 17 years of age, in Shanghai. She met her teammates at Cornell; Gu was her partner for Prof. Jenny Sabin’s robotic fabrication studio, while Leo was the teaching associate. Drawing ideas from Prof. Sabin’s work on digital fabrication, the trio was “interested in designing interactive experiences through design algorithms,” said Jingyang.

Professor Sabin was the main advisor and mentor for Polyphony.

Despite the challenges, the exhibition was a definite success. The trio is now planning to show Polyphony at a gallery in New York City. As interactive installation is coming in vogue in contemporary art and the use of technology as an aesthetic tool is as prevalent as ever, we can expect to see many artists venture into digitalization and virtual reality.

Architecture students, like the team of Polyphony, tend to understand the interplay of beauty and engineering like no one else does.

Andrei Kozyrev is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.

He can be reached at aak85@cornell.edu.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CORNELL COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

A&E

Monday, September 12, 2016 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 7

Best Western: Hell or High Water

BY LAURA KERN Sun Staff Writer

Considering its high-profile cast and overwhelmingly positive reviews, it is a mystery why Hell or High Water went relatively unnoticed as an end-of-summer thriller.

David Mackenzie directs, with Ben Foster and Chris Pine playing the Howard brothers, two Texan ranchers struggling against the foreclosure of their family farm who decide to organize a series of bank robberies to raise some needed funds. Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham play Texas Ranger Hamilton and his partner Alberto, respectively, who are investigating the thefts, constantly and threateningly close on the heels of the Howards.

From the outset, the film holds its audience in unparalleled suspense. The soft country music foils the searing heat of the Texas sun, palpable thanks to the artful cinematography: every surface carries an auburn tinge, and as a result the entire film feels burnt. The Howard brothers’ blue eyes pierce the sandy scene, but the result is unnerving, not refreshing — the color seems unnatural against their suntanned skin — and the only real points of light are the Texas Rangers’ clean-lined white hats. A constant hiss, a mixture of screeching cicadas, warning rattlesnakes, and rustling dry leaves, underlies the whole movie. The noise gnaws at the audience, irritating to the point of frustration, like an unscratchable itch.

The Howards are visibly grungy, covered in a layer of grime both figurative and literal, and this filth stains the entire movie — a film of dust coats everything, and despite the sun’s blinding glare, nothing shines. Mackenzie’s directorial genius is evident in this disgusting detail, which silently but powerfully illustrates the extent of poverty in the rural American Southwest.

Pine is surprisingly perfect as Toby Howard, a gritty, stubbly rancher, far from his polished action roles in previ-

ous works like Star Trek and Jack Ryan. The costume department deserves recognition for a great deal of Pine’s transformation: his shirts are slightly too large and his jeans too long, extending his frame into that of a rancher starved and lean. His shaggy hair and dark mustache completely change the structure of his face, hollowing his cheeks and eyes.

Interestingly, Toby’s dark, lean appearance contrasts that

of his brother Tanner — Foster looks stout and stubby in wide jeans, thick belts, and tucked-in shirts. His receding hairline widens his face, pudgy and soft, and his light eyebrows offer no definition. His close-set eyes seem lost in the expanse — he looks, quite simply, gross.

Still, despite their physical differences, similar pairs of upsettingly blue eyes connect Pine and Foster. Without this feature, a relation between the two would have been dubious, but Mackenzie’s carefully coordinated shots repeatedly highlight the actors’ eyes, suspending the audience’s disbelief and sucking them into the film’s corrupted plot.

Bridges is powerful as Texas Ranger Hamilton, an aging widower being pushed toward retirement from the force.

He is abrasive, hilarious, and a little racist, but Bridges artfully betrays Hamilton’s wounded tenderness during the film’s quieter scenes. From the outside, his role in Hell or High Water may seem too similar to his Oscar-nominated Rooster Cogburn in 2010’s True Grit — but his portrayal of each role is completely distinct, displaying no loss in the talent that spurred his long and prosperous career.

In their scenes, Foster and Pine play off of each other flawlessly. Foster’s character is a hardened, crazed criminal, unashamed of his dark and bloody past and unafraid of his inevitable and fast-approaching end. Tanner’s psychotic, prideful buzz contrasts Toby’s dutiful-but-hesitant attitude during every robbery scene, and the demented look in his eyes grows from unsettling to absolutely frightening. Foster is dangerously spectacular in this role.

Pine’s Toby, however, is quieter, rougher, and sadder — he is a dirt-poor cowboy, a loyal brother and a divorced father, and his behavior in each role is distinct. His rebellion against his situation is not as wild as his brother’s, but he is far from submissive; he makes his crimes seem more like righting wrongs, rather than committing them.

Hell or High Water is one of the most artful Western films in years. It touches on common themes — cowboys and Indians, the rural South, desperation, authority, and justice — but handles each in an entirely new way; no element is stale. The actors are perfectly cast, the characters raw and honest, and the scenes perfectly set and choreographed, resulting in an absorbing, gripping, and complex film. It cleverly retains the heat and suspense of the Western genre, but exhibits none of the campiness, resulting in a thrilling, ethically challenging, and entirely unique film, a perfect movie to end the summer.

Laura Kern is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at skern@cornellsun.com.

What Kanye West Means for Poetry “I always knew them French fries was evil man Smelling all good and shit I don’t trust no food that smells that good man I don’t trust it I just can’t” —Kanye West,“The MacDonald’s Man”

W

ithin the pages of Frank Ocean’s new magazine Boys Don’t Cry lies a poem named “The The MacDonald’s Man,” written by none other than Kanye West. Presented through a series of photographs in which the poem appears on retrofitted MacDonald’s drivethru screens, “The MacDonald’s Man” is a typical Kanye West performance. It resists interpretations while, at the same time, inviting them. Among the discussed themes: paranoia, conspiracy, inequality, utopian Communism, conformity and Frank Ocean. Despite the lines, “I always knew them fries was evil man/smelling all good and shit,” MacDonald’s seems to think it’s just a friendly expression of appreciation for their fries and “smooth apple pies.”

I find it compelling how consistent the patterns of Kanye’s reception are. With each new step from West, waves of reaction and thought ripple underneath it. His new lyric is no different. As with plenty of other Kanye West moments, crowds of think pieces and commentaries and illustrations have risen to dissect it. More serious “literary” establishments and the ever-serious “literary” correspondents for pop culture rags now find themselves, like I am here, writing extensively in slight, ironic tones about a poem on French fries.

The effect of this is that you’ll often have articles more difficult to take seriously than

the poem itself. Like Kanye’s work, sometimes this question of seriousness seems the intention. “On the Poetics — and Elusive Subtext — of Kanye West’s Poem About French Fries,” by Katy Waldman, paradoxically attempts a close reading of the poem even though the writer derides it as “artfully artless jibber jabber.” Meanwhile a satirical article at the Paris Review proposes that “if the ketchup/salad/burger/shake band represents the possibility of a labor movement, the pie represents total communism.”

Obviously a (stale) sense of humor is at work in these pieces. Here, though, the joke comes from how absurd the poem itself is. But maybe what many of these articles don’t want to notice is that any attempt at a reading of “The MacDonald’s Man” lends itself to ridiculousness. Besides the highly abstract narrative depicted in the poem, not much context or concept appears. If I go by just the text alone, no implication of any specific allegory or interpretation comes forward. It is a straightforward poem about a classic menu item. Yet that doesn’t stop readers from pushing narratives. The website Genius’ interpretation veers towards a take on conspiracy and authority. Elsewhere, an illustrated version refrains from allegory, choosing instead to depict the fast-food items in cartoon-style format.

Personally the most fascinating element of this poem isn’t any particular reading but that West can produce a work that conditions such a wide spectrum of interpretations. This peculiar openness has something to do with Kanye’s use of language in the poem. As Katy Waldman points out in her criticism of the text, “the speaker’s observations announce themselves in the same flatly gleaming monochrome as a MacDonald’s logo.” Ironically, what Waldman views as a

shortcoming ended up becoming a compelling element to me. It is about making art from the everyday, including everyday language. West has presented a poem whose key image encompasses a wide frame of reference. Think of all the things that come to mind when someone says, “MacDonald’s”; think of how many people in the world must recognize that connection of sounds and the image that it stands for. To then implicate these references in a purposefully vague narrative produces a multitude of personal responses. That’s why, for example, we can have both an ironic Marxist reading and Joey Bada$$ reading it aloud with the utmost seriousness.

All the sudden, the ingenuity of “The MacDonald’s Man” amounts to the same style of expression behind Warhol-esque pop-art. Pop culture in a vacuum. On repeat. The line between the language we use and the food we consume and the ideology behind it all blurs. Like Dadaist poetry near the start of the 20th century, Kanye’s poem is a playful piece of literature which attacks the boundary between what should and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Even more amusing, however, is the refusal of the clickbait intelligentsia to acknowledge this possibility. Instead, the normal reactions amount to humorous condescension and rejection of the poem on its supposed lack of skill and technique. Hence the absurdity that arises when you try and use your English B.A. interpretive skills to close read this poem. But shouldn’t it be obvious

that Kanye’s not trying to be Yeats?

Shouldn’t we understand that Kanye is thinking of poetry not as an artifact of beautiful and meaningful language but as open to the same experimentation as other media?

“The MacDonald’s Man” folds the highbrow seriousness of literature in on itself. People come out and denounce it not as a poem, but as “good poetry.” Well I do think it’s a good poem, but for different reasons. While I wouldn’t go far as to say Kanye’s poem had any expressly political intentions, I will say that when you have people criticizing your art on both conceptual and technical grounds as nonsense and garbage, your art has touched on their politics in some manner. Of course, this approach again aligns Kanye with the “antiart” of the Dadaists, but more so than these artists, West issues works to a grand and hungry audience.

So instead of complete rejection by whatever establishment, his popularity ensured this Appearances poem would generate a mass of search engine refuse, a widespread confusion as to how Kanye could think “The MacDonald’s Man” was a good poem. But I insist that “The MacDonald’s Man” has asked poetry and pop culture’s conception of poetry an important question, if only by exposing the limits of its definitions.

Stephen Meisel

Stephen Meisel is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached smeisel@cornellsun.com. Appearances will appear alternate Mondays this semester.

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By J.T. Kim ’19

Botanic Gardens: A Plain,Simple Name

T

here’s a spot unique to this campus where I go when Cornell is being especially cruel. It spans about two or three square miles between CALS and North Campus and houses an arboretum, wildflower garden, trails and more. For the past three years I’ve made this place part of my daily routine, running and hiking there most mornings. I still feel rewarded when I climb its hills to see its views. I still get a sense of exploration even though I have already explored most of its twists and turns.

This place has played a key role during the last three years of my life. Climbing its hills, winding through its roads and taking in its scenery relaxes me and has put many of my problems into perspective. I have spent hours there, feeding the donkeys by the entrance with the wild grass that grows on the other side of the road and relaxing by the koi pond in the center, counting frogs, throwing pebbles to lure the sunfish, watching the snapping turtles. I find comfort knowing I can go here regardless of what is going on in my life.

Needless to say, this place is very important to me. Apparently, it’s become important to a lot of people since Cornell announced they would be changing this place’s name. It used to be called “the Cornell Plantations,” an outdated, ugly name. Cornell is finally giving the place a proper name that adequately captures what it is: Cornell Botanic Gardens.

Yet, this decision has been politicized.

Critics of the decision argue Liberty Hyde Bailey, the main force behind setting this place aside as a sanctuary (also the guy Bailey Hall is named after), supported civil rights and did not intend to evoke the ugly system of socioeconomic oppression associated with

plantation agriculture.

These arguments miss the point.

Changing the name isn’t about activism or politics. I happen to sympathize with activists. Remnants of the oppression associated with plantation agriculture are still very much a part of our system. It is alarming when something symbolic gets met with so much pushback. If we can’t take small steps like changing a name to fix our system, you have to wonder if substantive change will ever happen.

However, the name change isn’t about activism. It didn’t result from some external political struggle. It has been in the works since at least my sophomore year within CALS and the organization that maintains this area. The administration decided it wanted a name that more clearly captured the organization’s mission and vision. The word “plantation” doesn’t evoke the diversity of plants and natural areas that “botanical garden” does.

As someone who feels an intimate connection to this place, I know this is the right move. There is no place in the world where I feel happier or safer than the three square mile expanse between North Campus and the CALS. The pleasure I get from the wildflower gardens, arboretum and trails is plain and simple — certainly uncomplicated with connotations of socioeconomic oppression.

It deserves a plain and simple name: “Botanic Gardens” That’s my schtick and I’m sticking to it. Stay tuned for more.

Eric Schulman is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at eschulman@cornellsun.com. Schulman’s Schtick appears alternate Mondays this semester.

Letter to the Editor

Regarding this fall’s Career Fair To the Editor: I write to acknowledge the challenges our students experienced during the Cornell Career Fair last week. None of us in Career Services wanted to put on a fair that would turn away students, and I am sorry that many waited so long to enter and others were unable to attend. We sincerely regret that capacity restrictions in the venue, driven by safety considerations, caused so many to experience frustration. I also want to make sure students know they can work with us to initiate further contact with employers if they were unable to interact with their preferred employers last week.

The decision to hold our beginning-of-year career fair at the Statler Hotel this year took quite some time and was informed by many factors, including student input. We learned last September that Barton Hall, the venue we have used for many years, would be unavailable this year due to construction. It became clear that no alternative space of sufficient size to accommodate the expected numbers of students and employers would be available on campus when we needed it for the event as we have known it. We did identify an alternative off-campus venue, but responses to student surveys about a one-day off-campus fair, extending into the evening hours, indicated a reluctance to attend. Despite our offering to provide frequent free bus transportation from campus to that venue (15 minutes away), survey respondents told us very clearly that they wanted the event held on the Cornell campus.

Wanting to serve the greatest number of students, we chose the Statler Hotel site as the only available, feasible on-campus venue. This required that we reconfigure what has been a two-day event into a four-day event in two different weeks. The physical layout of the Statler facility required Career Services to monitor the numbers admitted to the site carefully for reasons of safety; this led to the long lines and understandable frustration.

We developed a number of tactics to provide services to the students waiting on long lines. We asked employers represented by multiple recruiters to send one or more of them outside to interact with students waiting there. When it became clear that many students would not gain access to the Statler, we gave students tickets to use for priority admission to an upcoming fair.

We have a plan for providing information to employers on students who had wanted to see them but were unable to do so because of the crowding in the facility. I invite any students who were not aware of this opportunity to deliver a resume annotated with your employer preferences to our offices in 103 Barnes Hall. We will inform those employers of your interest, reminding them of the reason you did not meet with them during the Career Fair.

Career fairs and on-campus recruiting are one component of a well-planned job-search strategy. I encourage every student to visit his or her college career services office or Career Services in Barnes Hall for personalized assistance with the job search. Staff in all career offices can assist with writing a well-developed resume and cover letter, developing a "quick pitch" to explain your interests and abilities at a career fair or through other interaction, and strengthening your interviewing skills.

Rebecca M. Sparrow MILR ’86, executive director of Career Services

THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, September 12, 2016 9

OPINION

Pegah Moradi | All Jokes Aside

A

O Say, Can’t You See?

comment that Asma Khalid, a campaign reporter for NPR, made on the September 1 edition of the NPR politics podcast has relentlessly made the rounds in my thoughts like a SpongeBob-style earworm. Khalid’s colleague, Sam Sanders, spoke briefly on Colin Kaepernick’s protest and what it meant for Sanders to be American as a black man, to which Khalid, a Muslim woman, responded, “I will say, no matter where I am at any campaign event, particularly if it is a Republican campaign event [...] I stand. Even if I’ve got a laptop in my hand. And I put my hand up just to ensure that I make everyone in the crowd feel comfortable with me.”

Khalid’s statement is woefully poetic. To ensure that I make everyone in the crowd feel comfortable with me. I think about the times I have, without much thought, patriotically exerted myself in order to make everyone else comfortable with me. I think about memorizing the names of all 50 states or lines from the Declaration of Independence to offset being the only Muslim in my entire elementary school in Idaho. I think about how I enunciate each and every word whenever I speak to a TSA agent. I think about how I sometimes speak for my parents — who speak almost flawless English and have lived in the U.S. for over 20 years — when we’re at the TSA checkpoint just to make sure the agent doesn’t pick up on their ever-so-slight accents. I think about repeating to my neighbors

Ignoring a country’s hairy history and proclaiming your love for it without scrutinizing your reasons for doing so is not love at all, but rather a gross and oblivious infatuation with a self-constructed fantasy. Patriotism is ultimately activism towards the betterment of your community, not how loudly you say the Pledge of Allegiance or whether you sit or stand. that I was born in the U.S., as if to prove my Americanhood. I think about how I tattooed a 12-by-12-inch bald eagle holding the Constitution on my back so that the TSA Rapiscan X-Ray will know what a True Patriot I am.

Of course, Muslim-Americans should not have to take drastic measures to avoid being treated as second-class citizens, but that is hardly an interesting claim. What’s more significant about Khalid’s statement, as well as the experiences of the millions of Muslim-Americans, is that the ways in which we compensate for being Muslim are so utterly superficial.

Khalid rising for every pledge and anthem at campaign events. Me making a point of saying the Pledge of Allegiance louder than anyone else in the class. Is this what patriotism is? If I don’t do these things, am I not a patriot?

I like to think of patriotism, the love one has for one’s country, as analogous to the love between a mother and her child. Now, I’ve never given birth to a child myself, but in my high-school biology class I learned that, just as ducklings imprint on the first moving object they see within a certain period of time, a (human) mother imprints upon her baby right after giving birth. This connection is physiologically caused by the cocktail of hormones brewing within her like kombucha, and has a multitude of fascinating implications for psychological research. For instance, if a mother gives birth and is then immediately handed a loaf of bread, will she think it’s her child? Maybe. Science is incredible.

Patriotism, the way one loves one’s country, is not unlike this imprinted love. The relationship between this hypothetical mother and child is initially pure, irrational and seemingly immutable. But as both the child and the mother grow and mature, the relationship becomes more complex. The innocence of the initial bond begins to fade, and the flaws of the other become more difficult to swallow. The unconditional purity of the imprinting is not enough to sustain the love; the mother and child need to exert some effort. They need to evolve their love to accommodate the imperfections of the other.

Patriotism is more than a cursory reaction to national symbols. To argue that would be to completely delegitimize the very legitimate attachment one feels for one’s country. Love of country then, paradoxically, requires a certain cynicism, else a country cannot improve. It’s bizarre, isn’t it? Blind, immutable support for a system can cause its own demise.

Ignoring a country’s hairy history and proclaiming your love for it without scrutinizing your reasons for doing so is not love at all, but rather a gross and oblivious infatuation with a self-constructed fantasy. Patriotism is ultimately activism towards the betterment of your community, not how loudly you say the Pledge of Allegiance or whether you sit or stand.

I think about all the ways I have tried to make others feel comfortable.

I think about why I act the way I do. I think about how I am a patriot, how I love my country, in ways that no one sees. I think about how, perhaps, that kind of love is more valuable.

Pegah Moradi is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at pmoradi@cornellsun.com. All Jokes Aside appears alternate Mondays this semester.

Web

Comment of the day “In sum — Cornell, please improve housing for all students. It is inadequate and has a tremendous impact on the stress levels and quality of life of the students you bend over backwards to attract.”

’15 Alum Re: “Delayed Collegetown Apartment Opening Leaves Students Homeless,” News September 8, 2016

Jacqueline Groskaufmanis | The Dissent

Bolt From the Blue I

f you asked me what I thought I was going to do at my summer job, typing up pro-Trump op-eds for homeless people would not have made my list of expectations. And yet, there I was, mid July, doing exactly that.

The nonprofit where I worked is a “street paper” about poverty and homelessness, where a majority of the paper’s content is written by homeless and formerly homeless individuals in Washington, D.C. They write, we help them publish their work and they sell the final product. Each story caught me in one way or another, but it was the conservative outliers in the opinion section that gave me a window into what it looks like when unlikely voters lean Republican.

When I asked one person about why he supported Trump, he said that it was less a b o u t Tr u m p , and more about the D e m o c r a t i c P a r t y, which he once belonged to, but had since made him feel disenfranchised. As the party moves further left and becomes more progressive, he argued, it alienated him and people like him, intellectualizing their problems without making tangible strides towards solving them.

The intensely adverse circumstances faced by the homeless ground their political opinions in a unique authority; one that can only be informed by experience. Because policies that regard things like shelters and Medicaid affect them directly, they understand these policies — and their many intricacies — better and more personally than the average American, including some of the politicians who write them.

It would have been easy to dismiss homeless Trump supporters as those who don’t understand their own best interests. It also would have been a huge loss, because their rationale was powerful, and indicative of a broader trend.

Trump — who has been quot-

ed calling poor people “morons” historically disparaged the black community and made comments about the low education levels of his supporters — seemed to be striking out in so many categories that I thought would be important to them. But for them, choosing a candidate wasn’t as simple as checking (or not checking) boxes.

We don’t talk about this faction in my political science classes — and I guess that makes sense. They are anomalies. Homeless Trump supporters are probably about as abundant as warm January days in Ithaca. But their party affiliations are also such a fascinating product of the shift in ideology, both from the left and from the right. They represent people who feel that

him. But it was in spite of those faults that they supported him. I guess if you can get past the racism, the bromance with Putin and the flagrant Islamophobia — which I would not recommend overlooking — Trump’s remaining message is similar to Sanders’ in that it strikes a populist tone that appeals to many of those struggling in or disenfranchised by modern society. And when you feel that you are someone who has been cast aside by society, or when you look to the government to help you survive, a candidate’s likability becomes a superfluous consideration if he or she has convinced you that they can truly help.

I don’t think that Trump should be president. I think his policies would be harmful to the avera g e American, the average world citizen and especially to the people I worked with this s u m m e r.

But it’s not my job to decide for them what is in their best interest. Sometimes when progressives reach out to help, I think the effort can be slightly patronizing, and movements can ignore the voices of the very people they aim to mobilize. The people who condescend to and mock Trump supporters are ironically some of the same people who create them. There is value in listening to the members of the homeless community who support Trump — not because I agree with them, and not because I think he could help them as a candidate but because, as a democrat, I think it’s very important to understand what about my own party has driven them and millions of other Americans to turn to such a radical alternative.

Sometimes when progressives reach out to help, I think the effort can be slightly patronizing, and movements can ignore the voices of the very people they aim to mobilize. they have been disenfranchised from the Democratic party, even though the party’s advertised goal is to level the playing field for them.

This phenomenon of what might be perceived as counterintuitive voting isn’t exclusive to homeless Trump supporters.

Some of the most conservative and reliably Republican states are also some of the poorest in the country. Mississippi, for instance, consistently votes red. Given the average per capita income of $43,500, one would expect many voters to chose the Democrats due to their policies that support more generous public funding and more robust public support for healthcare, education, housing and food. However, personal financial gain is just one small component in the calculus of choosing a candidate or party to support.

The people I worked with knew that Trump had his faults, and even called him “crazy” in some of the same articles they wrote to endorse

Jacqueline Groskaufmanis is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at jgroskaufmanis@cornellsun.com. The Dissent appears alternate Mondays this semester.

10 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Monday, September 12, 2016

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

ACROSS 1 Is blessed with, as talent 4 Creator of Finn and Sawyer 9 Leave rolling in the aisles 13 That, in Spain 14 “Olde” store 15 Ring over an angel 16 Crustacean catcher 18 Out of town 19 Intent 20 OB/GYN procedure 21 Hiding spot for a cheater’s ace 22 Put off bedtime 25 Weapon in Clue 27 Brewery product 30 “Defending our rights” org.

33 Electrified atoms 34 Scans for injured athletes, briefly 35 __ Mawr College 36 Piece of pizza 37 To-do list entry 38 Worse-thanone’s-bite quality 39 Online TV giant 40 Since, in a holiday song 41 Fifi’s friend 42 Slip for a tardy student 45 Like the Arctic, compared to most of the planet 47 Two-base hit 51 Debate issue 53 Illness characterized by a red rash 54 Soon, to a bard 55 Decorator’s wall prettifier 58 Subtle look 59 Lion groups 60 Former AT&T rival 61 Former fast planes 62 Unemotional 63 Bladed gardening tool DOWN 1 Makes a difference 2 “I won’t tell __!”

3 Buffalo hockey player 4 Title venue for Hemingway’s old man 5 Sported 6 Kindle download 7 Wall St. debut 8 Volleyball barrier 9 SeaWorld star 10 Backyard bash 11 Jai __ 12 String-aroundyour-finger toy 14 Cooking appliance 17 Explore caves 20 Sailor’s word of obedience 22 Information that ruins the ending 23 Costner/Russo golf film 24 Basilica recess 26 Water down 28 Bank claim 29 Salinger’s “With Love and Squalor” girl 30 Palindromic pop group 31 Study all night 32 Keats or Byron, e.g.

34 Pageant title with 51 contestants (the 50 states plus D.C.) 36 Roe source 42 Partners’ legal entity: Abbr.

43 Madison Ave. bigwig 44 Most TV “operas” 46 Sounds from sties 48 “Mutiny on the Bounty” captain

49 Slow movement 50 Perfumer Lauder 51 Four-note lightsout tune 52 Singles 53 Prefix with care 55 Collectors’ albums ... and a hint to six puzzle answers 56 Gallery collection 57 Chihuahua uncle

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

09/12/16

COMICS AND PUZZLES

Sun Sudoku

Puzzle #45,475

PILGARLIC

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)

6 9

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Following Big Cross-Town Win, Man City Takes First in Rankings LINSEY

under new coach David Moyes, but it has not happened yet, so they rank quite low in the Power Rankings.

Graziano Pelle to a big-spending Chinese West Bromwich Albion is dealing with fan club. Crystal Palace made a number of impres- unrest. Not only have they struggled on the field, sive signings this summer, and the talent of Steve but manager Tony Pulis has apparently suffered a Mandanda and Christian Benteke can go a long breakdown in relations with the board who run way to ending their terrible run of form stretch- the club. Stoke City rank last with a solitary ing back to last winter. point to their name after four matches. Surely it Bournemouth and Burnley, two of the is just a slow start for Stoke, and they will Premier League’s improve in a few lowest-spending weeks; having finSwansea have really struggled to get teams, veered from ished in the top ten their ways this sumgoing this season. Their prize summer for several years in a mer to bring in row now, it is unlikeaddition, Fernando Llorente, has to Jordon Ibe and ly that they will finscore for Swansea to make progress.

Steven Defour for ish in the bottom club-record fees. three by the end of While Defour has the campaign. unquestionably started better than Ibe, both This concludes the first edition of my English clubs will be happy to be in this section of the Premier League Power Rankings for the 2016-17 power rankings, and not the one below. season. Check back every month or so for anothSwansea, Sunderland, West Brom and Stoke er edition of the Power Rankings, and come back make up the bottom four clubs in the Power every week for another column of The Beautiful Rankings. Swansea have really struggled to get Game. going this season. Their prize summer addition, Fernando Llorente, has to score goals for Kevin Linsey is a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Swansea to make any progress this year. Relations. He can be contacted at klinsey@cornellsun.com. The Sunderland have a decent chance to succeed Beautiful Game appears Mondays this semester.

Continued from page 12

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Sports

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2016

12

CROSS COUNTRY

RunnersGrab Fourth Versus Top National Teams

Following meet against four teams in top 20, Smith ’96 ‘excited’ by result

By CHARLES COTTON Sun Staff Writer

The heat, the humidity and the nationally-ranked competition gave the team a true test, but Cornell women’s cross country did not back down, taking fourth place this weekend at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, just a few points behind the top three teams.

The Red competed alongside six other Division I schools at the invitational hosted by Penn State in the 2016 season’s inaugural meet.

The field included No. 15 Syracuse, No. 19 Georgetown, No. 38 West Virginia, St. Joseph’s, Rutgers and No. 13 Penn State. When all was said and done, Penn State finished first followed by Georgetown, Syracuse and Cornell – all three within just a few points of each other.

Cornell’s head coach Artie Smith ’96 said he felt confident going into the contest and was not disappointed by the team’s

efforts — especially considering the high-caliber competition.

“It was very exciting to see our team mix it up so well with three teams ranked in the nation's top 20, and to defeat another, West Virginia, that is also in the pools and a perennial contender at the NCAAs,” Smith said.

First place was never out of the question, and the ability to keep up with top teams inspires confidence among the group, according to Smith.

“It was back and forth most of the way with Georgetown and Syracuse, and we take away a lot of confidence in our ability to race with those teams,” he said.

Instead of disappointment in just missing second or third, the team feels a sense of accomplishment.

“When it is only a few points separating teams you always look for ways to make up that gap,” Smith said.

“Rather than be disappointed, though, we’re excited that we’re right in the mix and looking forward to closing that gap the next time we get a chance.”

CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN FILE PHOTO

Individually, several of the Cornell women ran extremely well. Junior Jackie Katzman and senior captain Taylor Spillane finished in fifth and eighth place, respectively.

Katzman ran the 6K in 21:42. Sophomore Gracie Todd, junior Erin McLaughlin and sophomore Briar Brumley — her first time in the team’s top five — also scored for the Red. While the coach gave everyone credit, praising Spillane’s “gritty effort” and Brumley’s strong finish, he was particularly impressed with Katzman’s performance.

“This was a big competitive breakthrough for Jackie, to be contending for the top five in a major Division I college cross country race,” he said. “I thought she handled the newness of the situation exceptionally well and followed through on her race plan great.”

Her time of 21:42 is the second best ever by a Cornellian on that course.

Prior to the meet, it was unclear if the team would still be a little rusty from the offseason. While they may not have been in midseason form, the runners certainly stepped up.

“I wouldn’t call them rusty but at the same time we are far from where we'll be mid-season,” Smith said. “And that's what we want: we want to start well but finish the season even better and be at our best during the championship part of the season.”

With the season beginning to heat up, Smith and his runners know what they must address going forward.

“The competitive efforts were there,” he said. “I think everyone took away a number of things they'll be able to address right away in our next meet to be even sharper and more prepared.”

This effort was especially apparent in the last kilometer, when many of the runners picked up ground on the field.

While it is still very early, a meet and performance like this help Cornell measure up against its peers in a particularly positive way.

“This confirmed our group’s belief that we have the abilities to be a national caliber team,” Smith said. “There’s lots still to work on but the best way to learn these things is to race against good people, and I thought our group took advantage of a great opportunity in a very good way.”

Cornell plans to bring a very large group to its next meet and hopes to improve upon some specifics at Penn State.

The race will be next Saturday in Rochester, New York — the Yellow Jacket Invitational.

Battling the best | Four of the nation’s top 20 teams traveled to Penn State to run in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. Cornell placed fourth in the event.

E

Charles Cotton can be reached at ccotton@cornellsun.com.

Power Ranking the English Premier League

ighty thousand pairs of eyes were transfixed on the ball. Kevin De Bruyne had curled it towards the back post, out of reach of the goalkeeper.

The only possibilities were the ball going in or going wide. The Manchester United defenders stopped for a split second and watched. Only, there was another option, and one offensive player was prepared for it.

The ball rebounded off the post, straight to young Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who tapped the ball in the net for a 2-1 lead and the winning goal in Saturday’s Manchester Derby. After the huge defeat of their hated rivals, Manchester City ranks first in my first set of Power Rankings for the 2016-17 season.

Second is Manchester United, as they are off to a strong start to the season.

Despite the aforementioned loss to City, the first month under Jose Mourinho has gone well. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored in three of four games and looked right at home. In third is Chelsea, who have won all three of their games so far.

They have had some tough moments, especially defensively, but Antonio

Conte is settling in as coach and they can expect to improve over time. Liverpool’s impressive attacking players place them fourth in the Power Rankings. Manager Jurgen Klopp often starts Georginio Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Phillipe Coutinho in the same game. This quartet of speedy and talented players creates numerous opportunities and scores goals week in and week out.

The next four teams in the rankings are Arsenal, Tottenham, Leicester City and Hull City. As Arsenal’s injured players and new signings return to the lineup, they should be able to win games consistently. The same goes for Tottenham Hotspur, as their key players are just getting back into form after their exertions at Euro 2016 this summer.

Dele Alli and Harry Kane, who both represented England at Euro 2016, scored their first goals of the season this weekend. Champions Leicester City have played well, but the defense has been weaker than in their title-winning campaign last time out. Hull City is the highest-ranked team that was promoted from the championship. They have

played well in every game, winning two games, losing to Manchester United in the last minute, and drawing with Burnley.

Everton, Watford, West Ham and Middlesbrough take up the 9-12 positions in the Power Rankings. As the mid-

ish higher than eleventh in the final table, but much like many other teams in the rankings, integrating new players will take time. Conceding four goals to Watford this past weekend is nonetheless cause for concern. Middlesbrough, another newly promoted club, have

Kevin Linsey The Beautiful Game dle of the Power Rankings, it is hard to tell if these teams will trend upward or downward from here on out. Everton has made a strong start under new coach Ronald Koeman, but questions remain in attack.

Watford had another summer full of new signings, player sales, and another new manager. Can Walter Mazzari make the best of a diverse, international squad? West Ham should be able to fin-

started well. They have consistently remained in games and look to have the toughness to survive a season-long battle to avoid relegation.

The next group of teams are Southampton, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Burnley.

Southampton has struggled to score goals after the sale of top striker See LINSEY page 11