INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 132, No. 26
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 ! ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News
Arts
Sports
Weather
Class Confessions
Avant Garde
Come Back
Thunderstorms HIGH: 71º LOW: 58º
Students post anonymously on issues related to socioeconomic status on the Cornell Confessions Facebook Page. | Page 3
Brynn Richter ’19 recaps the moving multimedia performance by the Caochangdi Workstation. | Page 8
Red station quarterback junior Robert Somborn learns patience from breaking his wrists. | Page 15
Week of Testimonials StudentsVoice Concern Over Threats To End in Former Of Defunding Planned Parenthood C.U. Student’s Trial
By STEPHANIE YAN Sun Staff Writer
As Congress faces its budgetary deadline Wednesday to prevent a government shutdown, funding for Planned Parenthood has emerged as one of the most contentious issues. Following a controversial series of videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood selling fetal tissues, many conservatives in Congress threatened to block any funding bill that includes funding for Planned Parenthood, according to The New York Times. Late Monday evening, Senate Republicans and Democrats voted to advance a spending bill that would fund the government through December without cutting federal funding for Planned Parenthood, The Times
reported. If Congress fails to pass this temporary spending bill, the federal government will shutdown. Until recently, whether the government would remain fully open remained unclear as conservatives threatened to shutdown the government over Planned Parenthood funding. Before Monday, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would defund the nonprofit for a year. In light of the controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood funding, many Cornellians have spoken out, expressing the need to properly fund the organization. Zoe Maisel ’18, president of Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood at Cornell. said she hopes that national criticism of the defunding dispute will motivate people to
EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN / THE NEW YORK TIMES
See PLANNED PARENTHOOD page 5
Reproductive rights | Planned Parenthood supporters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana defend the nonprofit in August.
By MADELINE COHEN Sun Assistant News Editor
A week of testimonies are expected to close Tuesday in the trial of Charles Tan ’17, a former Cornell student who pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in the February shooting of his father. On Feb. 9, police arrested Charles Tan, then a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, after discovering his father, Liang Tan, fatally shot in their Pittsford, New York, home. Jury deliberations are likely to begin Tuesday, according to The Democrat & Chronicle, a Rochester-based publication. James Nobles, Charles Tan’s defense lawyer, and his co-counsel Brian DeCarolis said the prosecution has not met the burden of proof, emphasizing that there is no evidence that Charles Tan ever had the gun in his possession, the Chronicle reported. “One thing I would note is that you haven’t heard any evidence that Charlie ever had this gun in his possession or hands. We know it was purchased at TAN ’17 Walmart, we know it ended up in the garage, but no one has said where it was or what it did between those two points,” Nobles said. A forensic biologist from the Monroe County Crime Laboratory said there were three samples of DNA found on the trigger of the gun found in the Tan home on Feb. 9, but the samples could not be tested because they were too small, according to the Chronicle. Nobles has continually argued that the Tan family had a history of abuse, noting at February press conference that police reports had been filed going back to See TAN page 5
A&S Posting Seeks Candidate From ‘Underrepresented Group’
Putin on a show
By KIMBERLY LEE
tative social sciences,” reads the job description. “We are especially interested in considering applications from A Sept. 10 job posting from the members of underrepresented groups, College of Arts and Sciences for an those who have faced economic hardassistant professor ship, are first-genposition has taken “We want to create the broadest, eration college an unorthodox strongest pool possible, and one graduates or work approach with its on topics related broad description that includes applicants from all to these issues.” that seeks candiRe c o g n i z i n g backgrounds.” dates from underthe unconventionrepresented al nature of the Gretchen Ritter ’83 groups and does job posting, not specify the Gretchen Ritter exact department the candidate will ’83, dean of the College of Arts and work in. Sciences, called it “an unusual experi“[The college] is seeking to hire a ment on the part of the [college].” tenure-track assistant professor in some area of the humanities or qualiSee JOB page 5 Sun Staff Writer
DOUG MILLS / THE NEW YORK TIMES
President Barack Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday on the opening day of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York City.
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Today
DAYBOOK
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
weather FORECAST
Daybook Today
Today
Tomorrow
Hi: 71° F Lo: 58° F Thunderstorms
Hi: 56° F Lo: 44° F Showers
Johnson Community Impact: Fall Blood Drive 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Atrium, Sage Hall Real Estate Career Day 1:30 - 5:30 p.m., Stater Hall Introduction to American Academic Libraries 3 - 4 p.m., 106G Olin Library Abolitionism, Modern ‘Anti Slavery’ and #BlackLivesMatter With Prof. Edward E. Baptist 3 - 4 p.m., Kaufman Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall Biomedical Sciences Seminar Series 4 - 5 p.m., 135 Emerson Hall
Tomorrow Between Commodities and Muslim/Non-Muslim Cultural Exchange 12:15 p.m., Mezzanine Room One, McGraw Hall
“Autumn” It’s days like today, when the leaves change and I think, am I changing? #deep ~ Philosopher ’16
Special Education Financing and ADHD Medications: A Bitter Pill to Swallow 1:15 - 2:45 p.m., G87 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall GMOs and Journalism: Dispatch from a Conflict Zone 4 p.m, 146 Stocking Hall From Glaciers to Generations: Climate Change Affects Landscapes and Lives 7:30 - 9 p.m., Alice Statler Auditorium, Statler Hall
PUPIL POETRY cornellians write verse Students may send poetry submissions to news-editor@cornellsun.com.
C
e l n l s r un.co o c . w m ww C
The Corne¬ Daily Sun INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880 Editor in Chief
Tyler Alicea ’16
ALL DEPARTMENTS
Business Manager
Emma Lichtenstein ’16
(607) 273-3606
Business: For questions regarding advertising, classifieds, subscriptions or delivery problems, please call from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. News: To report breaking news or story ideas, please call after 5 p.m., SundayThursday.
SEND A FAX VISIT THE OFFICE THE SUN ONLINE E-MAIL
(607) 273-0746 139 W. State Street, Ithaca, N.Y. www.cornellsun.com sunmailbox@cornellsun.com
Postal Information: The Cornell Daily Sun (USPS 132680 ISSN 1095-8169) is published by THE CORNELL DAILY SUN, a New York corporation, 139 W. State St., Ithaca, N.Y. 14850. The Sun is published Monday through Friday during the Cornell University academic year, with three special issues: one for seniors in May, one for alumni in June and one for incoming freshmen in July, for a total of 143 issues per year. Subscription rates are: $137.00 for fall term, $143.00 for spring term and $280.00 for both terms if paid in advance. First-class postage paid at Ithaca, New York. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Cornell Daily Sun, 139 W. State St., Ithaca, N.Y. 14850.
NEWS
University Cornell Receives Photography Collection Lesbian erotica photographer Honey Lee Cottrell donated her papers to the Cornell Library’s Human Sexuality Collection before her death last week, according to the University. Cottrell photographed activists in the Bay Area in the ’70s and ’80s and co-founded On Our Backs, a feminist pornography magazine. “She liked the idea that all the fun and rabble-rousing they did in San Francisco is now being recognized as important by an East Coast Ivy League school,” said Brenda Marston, the collection’s curator, in a press release.
Local New Apparel Stores Open on Commons Two new clothing stores, Thrive Ethical Fashion and Ithaca Sheepskin, opened on the Commons Monday, The Ithaca Journal reported. Thrive hopes to sell ethically and sustainably produced women’s clothing and will feature independent local designers and a handmade jewelry line. Ithaca Sheepskin has previously been based in Ithaca will sell apparel and home decor.
National Scientists Discover Water on Mars The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced yesterday that scientists had found strong evidence for flowing water on Mars, according to The New York Times. Scientists used a spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to identify salts on the planet’s surface — which are only visible for a few days after being hydrated by liquid water. Prior to this discovery, it was thought that all of Mars’ water had frozen, but there was no evidence that its liquid form still remained.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015 3
Facebook Page Platform for Discussion of Economic Class By DAVID BROTZ Sun Contributor
“I was at a party where they were serving champagne, and I realized that one of the many bottles emptied costs more than what my father earns in two weeks,” reads a post on the Cornell University Class Confessions Facebook page. “Needless to say, I was uncomfortable drinking it.” The Cornell University Class Confessions Facebook page posts anonymous, student-submitted confessions related to socioeconomic status and first generation issues. Launched nearly four months ago, it now boasts almost 1,000 likes and over 100 posts. The page, which is entirely student-run, is an initiative launched by students who took Education 2610: The Intergroup Dialogue Project. Aaron Ong ’16, who founded the page, sorts through the confessions submitted and determines which ones will be posted. On a typical day, the page receives 10 to 15 anonymous submissions, according to Amber George, a program coordinator for the Intergroup Dialogue Project. As a freshman, Ong said he noted the lack of outreach to first-generation Cornell students, so in the spring of his freshman year, he decided to enroll in a class offered by the Intergroup Dialogue Project. His experience in a class with open dialogue inspired him to create the page, he said. “I saw for the first time, the full range of socioeconomic status on campus,” Ong said. “I
Social media soapbox | Students submit “confessions” to the Cornell University Class Confessions Facebook page anonymously explaining how they deal money issues on campus.
feel like people don’t really talk about it on campus.” Before launching the Cornell page, Ong reached out to the Columbia University Class Confessions Facebook page, which has over 6,000 likes, and received input on how the page ought to be created. Today, to show solidarity, many of these pages, including Cornell’s, have begun to add “#classconfessions” to the end of their posts, according to Ong. The page aims to foster civil discussions and to create a digital space where students can share their experiences of being either a firstgeneration Cornell student or low socioeconomic status, according to Ong. George said she believes there are not enough spaces that serve as outlets for students to express their concerns.
Ong said he wanted to foster open discussions on the Facebook page, similar to the dialogue-centered approach featured in the Intergroup Dialogue Project classes he took. For the most part, this mission of the page has gone smoothly, he said. However, Ong said he sometimes receives criticism through the anonymous submission system that students can use to submit posts to the page. Additionally, some anonymous confessions name specific people, something Ong said he has to edit out. For the most part, however, reception to the page has been overwhelmingly positive, evidenced by the page’s over 12,000 weekly reaches and nearly 1,000 likes. “The very first, big step, is to raise awareness
New Service Aims to Streamline Off-Campus Housing Search By JENNA RUDOLFSKY Sun Contributor
Rent College Pads, a new service that works with students and landlords around college campuses to facilitate off campus housing searches, launched at Cornell Sept. 9. Though only launched this month at Cornell, Rent College
Pads already has 2,000 Cornell students registered to their website, which concentrates listings and subleases for college students. Cornell students currently have access to listings for over 100 different properties, according to Jeremy Schmidt, director of marketing for Rent College Pads. Cornell students have long faced problems with off campus
housing. In the past, students have camped out overnight to secure off campus housing leases in a first come first served basis. According to Schmidt, Rent College Pads hopes to help students combat this problem. “We don’t want students to have to camp out around the block for a lease,” Schmidt said. “We’re just trying to help out and make a
Let’s play ball
Senate Proposes Spending Bill The Senate advanced a 10week government spending bill yesterday that will allow funding for Planned Parenthood, according to The New York Times. Although the bill will still need to go through final rounds of voting from the House and Senate, its passage would avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year Wednesday. Some Republican senators have vowed to strike down any bill that allocates funds for Planned Parenthood, according to The Times. — Compiled by Stephanie Yan
See CLASS page 5
JASON BEN NATHAN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Members of Phi Kappa Tau play spikeball on the Arts Quad to raise money for a national philanthropy event, supporting SeriousFun Children’s Network Sunday.
resource that is easy to use.” The Rent College Pads website allows students to go online and see all of the listings on a map of the area. Students can then search for housing based on the number of bedrooms, price and extra features they are looking for. Once students have found a listing they are interested in, they are able to contact landlords through the website. “It puts all of the information in one spot,” added Schmidt. Landlords in the Ithaca area are hoping that this service will quell the anxiety students face about housing. Karla Terry, whose family owns West Shore Apartments, said she knows that students feel rushed to get into an apartment. “One issue is the fear that there isn’t going to be enough apartments. That is not valid. There is enough housing,” Terry said. Rent College Pads reached out to many local companies including West Shore Apartments, which has operated in the area since 1967, according to Terry. She said that she first received a letter in the mail before being further contacted and has been very happy with their new partnership so far. “It’s been great. I found the initial follow up from everyone has been great,” Terry said. “Any question is quickly followed up. It seems to be easy for students to access.” See COLLEGETOWN page 5
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Cornell Career Services
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015 5
NEWS
Ritter: A&S Job Posting Vox to Lead ‘Pink Out’ to ‘An Unusual Experiment’ Support Planned Parenthood JOB
Continued from page 1
“This faculty advertisement aims to attract a broad range of applicants across numerous fields in the social sciences and humanities,” Ritter said. “In the context of this and all of our searches, we want to create the broadest, strongest pool possible, and one that includes applicants from all backgrounds.” The position’s description has piqued the interests of academics online. Speculation about the listing stirred on social media as professors and graduates questioned its validity. Karen Kelsky, author of The Professor Is In, described the listing as “really bizarre” in a Chronicle of Higher Education article. “If I were a job applicant, this would be very anxiety-inducing,” Kelsky said. “There is such a gaping void of non-information. It seems more demoralizing than anything.” Despite the post’s mention of “underrepresented groups,” however, Prof. Scott MacDonald, philosophy, added that the job posting is not targeting any specific applicant. “We’re not looking for or expecting any sort of unusual applicant,” clarified MacDonald, who is also senior associate dean for arts and humanities. The school is expecting the same large number of applicants who would have responded to the posting had it been run multiple times individually for each department that expressed interest in hiring outstanding candidates, he said. In addition, the job posting reads that the position is contingent on available funding. “At present, it is uncertain whether the college will have funding available for next academic year to support one or more appointments coming out of this search,” MacDonald said.
“‘Contingent on available funding’ is included in the advertisement in an effort to be transparent about the status of the position advertised.” Many of Cornell’s colleges and schools are facing budget stringencies this academic year, with the College of Arts and Sciences suffering from a $5 to $10 million budget reduction, The Sun previously reported. Earlier this academic year in a memo sent out to senior administrators and deans, President Elizabeth Garrett challenged units to streamline their resources and cut unnecessary expenditure. According to Ritter, due to the arts college’s need to operate “in a time of reduced hiring,” the open-ended nature of the job posting is a more effective way to find the scholars the college seeks. “This open-search approach can be an effective way to identify up-and-coming scholars who can continue Cornell’s long-standing commitment to the humanities and social sciences,” Ritter said. MacDonald added that besides being more effective, the job posting also aims to be more efficient in hiring for the college. “We expect that this search will in fact save faculty time and departmental resources compared with the alternative of running multiple searches in departments spread across the college,” MacDonald said. “[However, the contingency] is not a direct response to President Garrett’s call to streamline.” The strategy behind the job posting was to productively show interest in hiring in any one of multiple departments in the humanities and social sciences that face pressing needs, added MacDonald. Kimberly Lee can be reached at kimberlylee@cornellsun.com
PLANNED PARENTHOOD Continued from page 1
appreciate the importance and scope of the organization’s services. “Last year alone, Planned Parenthood provided sexual and reproductive health care, education and outreach to 5,180,000 women, men and people worldwide,” Maisel said. “Many Cornell students have used Planned Parenthood services because they are offered in a nonjudgemental, private way.” Radhika Gupta ’18, women’s issues liason at large for the S.A., added that the organization is an important resource for women. “Defunding Planned Parenthood is a loss of credible and helpful information and, more importantly, a loss of a support line when [people] have no one else to turn to,” Gupta said. Maisel argued that defunding Planned Parenthood would not simply “move money” to other health care programs, she said. “Many patients who use Planned Parenthood health services do so because it is the only accessible clinic around, and because it is affordable,” Maisel said. Matthew Indimine ’18, chair of the S.A. Health and Wellness committee and U.A. undergraduate representative, criticized the unnecessary politicalization of an organization that “plays a vital role in our society.” He pointed out that Planned Parenthood connects many associations involved in reproductive health.
“Given that Planned Parenthood fosters collaboration from various communities and groups, defunding could destroy a necessary channel for change,” he said. Maisel added that estimates show cutting off funding from Planned Parenthood will not reduce fiscal costs for the government. “Government spending would [increase] in the long run as a result of more demands on Medicaid and other health support systems,” Maisel said. As the Senate attempts to reach a compromise about Planned Parenthood, Vox and other Cornellians will participate in Pink Out Day Tuesday — a nationwide demonstration of support — according to Vox Vice President Lauren Cooley ’16. Pink Out Day’s efforts to reach the Cornell community will include chalking, poster distribution, a social media campaign and decorations, according to Cooley. Vox’s goal is “to clear up any misconceptions Cornell students may have,” she said. “We really want to show our fellow Cornellians that there are students who passionately support Planned Parenthood and the many essential services it provides to 2.7 million people per year,” Cooley said. “Many Cornellians undoubtedly rely on the services of Planned Parenthood, and we want them to know that we will fight for them,” Cooley added. Stephanie Yan can be reached at syan@cornellsun.com
Testimony Underway in Charles Tan ’17 Trial TAN
Continued from page 1
2008 and 2009. Qing Tan, Charles Tan’s mother and Liang’s wife, attempted to acquire an order of protection against her husband before his death. Introduced at the trial on Wednesday, a 911 call placed by Qing Tan recorded her asking for helping, saying that her hus-
band had thrown her to the floor and choked her, before the call was disconnected, according to TWC News Rochester. The 911 dispatcher testified that when he called back the Tan home Liang answered, and apologized for his wife. In the background of the recording, Qing can be heard saying, “No, no, please help me, he almost killed me.”
Terry Cullen, head coach of Cornell’s sprint football team, which Charles Tan was a member of, testified Thursday, saying that Tan seemed “distraught” when he left school on Feb. 5, according to 13WHAM ABC News. “He came in to say that he wouldn’t be weightlifting the next morning, which is standard procedure with kids,” Cullen
said. “When I asked him why, he kind of broke down; he broke down crying. He said he had to get home… [because of ] family problems.” Another piece of evidence introduced at the trial was an email that he sent to his Chi Phi brothers several hours before the police arrived at his home, The Ithaca Journal reported. “In the coming days you’ll
start to hear things in the news and possibly get a couple visits from the authorities. Don’t listen to anything you hear,” the email read. “I love you all so much and you have given me the family I never had. … I can only hope I have left a positive impression on all of your lives as well.” Madeline Cohen can be reached at mcohen@cornellsun.com
2,000 Students Register for Students Express Food Concerns, Off-Campus Housing Service Social Pressures on Facebook COLLEGETOWN Continued from page 3
In addition to listings from landlords, students will also be able to sublet their apartments using the website. Students can also use the source to find roommates and dates for an open house, according to the website. Of the new students using Rent College Pads, Stephanie Yiu ’18 said she found the site as a useful resource she will use in the future. “The website was pretty easy to use, and it was nice to be able to see where the different apartments are located,” she said. “Usually when I visit other sites, I have to open Google Maps and type in each address.” Prior to launching the site, Schmidt said Rent College Pads took some time to become acquainted with the area.
An employee from the company flew out to Ithaca to look at properties and speak with landlords to help foster partnerships. As the year goes on, Rent College Pads hopes to do more at Cornell and at other campuses. By the middle of October, Rent College Pads will have expanded to 30 campuses, according to Schmidt. In addition, he said the company is looking to have a housing fair at Cornell as well as other informational activities for students. “We want to get as many students using the site as possible,” Schmidt said. “The more we can help out, and the more we can integrate ourselves in the community, we will be able to help as many students as we can.” Jenna Rudolfsky can be reached at jlr424@cornell.edu
CLASS
George said. Given the success of the page, George said Cornell University Class and let people know there really are Confessions hopes to expand to Twitter peers out there who are struggling to and launch a photo campaign soon. even feed themselves, and as a Cornell Cornell’s Intergroup Dialogue community, we have to watch out for Project, which is housed at 626 these people and Thurston Ave., is see if they’re doing one of three such “I feel like people don’t ok, and stretch out organizations in a helping hand,” the Ivy League. really talk about Ong said. The Project aims [socioeconomic status] He said he to to foster diahopes the logue between on campus.” Facebook page will persons of varying stimulate awarerace, gender, so Aaron Ong ’16 ness and conversacioeconomic station about socioetus and level of conomic status and first-generation ability by offering courses and hosting issues. events. “We’re hoping the conversations from the page will translate into con- David Brotz can be reached at versations outside of Facebook,” dmb454@cornell.edu Continued from page 3
OPINION
Alex Davies | Have I Got News for You?
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
The Bitter Harvest Of Political Decay
Independent Since 1880 133RD EDITORIAL BOARD TYLER ALICEA ’16 Editor in Chief
EMMA LICHTENSTEIN ’16
ANNIE BUI ’16
SLOANE GRINSPOON ’17
LOUIS LIU ’18
Business Manager
Managing Editor
Associate Editor
Advertising Manager
AMBER CHEN ’16
ANNA FASMAN ’16
Web Editor
Sports Editor
NATALIE TSAY ’18
KIKI LI ’17
Blogs Editor
Multimedia Editor
JAYNE ZUREK ’16
BRITTNEY CHEW ’17
Design Editor
News Photography Editor
MICHAELA BREW ’18
SOFIA HU ’17
Sports Photography Editor
News Editor
GABRIELLA LEE ’16
JAEL GOLDFINE ’17
News Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
MIKE SOSNICK ’16
NOAH RANKIN ’16
EMILY JONES ’18
REBECCA BLAIR ’17
MADELINE COHEN ’18
PAULINA GLASS ’18
PHOEBE KELLER ’18
TROY SHERMAN ’18
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Science Editor
Dining Editor
Assistant News Editor
Assistant News Editor
Assistant News Editor
Assistant News Editor
Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor
ADAM BRONFIN ’18
JOON LEE ’17
Assistant Sports Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
SHANE LEWIS ’18
SAMANTHA BRIGGS ’16
Assistant Sports Editor
Assistant Design Editor
ADDY PAI ’16
D
onald Trump’s success represents the fulfillment of ancient Republican prophecy. The Party’s Department for Agitation and Propaganda, commonly known as Fox News, has long strived to paint a picture for its disciples in Middle America of the great American — the true American. In this image, individual success is the measure of a man’s worth and the dollar is its currency. The Republican Übermensch is wealthy, white and unabashedly arrogant. Donald Trump is the pinnacle of this idolatry, and as such is the prime specimen among the pugnacious crop of 2016’s Republican harvest. While conservative media’s attempts to internalize certain values within their
“the Washington cartel,” the whole argument that Planned Parenthood makes money by providing abortions is without foundation. None of the videos cited by Republicans show any evidence of the organization turning a profit on abortions. Fetal tissue is donated for medical research and Planned Parenthood is reimbursed for the costs. Maybe it’s just the Republican profit-obsessed mindset, but Planned Parenthood categorically does not profit from providing abortions. Conservative media outlets have overlooked this fact though, raising the hue and cry at the mere thought of the sale of our unborn sons and daughters. While their deception may garner support for individual candidates (and viewers for TV stations), the Republican Congress
ADELE GU ’17
Marketing Manager
Human Resources Manager
DARA LEVY ’16
ALEX REHBERG ’16
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
ANUSHKA MEHROTRA ’16
MADELINE SALINAS ’16
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
SAMANTHA BRIGGS ’16
ADDY PAI ’16
Assistant Design Editor
Marketing Manager
WORKING ON TODAY’S SUN DESIGN DESKERS PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKER
Zach Praiss ’16 Brian LaPlaca ’18 Brittney Chew ’17 Paulina Glass ’18 Madeline Cohen ’18 Joon Lee ’17 Mike Sosnick ’16
Editorial
A More Holistic Approach to SAFC
THE STUDENT ASSEMBLY EFFORTS LAST SPRING to streamline the process of obtaining funding from the Student Activities Funding Commission were a significant step towards streamlining a process used by hundreds of student organizations. By removing the requirement that the S.A. review each SAFC funding request appeal and replacing it with an independent appeals court, the process is quicker and more fair to the individual appellants. However, some of the issues that cause student organizations to be barred from SAFC dollars remain. To address these challenges, we call for a more holistic approach to the funding process. The student organization registration process, in addition to the SAFC funding process, can be seen as rigid and unforgiving by those who are denied funding. While some organizations fail to meet the explicit requirements of the SAFC — by missing an advisor’s signature, for example — others point to OrgSync, a software platform the University implemented in 2013 for managing the registration and funding of student organizations, as the source of their frustration. In order to register as a student organization, a group’s leaders must create a profile in OrgSync, and have four of the organization’s officers, plus the advisor, fill out several electronic forms. The interface does not allow the organization to track the progress of these forms or to see who has and has not completed them. The SAFC requires that an organization meet all of the registration requirements before it approves their funding request. We are not disputing the need for student organizations to meet the requirements set by SAFC. These rules set in place ensure a fair allocation of funds and work to make sure clubs do not abuse their budgets for the year. Still, the rigid nature of application process lacks an understanding for complications an organization’s leader cannot be responsible for alone. For example, because OrgSync does not display the status of each specific requirement, it is easy for student leaders to gloss over their incomplete registration. Instead of locking out organizations that are still in the process of registering and have submitted a complete budget request, the SAFC could give a provisional approval that requires the registration to be complete before any funds can be spent. A willingness to understand each case specifically will allow organizations to thrive. Instead of punishing organizations by immediately denying funding, the SAFC should adapt their funding guidelines and budget review procedures to help alleviate the frustration with technical shortcomings felt by club leaders.
Republican politicians show an utter disregard for facts and deceitfully manipulate public sentiment using false claims, just as Republican voters show a complete lack of willingness to demand truth and responsibility from their elected officials and news media. viewers has fueled his success, Trump, along with fellow candidates Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, is external to the mainstream political discourse. In this election cycle, we have seen voters attracted to political amateurs. Be they the silver spoon son, the neurosurgeon or the failed CEO, the outsider’s star is rising. The success of candidates untainted by Washington has combined with Fox News’ deification of braggadocious bombast and righteous anger to expose an ugly aspect of our cultural decay — the increasing value placed on style over substance within the political system. Appearance and tone are everything; content and accuracy are nothing. In today’s American politics, politicians win votes and support when they drop bombshells railing against the idea of a Muslim president or equating Obamacare with slavery. 2016 Republican candidates are focused on infighting and alarmism (accompanied by the usual half-truths and lies) rather than promoting and debating meaningful policies. This dynamic is playing out not only within presidential primary races — increasingly in politics, voters are swayed by extreme rhetoric and irresponsible fear mongering. Politicians no longer rationalize their actions to their constituents; they scare them into submission, intimidating them with the false threat that their very way of life is under attack. Illustrating this point is the potential federal government shutdown over the baseless accusations that Planned Parenthood profits from performing abortions. Republicans, led by the odious Grinch-troll chimera that is Ted Cruz, are out for blood, seeking to pull federal funding for the women’s health organization, forcing a government shutdown in the process. Despite Cruz’s vow to not give in to
stands only to lose by becoming embroiled in yet another shutdown scandal, particularly when only 17 percent of Americans support their strategy. In the long run, conservatives’ fixation on alarming rhetoric will only hurt their political position. But when did truth and statistics ever stop the anger of the righteous? Republican politicians show an utter disregard for facts and deceitfully manipulate public sentiment using false claims, just as Republican voters show a complete lack of willingness to demand truth and responsibility from their elected officials and news media. The voice that shouts loudest tops the polls, regardless of what it says. No longer do Americans choose their leaders based on their merits — they simply select those who make them the most afraid of the world around them. No longer does reasoned debate form the bedrock of political discourse — scare tactics win votes and boost polling numbers. Gone are the days when those in power strived to make America a better place. Today they worry only about the source of their next donation and the target of their next attack. Politicians will use the most effective tools for their own ends. When voters respond to indignation and vitriol more than to reason and policy, that’s what our political discourse becomes. This decay is only a symptom of something worse. It is the mark of a nation comfortably gathered around a television, mindlessly accepting what it’s told. We should be worried not only for our politics but also for ourselves. An uninformed populace comfortable in ignorance is a problem; a misinformed populace comforted by lies is a tragedy. Alex Davies is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at ajd253@cornell.edu. Have I Got News For You? appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.
SUBMIT LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMNS TO OPINION@CORNELLSUN.COM.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015 7
OPINION
Hebani Duggal | Teach Me How to Duggal
I
Jacob Rubashkin | The Jacobin
What’s In a Name?
went to my last information session today (for an on campus club recruitment session — internship recruitment? Not even close to being over).It was a beautiful moment. I’m pretty sure I almost tripped and fell flat on my face on the steps of Goldwin Smith in my attempt to get away from my last networking session as fast as humanly possible. No more name/major/hometown intros, no more quirky anecdotes about moving halfway across the country and learning what Texas barbeque actually consists of, no more shaking hands with everyone I meet (side note: This last one is probably the worst — someone literally crushed my hand during a social round, and it took every ounce of my self control to keep myself from yelping out in pain). My most profound observation from my collection of information sessions this semester, however, was not how hazardous to one’s health handshakes can be, but rather a few observations about people and their relationship with their names. Observation 1: Most people are usually slightly uncomfortable speaking their name out loud themselves. The president of a club could be leading an introduction, and even then, we can sense a slight hesitancy when he or she introduces themselves. This reluctance is exaggerated when his or her name is more unique, maybe more foreign. I have the utmost respect for people who can stand up in front of a crowded room and confidently introduce themselves with no sense of self doubt or uncomfortableness. It doesn’t matter if this person actually knows what they’re doing. A sophomore with half the resume of the senior next to them could speak his or her introduction more confidently, and I would be inclined to have as much, if
Most people are usually slightly uncomfortable speaking their name out loud ... This reluctance is exaggerated when his or her name is more unique, or maybe more foreign. not more, respect for their knowledge and confidence (note: There is a difference between confidence and overconfidence, and it’s easiest to spot when you’re speaking about your experiences at an information session). Observation 2: People apologize for their name too much. It’s comes off almost as embarrassment for the trouble another person must go through to be able to learn what their name is, and how to speak it correctly. If I’m being completely honest, I am probably most guilty of following this trend. “My name is Hebani!” is greeted with pleasantly confused looks and maybe a lean in, as if they didn’t hear me the first time. “Hebani! Like Chobani, but with an ‘h’ at the beginning,” on the other hand, is greeted with smiling faces because everyone knows what Chobani is and everyone either loves Greek yogurt or hates it. Better yet, you should see me when I order drinks at Starbucks or mozzarella sticks (and only mozzarella sticks) at Louie’s — I usually go with Ashley, because if you think trying to get people to say my name is a struggle, you should watch a barista try to spell it before an 8 a.m., and with seven people in line behind me. Should I be pulling these tricks just to get out of having people learn my name? Definitely not, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the multitude of info sessions I’ve attended thus far, it’s to stop making excuses for my name. My point here is not unlike the anecdote surrounding Nigerian actress, Uzo Aduba and her mother, that captured the attention of the media a little while ago. When asked why she never considered changing her name when she pursued acting, Uzo responded: “I went home and asked my mother if I could be called Zoe. I remember she was cooking, and in her Nigerian accent she said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Nobody can pronounce it.’ Without missing a beat, she said, “If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka.” And Uzo’s mother wasn’t wrong in the least. My name, your name, anyone’s name is a reflection of the person he or she is. How I choose to present my name reflects how I choose to present myself — and even if my life is a mess because I have a problem set due in an hour, and my calculator is MIA, introducing myself to the people around me confidently means I am confident in the version of myself I am putting forth. Hebani Duggal is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at hduggal@cornellsun.com. Teach Me How to Duggal appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.
Et tu, Boehner? A
ct III, scene 1 of Julius expected in any Speaker’s tenure. opening of Cuba). He represents a Caesar is perhaps the most It is the second front of Boehner’s breath of fresh air in an institufamous scene in dramatic war that has proved to be far more tion that has needed a spring history. Basking in the glow of his fatal. This is his ongoing conflict cleaning for several centuries. latest victories on the battlefield, with the most conservative mem- Speaker Boehner likewise has Caesar returns to Rome, and on bers of his party, the very faction been trapped in a stodgy instituMarch 15, he travels to address that helped place the gavel in his tion for far too long, and it took the Roman Senate. It is here hands in 2010. Since that corona- the physical presence of the Pope where he is attacked by a group of tion, Boehner’s own Republican to show him the error in his ways. nobles, led by Caesar’s own dear caucus has proven nothing but a Simply put, Francis showed friend Brutus. Caesar, at his most sea of troubles for the embattled Boehner the light. The Speaker, triumphant and strongest, is cut Speaker. like all of us, only has finite time down by those closest to him. A They have taken the country here, and has come to the realizavicious power struggle ensues, to the brink of catastrophe seem- tion that his time is better spent tearing the empire apart and con- ingly every year, sometimes in in pursuit of compassion rather cluding with the suicide of Brutus pursuit of quixotic goals such as than adversity, which is all that himself. the repeal of Obamacare, and awaits him in Congress. For John Since Shakespeare’s master- sometimes seemingly just for the Boehner, this is less a resignation work debuted on the stage of the very hell of it. This time, the and more an ascension. Theatre Globe in London, count- object of their ire is Planned By announcing his resignation, less Brutuses have shed the blood Parenthood, a family-planning Boehner liberated himself. He is of countless Caesars. This past organization that receives sub- free to negotiate with the week, yet another Brutus plunged stantial federal funding and also Democrats and with the moderhis dagger into a Caesar, this time provides necessary medical ser- ates without fear of a coup by not on the steps of the Roman vices (including abortions) to those to his right. Boehner has Senate but in the hallowed halls women in need. And this time, realized that the status quo is of the United States Congress. the Republicans have under their unsustainable, and that if we truly This Brutus goes by the name control not only the House of want to move the country forof John Boehner, and he has ward we have to work served his country and his together. Compromise is constituency for over two anathema to the most condecades. This Brutus is the Boehner’s own Republican servative, so he has deprived son of a barkeep who rose caucus has proven nothing that faction of their most through the ranks of the powerful weapon: leverage. but a sea of troubles for Republican Party to become Now that he does not have Speaker of the House and to to worry about his right the embattled Speaker. preside over several of the flank, Boehner will not be They have taken the most tumultuous sessions of forced to shut down the govCongress in recent memory. ernment over Planned country to the brink of This Brutus does not use a Parenthood. He will not be dagger, but rather something forced into making irresponcatastrophe seemingly mightier — in this case the decisions based on an every year, sometimes in sible pen with which he writes legideology of intransigence. islation. And most importantpursuit of quixotic goals. He may have rejected the ly, this Brutus does not feel political agenda of the most the need to work with the vocal faction of his party, secrecy that Brutus and his co- Representatives, but also the but he did so because he has realconspirator Cassius shrouded United States Senate. Indeed, at ized that there is a better path forthemselves in. No, this Brutus has this very moment, the Caesar of ward and that life is too short to telegraphed his attack to the congressional conservatism is at waste time like we have been for utmost degree, and all his Caesar its most powerful. the past five years. It was not that can do is watch helplessly as the We have seen this play before. Boehner loves his party less, but plot unfolds. Congress brings us to the brink of that he loves America more. Last Friday, Speaker Boehner calamity, and then the leaders of Like the actions of Brutus, the rocked the political world by both parties piece together a pass- actions of Boehner will lead to a proverbially running on his own able piece of temporary legislation bloody fight over the future of sword. Effective November 1, to keep the government hobbling Congressional Republicans. Boehner will resign both his posi- along for another year. Faced with Already, Majority Leader Kevin tion as Speaker of the House and constant threats of mutiny from McCarthy is moving to wrap up the congressional seat he has held within his own party, Boehner has the 218 votes necessary to since 1990. The timing of this never been able to orchestrate the become the next speaker. announcement is not coinciden- elusive “Grand Bargain” with the McCarthy will need the support tal. Barring legislative budgetary Democrats and Obama. of at least some of the most conaction, the government will shut Conventional wisdom says that servative Republicans to win that down — once again — on the following weeks should pro- post, thus restoring some of their October 1. In order to avert this ceed as they have the past four lost leverage. They could end up fate, Republicans and Democrats years. However, due to Boehner’s the real victors in this situation must agree on a spending bill that resignation, this time will be dif- and elect one of their own, an can garner enough support to pass ferent. ideologue like Peter Roskam or both houses of Congress and win It’s no coincidence that Steve Scalise. But all that is the President’s signature. As the Boehner announced his retire- uncertain. What is clear is that last five years have shown us, this ment the day after Pope Francis Boehner has cleared the path to is a task of monumental propor- addressed a joint session of negotiate his way through the tions. Congress and brought the crises d’jour — the debt ceiling, No man knows this better than Speaker to tears. Pope Francis the Import-Export Bank, governSpeaker Boehner. Since his ascen- preaches a more welcoming ment shutdowns, etc. — without dency, Boehner has been forced to morality than that of the current the support of the most conservfight a two-front war. The first is Republican party. He appeals to a ative Republicans, ensuring, at against Congressional Democrats, population much wider than just least for the short term, that the who remain uniformly and dia- the world’s Catholics and has state of the union remains metrically opposed to most if not shown the potential to enact real strong. all of the Speaker’s politics. Such change through compassion in Rubashkin is a freshman in the College an adversarial relationship has both the Church itself and the Jacob of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at existed since the advent of the broader international sphere (he jrubashkin@cornellsun.com. The Jacobin two-party system and is to be has already been credited with the appears alternate Tuesdays this semester.
A&E
8 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT A Night of Storytelling: Caochangdi Workstation BY BRYNN RICHTER Sun Contributor
To say the Caochangdi Workstation’s performance was a culture shock would be a vast understatement. Walking into the Kiplinger Theatre Saturday night, I did not know quite what to expect. As I sat in the theatre for the next two hours, however, I was exposed to new culture and new ways of storytelling. The performance was a collaborative effort between five members of the Caochangdi Workstation and five members of the Cornell community over the course of the Caochangdi Workstation’s two-week residency in Cornell’s performing and media arts department. As the lights in the theater dimmed, a figure, Caochangdi company member Zhang Mengqi, walked onto the stage in all darkness. Mengqi’s movement reflected upon and interacted with the film of her mother projected onto both Mengqi herself and the screen behind her. The movements exhibited her extensive training through the extreme flexibility and strength each motion required, and went far beyond creating a pretty picture. Through her own movement, the film and her voice, Zhang Mengqi vividly portrayed her relationship with her mother. Beginning with Mengqi’s birth through her upbringing, her mother expressed the pain, joy, and hope she felt throughout her daughter’s life. While the translation of the mother’s Chinese words was projected onto the top of the stage, Mengqi further conveyed the story on stage, physically showing the emotions felt by both her and her mother. This piece evolved from Mengqi’s search to discover more about her mother and become closer to her. The second part of the performance told the story of the Great Famine in China. Each Caochangdi Workstation performer journeyed to a village to which they were connected in some way, either by birth or by family ties. The village to which each performer returned was a complete-
and Cornell, told not only the story of the famine, but also explained how creating the performance affected their own lives. One member of the Caochangdi Workstation explained how her family vehemently disapproved of her work. They thought it was disgraceful to talk about the famine, which was often considered a taboo in China, and thought that as a college graduate she should have a more legitimate occupation. Another member was ashamed of their village, saying that she did not want people to know that she had a grandfather who still lived in these villages. The Caochangdi Workstation has performed the piece about famine across the world, but the piece is different each time it is performed, since the Caochangdi Workstation performers work with the performers they visit. Through improvisational exercises, discussions and on-stage improvisation, the Cornell and Caochangdi performers created a performance that was completely unique. Watching the performance gave me an entirely new perspective on how movement can be used to tell a story. Throughout my 15 years of COURTESY OF CAOCHANGDI dance training, I’ve been told over and over to WORKSTATION tell a story, not just do the choreography. But I was always constrained by the choreography, the rigid set of steps that I must execute, the pressure to still create a pretty picture for the audience. The Caochangdi Workstation members felt none of these pressures, and their ability to convey their stories and emotions greatly benefitted. The movement was pure. It existed solely with the purpose of bringing the projected audience closer to the story. onto the backdrop of the stage, the Caochangdi This performance taught not only about a girl’s relaWorkstation performers interacted with and furthered the tionship with her mother or the Great Famine in China, effect of the story through their dance and verbal story- but also exemplified the effectiveness of combining differtelling. Moving quickly to mirror distress, jarringly to mir- ent mediums of art to further each other’s weight and storor pain and slowly to mirror weakness, the performers rytelling capacity. expressed the emotions on screen. Verbally repeating thoughts, the performers brought attention to the most important and emotional aspects of the famine. Brynn Richter is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. She The performers, both from Caochangdi Workstation can be reached at ber65@cornell.edu.
ly different world from the city life to which they were accustomed. The members portrayed the famine of 1959, which affected farmers in villages such as those shown, through filmed interviews with the oldest generation of their villages. The interviewees explained the physical and emotional hardship felt during the famine. There was hardly enough food to go around, forcing people to search for roots, many of which were inedible, and other forms of sustenance. One interviewee described that famine as the time when people ate their own feet. Another described the emotional pain of not being able to provide food for their children and watching them slowly die. As the interviews
Grumpy Old Women: Grandma BY MARK DISTEFANO Sun Staff Writer
“Screw you, grandma!” shrieks 18-year-old Sage (Julia Garner) to her cantankerous, curmudgeonly grandmother Elle (Lily Tomlin). “Not bad,” Elle responds. In one of the most memorable scenes in Grandma, Elle bludgeons Sage’s checkout pseudo-boyfriend with a hockey stick, then rightfully points out there’s no way he’ll talk about it at school — “What’s he going to say, Sage’s grandma beat me up?” The film is the latest from writer-director Paul Weitz, that creator of fare which is sometimes crass and dreadful (Little Fockers, American Wedding), and sometimes quite sincere and surprisingly thoughtful (About A Boy). Happily, Grandma falls into the latter category and is nothing but a funny, affecting treat. Sage is pregnant after sleeping with her aforementioned sometimes-boyfriend (Nat Wolff), and is desperate to come
COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
up with the money for an abortion — so much so that she calls upon her estranged lesbian writer grandmother to help her drum up the dough. Elle has been off speaking terms with her hardass lawyer daughter (Marcia Gay Harden), ever since her partner Viola died, triggering depressive and ostracizing behavior from Elle. “Mom says you’re philanthropic … no wait … misanthropic,” says Sage to Elle, and Elle does not disagree. The movie contains a host of laugh-out-loud moments, many of which are quite shocking, and more than one involves a trading of blows between the old and the young. Elle loudmouths anyone who gets under her nerves, including her much-much-younger new partner Olivia (Judy Greer) and her ancient ex from the days when she still dated men (Sam Elliot). She seems to be allergic to affection and resistant to any of the efforts of close friends to probe into her life. She is the cynical, jaded sort who has given up hope and prefers to wrap a tough exterior over the pain left by her departed partner, rather than open up and be vulnerable — and she knows it. Lily Tomlin, the perennial character actor, conveys all this subtext in her first leading role in decades, and she’s a pistol. Many of her scenes walk a fine line between heartbreak and absurdist comedy, and Tomlin makes sure we feel both the pain and the laughs in equal measure. Just as good as her is the freshfaced, up-and-coming star Julia Garner (Electrick Children, We Are What We Are) who has the advantage of sounding even younger than her given age, which amplifies the generation gap between her and her psychotic grandma. She’s an unspoiled neophyte venturing into the big bad world outside the gaze of her
negligent mother, and she’s just beginning to learn how much adulthood can suck when you don’t have someone older to guide you. Sam Elliot and Judy Greer also give wonderful support as Elle’s old and new flames. This is truly a character actor’s movie, and everybody down to the cameos by Nat Wolff and John Cho delivers well. That the actors have such room to draw us in is a tribute to the strikingly simple, sensitive direction by Weitz. In a complete turnaround from his raunchy American Pie franchise, Weitz’s script does not rely on any crude sophomoric jokes about sex, bowel movements or injuries to the testicles (well, okay, there is one joke, but it’s a damn funny one), to generate laughs. Instead, all the comedy is rooted in the human nature of its admittedly demented central character, who is not a pleasant road trip companion for Sage or the audience, but is somehow a joy to watch harass people. Tomlin and Weitz let us see the bruises underneath her skin — she’s like Mrs. Holden Caulfield at age 75. Thus, the humor has a genuine impact and never feels inserted like shlock for shock value. Weitz knows that all he needs for dramatic impact is to let the camera linger on Tomlin’s visage, where there’s a world of emotion we can plainly see. Tomlin has had a long and varied career, working with directors such as Robert Altman and David O. Russell (perhaps a bit infamously), voicing Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus, and winning an Emmy for her performance in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. The plum role of Grandma Elle clearly is an intensely personal one for her, and a long-coming chance to step forward from the ensemble and take center stage. For creating this curseshouting, mud-slinging yet always heartfelt septuagenarian, she may very well receive notice from the Academy, and it will be richly deserved. Mark DiStefano is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at mdistefano@cornellsun.com.
A&E
T
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 9
Twitterature: Twitter as Literature
witter can be a lot of things: a news aggregator, a place to follow the musings of public figures, a powerful platform for citizen journalism, the originator of hilarious jokes and a hotbed for trolls. It’s a space to showcase your thoughts and beliefs, as well as a great exercise in brevity. And, I’d argue, it’s an emerging 21st century literary form. Twitter is a proponent of its own literary potential; each year since 2012, Twitter has partnered with the Association of American Publishers and Penguin Random House to hold a #TwitterFiction Festival: five days during which published authors and amateur writers alike create original stories in the form of 140-character-orless tweets. Its website gives many examples of ways to create fiction on Twitter: through parody accounts, crowdsourcing, images/Vines, narrative/poetry and multiple characters/handles. The festival encourages participants to think of #TwitterFiction as “perhaps something more than just tweeting out a narrative line-by-line” — in other words, to create fiction in a way that is unique to Twitter and therefore pushes the boundaries of what we understand
literature to be, as opposed to simply using Twitter as a platform to post traditional narratives in bits. As part of the 2015 #TwitterFiction festival, Margaret Atwood wrote a short story in tweets called “Film Previews on A Plane: The Helpful Summaries.” She compiled phrases from previews of movies about planes to form a cohesive, philosophical musing. Celeste Ng used pictures as well as words to tell a story of finding someone’s notes to a lover, written on post-its hidden in relevantly-titled books. The narrator of the story wondered if the lover ever read them. Ng’s story mimicked the style of live-tweeting real life events, simply applying the Midnight concept to a story she made Radio up. Independent of the yearly festival, some authors are embracing the experimentation and creative challenges that Twitter both allows and forces. A few years ago, Teju Cole published “Seven short stories about drones,” each its own tweet, each alluding to a classic work of literature. Tweets included: “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. Pity. A signature strike leveled the florist’s”; “Call me Ishmael. I was a young man of mili-
Katie O’Brien
tary age. I was immolated at my wedding. My parents are inconsolable” and “Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was killed by a Predator drone” — all first lines of classic novels rewritten to allude to the death and destruction of drone warfare, a specifically 21st-century problem. And of course, by the nature of social media, literature on Twitter is interactive and collaborative: One user tweeted his own story back at Cole: “Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams to be blown apart by a missile.” Fragmented narratives, multiple perspectives, a blend of highbrow and lowbrow culture and a preoccupation with consumerism and technology are signature traits of postmodern literature. Twitter then, is the the ultimate post(post-post?) modern form. Writing something that resonates with a mere 140 characters is an inherently literary task, and tossing it out into a giant virtual hivemind hosted by a large corporation and funded by advertisements is, well, very 21st century. Millions use Twitter daily to tell stories of their real lives, and it’s proving to be an exciting new medium for telling fictional stories as well. Katie O’Brien is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at kobrien@cornellsun.com.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
10 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Diagram with axes and coordinates 6 Very top 10 Shift neighbor, on PC keyboards 14 St. __ Girl beer 15 Guard site 16 Nabisco cookie 17 Like stickers that smell when rubbed 20 Buckwheat dish 21 Court order to all 22 Fruit seed 23 Drop-down __ 25 Like some microbrews 27 Little girl’s makeup, so they say 33 Crisp covering 34 Welfare 35 Firebird roof option 38 What cake candles may indicate 39 On the rocks 42 Bart Simpson’s grandpa 43 See 44-Down 45 City near Colombia’s coastline 46 Leica competitor 48 Terse 51 Sounded sheepish? 53 Pop singer Vannelli 54 “Life of Pi” director Lee 55 Flood preventer 59 Louisiana cuisine 62 Old Glory 66 Words starting many a guess 67 Kind of dancer or boots 68 Atlanta campus 69 “Auld Lang __” 70 Follow the leader 71 Metaphor for time ... and, when divided into three words, puzzle theme found in the four longest across answers DOWN 1 Navig. tool 2 Pool hall triangle 3 Saintly glow
4 Some flat-screen TVs 5 Until now 6 Remnant of an old flame 7 Blacken 8 Prefix with series 9 Remnants 10 Grifter’s specialty 11 Exaggerated response of disbelief 12 Equip anew 13 Towering 18 “How many times __ man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?”: Dylan 19 Freeway hauler 24 Boot from office 26 Work with a cast 27 Natural cut protection 28 Strong desire 29 “Still wrong, take another stab” 30 Alfalfa’s girl 31 Coming down the mountain, perhaps 32 Push-up target, briefly
36 Reed instrument 37 Cooped (up) 40 DVD predecessor 41 Catches, as in a net 44 With 43-Across, outstanding 47 Historic Japanese island battle site 49 Partner of 9Down
50 Merriam-Webster ref. 51 Underlying principle 52 Restless 56 “Othello” villain 57 Door opener 58 Periphery 60 Well-versed in 61 Uncool type 63 AAA suggestion 64 Dim sum sauce 65 Part of PBS: Abbr.
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
COMICS AND PUZZLES
Sun Sudoku 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)
Puzzle #912
1
7 9
8
4
4
1 1
5
1 2
CLASSIFIED AD RATES
7
9
3
5
Standard Rate: $3.40 per day for first 15
9 3
4
1
2
7 6
2 2
words, 32 cents per day per word thereafter. Five or more consecutive insertions, $3.15 per day for first 15 words, 30 cents per day per word thereafter.
8
5
Ads are accepted at The Sun’s office at 139 W. State Street downtown, by phone or e-mail. Deadline: 2:30 p.m. at The Sun’s office on the day preceding publication. Monday’s deadline: Friday, 2:30 p.m. at The Sun’s office.
7
4
Commercial Rate: $5.20 per day for first 15 words, 33 cents per day per word thereafter. Five or more consecutive insertions, $5.00 per day for first 15 words, 31 cents per day per word thereafter. The Sun is responsible for only one day makegood on ads.
273-3606 C
classifieds@cornelldailysun.com
3 N OTICES xwordeditor@aol.com
REHUMANIZE YOURSELF W/THE DIVINE SCIENCE THAT IS BIKRAM'S YOGA UNLIMITED SEMESTER $450 ONCE/LIFETIME INTRO: 10 DAYS IN A ROW UNLIMITED FOR $20 $500 SEMESTER SPECIAL (THRU DECEMBER 18) CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? CALL COW-YOGA (269-9642) www.bikramithaca.com
09/29/15
23 PARKING Parking Assigned Spaces Central Collegetown Locations Rent Now! Almost Gone
607-272-3000 www.ithacarenting.com By Mark Bickham ©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Ithaca Renting Company 119 Dryden Road
09/29/15
Classic Doonesbury (1985)
by Garry Trudeau
25 ROOMS FOR RENT Rooms for Rent North Campus / Collegetown / East Hill. Share common areas with other tenants. Access to washer/dryer, parking. Free wifi at North Campus location. Starting from $565.00/month. Utilities and furniture included in the rent. Call today!
Certified Properties of TC Inc 607-273-1669 certifiedpropertiesinc.com
Mr. Gnu
by Travis Dandro
Collegetown Terrace Apartments Available now and for Spring Semester! Rooms, 1 and 2 bedroom apartments to share. Heat, hot water and high speed wireless internet included. Free State of the Art Fitness Center Covered parking available for a fee. Novarr-Mackesey Property Management www.collegetownterraceithaca.com office@ithacastudentapartments.com 607.277.1234
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT Dryden South Now Leasing for 2016-17. 4 bed, 2 bath suites, generous floor plans. Fully furnished, Safe, Secure, Private. www.DrydenSouth.com
1 Bedroom on 300 Block of Stewart Ave. Available for 2nd Semester. 607-327-2927
Mr. Gnu enjoys daybreak with a friendly squirrel
by Travis Dandro
1-Bedroom Apartment Downtown Available Jan. 1 Ideal for grad or working professional. Upstairs apartment with full bath, living room, kitchen, bedroom and porch overlooking street. Quiet residential downtown area on Cascadilla St. Available Jan 1 with lease thru 7/31/16 or thru 20162017 academic year. No undergrads, no smokers, no pets. References required. $750/month plus all utilities. 273-7082 or email gm27@cornell.edu
Houses, Apts, Parking 1 to 10 Bedroom Collegetown - College Ave, Linden Ave, Dryden Rd, Bryant Ave, Cook St. 607-330-2442 info@urbanithaca.com www.urbanithaca.com
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015 11
Pick up your FREE COPY of
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT
AFFORDABLE LAKE LIVING 10 Minutes from CU/ IC Furnished 3 Bedroom Apt Available Now
Ithaca Renting Company Apartments, Houses, Parking Central Collegetown
312 College Ave Collegetown’s Best Address
www.IthacaApartmentRental.com
607-273-7368
Superb Panoramic Views Modern Elevator Buildings Collegetown Plaza: Fitness Room, fantastic Cayuga Lake Views Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 BRs Parking Collegetown Center: Concierge Service, quiet building, Fitness Room Studio, 1, 2 BRs Parking
PJ APARTMENTS Collegetown Studios to Large Houses
607-229-5116 www.pjapts.com pjapartments@gmail.com Many New Beautiful Renovations Completed.
One 5 Bedroom Left at 306 College Avenue
Other Collegetown Locations: Aces Apartments: 3, 4, 6 BRs Dryden Road, Eddy Street, Buffalo Street: 2, 3, 6, 10 BRs Whole houses for 8 or 14 people Parking
One 8 Bedroom Left at 117-119 Eddy
Rent Smart. Live Well.
607-272-3000 Visit our office at: 119 Dryden Road
Newly Renovated Apartments 1, 2, 4, 9 & 11 Bedroom 100 Ft. from main gates of Cornell Starting at $850 includes all utilities. 607-592-9482
Central Collegetown Locations Rent Now! Almost Gone
607-272-3000 www.ithacarenting.com Ithaca Renting Company 119 Dryden Road
Nicest Apts. in Collegetown Located on Eddy St. 4 or 8 Bedrooms Fully furnished. Spacious living areas with large bedrooms & closets. Hardwood floors, spectacular views, eat-in kitchens with additional sun rooms. Laundry & parking.
607-339-1137
Fully furnished. Large bedrooms with walk in closets. Laundry & parking.
607-339-1137
Collegetown Crossing College Ave's Newest Location 307 College Ave. Now Leasing for 2016-2017 Completely New Studios, 2, 3 & 4 Bedroom Apartments. Fully furnished, heat & hot water included. Rental office at 226 Linden Ave. www.collegetowncrossing.com 607-330-2442 info@urbanithaca.com
Two Bedroom Apartment Available Now Lower Collegetown Large rooms, hardwood floors, porch. Fully furnished. $1000.00/month.
Certified Properties of TC Inc 607-273-1669 certifiedpropertiesinc.com
Two or Three Bedroom Available Now Fall Creek Look out your window at beautiful Fall Creek Falls. Close to the bus route, laundry, and The Famous Lincoln St. Diner. $1150.00/month, landlord pays all utilities!
Certified Properties of TC Inc 607-273-1669 certifiedpropertiesinc.com
************************************ 2016-17
109 Catherine St 2 Bedroom Apt.
BEAUTIFUL, UPDATED HOUSE, FURNISHED, LAUNDRY ON PREMISES CALL MATOULA (607)339-9644
matoulashouses.com
************************************
Collegetown 2016-2017 1 - 6 BR Furnished Apartments & Houses. Laundry. Gas Fireplaces. 315-254-1717 607-272-3160 www.cpstudentproperties.com QUALITY, AFFORDABLE, CONVENIENT! Furnished 1–6 Bedroom Collegetown Apartments & Houses PARKING, LAUNDRY, UTILITIES! 607-273-7368 www.IthacaApartmentRental.com
The Sun’s Classified Headings
College Ave. 2, 4 & 5 Bedroom
1 Bedroom Stewart Ave. Available Immediately $900 + cooking gas only. 607-327-2927
Collegetown Court: Super convenient, exceptional value Studio, 1, 3, 5 BRs
www.ithacarenting.com
Available now! Studio/1 BR Apartments
Beautifully Furnished Studio, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom & 3 Bedroom units. Office Open M-F 9am-9pm; Sat/Sun 12n-5. 607-273-9777 or 312collegeave.com
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
2 full baths, furnished, laundry, includes heat.
2 kitchens, 2 baths, furnished, laundry on site. Priced at $725 ea including heat.
Also, have 1, 2 and 3 Bedrooms 607-272-3389 before 7pm or avramisrentals@aol.com 2, 3, 5 or 6 Bedrooms on Blair St. 607-339-1137
27 H OUSE FOR R ENT 6 Br House 201 Wyckoff Ave 2 Full Bathrooms Huge Front Porch Laundry in Basement ithacastudentapartments.com office@ithacastudentapartments.com 607-277-1234
2016-2017 1-6 BR All New Furnished Houses Gas fireplaces. Laundry. Parking. 315-254-1717 607-272-3160 www.cpstudentproperties.com
32 P ETS Luxury cat boarding in a private residence. Pet sitting in your home. Insured. Reliable. Call or text: 607-244-4588. Or register at drydenpetandhome.com
Personals Adoption Notices Services Dining and Entertainment Graduation Housing Travel Ride Wanted Lost and Found For Rent For Sale Automobiles Bicycles Motorcycles Computers & Electronics Auctions and Sales Help Wanted Position Wanted Business Opportunities Wanted Wanted to Buy Wanted to Rent Parking Roommate Wanted Rooms for Rent Apartment for Rent House for Rent House for Sale Summer Sublet Sublet Commercial Space Pets
The Corne¬ Daily Sun at the following locations: CORNELL CAMPUS • A.D. White House • Admissions Office • Africana Library Center • Alice Cook Dining • Anabel Taylor Hall • Appel Commons • Baker Hall • Bard Hall • Barnes Hall • Bartels Hall • Bethe House • Big Red Barn • Carl Becker House • Carpenter Hall Library • Ctr. for Intercultural Dialogue • Clark Hall • Computer Services & Financial Aid, East Hill Plz. • Cornell Institute for Social & Economic Research • Cornell Store • Corson Hall • Court Hall • Dairy Bar • Day Hall Main Lobby • Dickson Hall • Donlon Hall • Duffield Hall • East Hill Office Complex • Environmental Health & Safety Building • Flora Rose • Gannett • Goldie’s (Physical Sci. Bldg) • Goldwin Smith • Hasbrouck Center
• Horticulture Office • Humphreys Service Bldg. • Ives Hall (ILR) • Ivy Room (WSH) • Johnson Museum • Keeton House Dining • Kosher Dining Hall • Mac’s Café • Martha’s (MVR) • Mann Library • Myron Taylor Hall + Hughes Dining • Noyes Main Lobby • Okenshields, Willard Straight • Olin Hall • Olin Library B Level • Plantations Gift Shop • Rhodes Hall • Risley Dining • Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC) • Sage Hall Atrium •Sibley Hall, Green Dragon Café • Snee Hall • Statler Lobby • Statler Terrace Restaurant • Tatkon Center • Teagle Hall • Transpor. Dept.,Maple Ave. • Trillium • Uris Hall • Vet Center (Shurman Hall) •Weill Hall, M1 Rm + Synapsis • Willard Straight Hall Lobby + Dining
OFF CAMPUS • Autumn Leaves Used Books (Ithaca Commons) • Bear Necessities • Center Ithaca • Coal House Café • Collegetown Bagels: CTown + Triphammer • Commons Grocery • CFCU: Triphammer Rd. + East Hill Plaza • Corner of College & Dryden • Corner of State & Aurora •Express Mart, Comm. Crnrs. • Hillside Inn • Hilton Garden Inn • Holiday Inn • Ithaca Coffee Co.
•Ithaca College, Phillips Hall • Jason’s Grocery & Deli • Kendal • Kraftees • Lifelong • Oasis (Greenstar) • P&C Fresh (East Hill Plaza) • Salvation Army • Shortstop Deli • Stella’s • Tompkins Cty. Public Library • Tops (Triphammer Rd.) • Universal Deli • Warren Real Estate: Downtown,Community Crnr.
or stop by The Sun’s office at 139 W. State Street
12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Cornell Career Services
SPORTS
Bills Quarterback Taylor Finding Success in the NFL ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. with a groin injury. Running back LeSean (AP) — Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan praised Tyrod Taylor after McCoy has started each of the the quarterback won his first first three games despite a nagging hamstring injury, but road game as the Bills’ starter. And the Bills (2-1) bounced struggled Sunday, gaining just back from a loss to New 16 yards on 11 carries. He did England with a 41-14 win over have a 10-yard touchdown reception. Miami on Sunday. McCoy said after the game The Bills have had promising starts before that they have not that the hamstring injury was been able to sustain through the still affecting him. Ryan said Monday he will season. This is the seventh time the consider resting McCoy if the Bills have had a winning record Bills’ medical staff recommends after three games since 2000, that. “I am not when their going to say playoff drought “They showed me about yeah I will rest began. In four Ryan of the past five the heart and resiliency him,” seasons, the and everything else. So I said. “I will let experts our Bills have startexpected us to play well look at that. ed at least 2-1. Our doctors Buffalo when we went to and our trainers returns home Miami.” and all that Sunday to host type of stuff.” the New York Rex Ryan Rookie runGiants (1-2), ning back who rebounded from an 0-2 start to defeat the Karlos Williams rushed for 110 Washington Redskins on yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Williams is the first Thursday night. Ryan said the Bills’ bounce- player to score a touchdown in back began when they scored each of his first three career three touchdowns in the fourth games since teammate Percy quarter of their 40-32 loss to Harvin accomplished the feat in 2009 while playing for the the Patriots in Week 2. “They showed me about the Minnesota Vikings. “We have got plenty of heart and resiliency and everything else,” Ryan said. “So I weapons,” Ryan said. “But it expected us to play well when will be fun once we get everywe went to Miami and we cer- body about 100 percent.” Ryan said safety Aaron tainly bounced back.” Taylor threw three intercep- Williams is still “stiff and sore”. Williams did not play tions against the Patriots, but responded with a strong perfor- against the Dolphins after he mance against the Dolphins, injured his neck in the loss to completing 21 of 29 passes for the Patriots. 277 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Taylor’s 136.7 passer rating on Sunday was the highest by a Bills quarterback since Drew Bledsoe posted a 144.2 rating in a Sept. 14, 2003, win over Jacksonville. Through three games, Taylor is completing 74.4 percent of his passes for 714 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Taylor is the first Bills quarterback to complete more than 70 percent of his passes and throw for at least seven touchdowns over the first three games since Jim Kelly in 1991. The Bills are dealing with injuries to several playmakers surrounding Taylor. Receiver Sammy Watkins’ status is uncertain after he left Sunday’s game in the first half because of a calf injury. Ryan said it is “certainly a possibility” that Watkins will miss time with the injury. “When you don’t finish a game, most of the time, the following week, those players aren’t available,” Ryan said. Watkins missed part of the preseason with a groin injury and had offseason surgery on his hip. Rookie right guard John Miller also left Sunday’s game
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015 13
www.cornellsun.com
14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015
SPORTS
Cornell Runners Hoping to Break Into National Top 30 CROSS COUNTRY Continued from page 16
traditionally been a strong contender whenever the team takes a trip down to Boston for the Battle in Beantown.The Red has managed to place in the top half of teams competing and this year the team achieved a top-five spot. Other schools with strong showings included Syracuse, Purdue and one of Cornell’s inter-conference rivals, Dartmouth. The Green was the only Ivy League school to perform better than the Red in Boston, but the Cornell squad maintained its confidence in its potential Ivy League dominance. “Dartmouth had a very strong showing this weekend, but I still believe that we are the better team,” Herr said. “I believe we are positioning ourselves very well to perform best at the end of the season.” Schools will certainly be looking out for Cornell’s runners at meets this year; the next meet for the team is on “We feel like we’re still in Oct. 17 at the Canisius the first half here and we’re Classic Invitational in Buffalo, New York. looking to impove and make Early into the season, it’s shaping up to be a a stronger statement.” big year for the Red and the team has high ambiZebulon Lang tions. “An Ivy League Championship would be fantastic,” Herr said, “but it’s only a stepping stone to our ultimate goal of making to the NCAA national meet.” Lang said he is hopeful for the team’s long-term prospects and will keep working with his runners to enter the national champion conversation. “I still think we have a lot of work to do to break into the Top-30, national class where we should be,” Lang said. “We feel like we’re still in the first half here and we’re looking to improve and make a stronger statement in the second half.” Jeffrey Asiedu can be reached at ja542@cornell.edu.
The Problem With Chip Kelly’s Eagles SHATZMAN
fans who accepted the departure of four key players because they trusted their coach. The games of bad offense, Chip least that Kelly can do is be Kelly needs to hold someone upfront with the fans and accountable. He owes Eagles media by providing some insight on the team — somefans. Kelly’s postgame media ses- thing to be excited about, reassions do little justice. It’s like surance that a turnaround is watching a Bill Belichick press coming. With a 1-2 record, the conference: sometimes sarcastic, often standoffish responses Eagles are in fine shape to compete for that — in Kelly’s case — Eagles fans want more: the NFC East title. But the provide little Eagles are reassurance to They want a Super almost always a loyal-yetBowl victory. It’s time in contention concerned the divifan-base. for Chip Kelly to prove for sion title. B e l i c h i c k ’s success has his team is better off. Eagles fans want more: earned him They want a the right to address the media in the way Super Bowl victory. It’s time he chooses: Concern or disap- for Chip Kelly to prove that pointment among Patriots fans his team is better off without McCoy, DeSean is rare, because the Pats’ have LeSean been excellent for the last 15 Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Evan Mathis — or at the very years. But Kelly’s insistence that least, to give faithful fans a reathe offense simply needs to son to believe the Eagles are execute does not suffice when better than they have played the 2014 rushing leader, through three games. He owes them that. DeMarco Murray, has 11 yards on 22 carries through two games. A lack of explanation Ben Shatzman can be reached at isn’t fair to the diehard Eagles’ bshatzman@cornellsun.com. Continued from page 16
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Tuesday, September 29, 2015 15
SPORTS
‘I Was Basically a Helpless Little Toddler Baby’ How two broken wrists during sophomore year of high school taught quarterback Robert Somborn patience By JOON LEE Sun Assistant Sports Editor
The doctor walked into the office and paused at the wall with the x-rays of Robert Somborn’s left and right wrists. Somborn, the now starting quarterback for the Cornell football team, was in his sophomore year of high school and had landed on both of his wrists on two separate plays during his third game of the season. The pain, at first, didn’t prevent him from throwing the football, but in the days following, the swelling increased and Somborn decided to have it checked out by a doctor. And then he heard the words no one wants to hear from a medical professional. “Well, I’ve never seen this one before,” the doctor said while inspecting the x-rays. Somborn had scaphoid fractures in each of his wrists, each of requiring surgery and screws. As a result of the injury, Somborn needed to wear casts from his wrist up to his elbow on both arms, rendering him practically useless. Until his injuries healed, Somborn could not use either of his arms for much of anything, making everyday routines into family affairs. “I was a newborn baby again,” Somborn said. “That was the running joke.” With his arm injuries, Somborn could no longer put on his own pants. “I think I could slip on my underwear on my own, barely putting pressure on my index fingers and use that. [For] the most part, getting my pants on, zipping my zipper, doing everything else, they had to do all of it for me,” he said. Somborn’s parents would pick him up for lunch and feed him. “I was basically a helpless lit-
BRITTNEY CHEW / SUN NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Finding patience | Junior quarterback Robert Somborn has started off the season strong, ranking third in the Ivy League in touchdown passes with four. tle toddler baby,” he said. “I couldn’t feed myself, take care of myself, go to the bathroom or wash my body. It was pretty wild.” At school, Somborn could not write anything or put any pressure on his wrists. He had to type out all of his notes on an iPad and had to have every door opened for him. For Somborn, it required a new level of patience that he had never reached before. “Every single part of my life,
COURTESY OF ROBERT SOMBORN
‘They had to do all of it for me’ | After Somborn broke wrists during a football game, he could no longer do menial, everyday tasks.
I needed assistance and I could- running game for senior tailback against Bucknell. “Coming into camp, [Jake n't do anything on my own,” Luke Hagy. With Somborn Somborn said. “It really just under center, the Red averaged and I] were just there to learn made me take deep breaths and 133 yards per game versus 102.2 together, help each other, work hard and obviously encourage the realize that it wasn't in my con- without Somborn. Earning the starting job only team and get everyone together trol and it really taught me how to lean on others and ask for continued to build confidence and get everyone on the same page,” Somborn said. “It was help and not be afraid to ask for for Somborn. nothing but a “It helped help because I had no other great relationme personally option.” “I was not even sure ship between Last season, Somborn’s a lot just the both of us. I patience was tested when he sat because out the first five games for the could prepare if I was going to make We didn't really look at it as Red. Cornell’s quarterback situa- knowing that I tion went up in flames when was going to it back, if I was going we were battling for the opening day quarterback James take the first to plat at all.” spot. We were Few sat out with injury and snap and the just out there freshmen Jake Jatis and Kyle whole game Robert Somborn to enjoy every Gallagher struggled with the was going to day, have fun, pace of college football, having be up to me,” just made the jump from the Somborn said. “It pushed me to work together, grow together as high school gridiron. However, get in early, get in film, do the quarterbacks and just as friends Somborn eventually got his extra things, do the little things and in general.” The work in the offseason for opportunity after returning mid- to prepare the best that I can to season and began to take advan- be 100 percent ready to go when Somborn appears to have paid it came game time. It was a pret- off in the early parts of the seatage of the opportunity. “I was not even sure if I was ty quick turnaround after being son. Despite running an offeneven going to make it back, if I injured and getting right back in sive scheme that heavily emphawas going to play at all, if I was there, but I couldn't have asked sizes the running game, Somborn has made his mark in going to get a shot, anything like for anything more.” However, Somborn’s slot as the passing game; the junior that,” Somborn said. “It went from that to getting a shot, the starting quarterback was not gunslinger is currently tied with Alek Torgersen of Penn for the doing well, ending up getting to locked in heading into 2015. “They really just wanted me to third most touchdown passes in take the starting spot and kind work hard this offseason because I the conference. The patience of [running] with it.” had an opportu- that Somborn learned from his W i t h nity to come in time with two non-functional Somborn under center, “It taught me to have fairth and take over,” arms continues to help the signal Somborn said. caller on the field. the Red offense and that everything was “It really taught me how to “They wanted s h o w e d going to work itself out, if me to grow and persevere and push through the m a r k e d approach [the tough times when I didn't improvement that was the way it was position] like I know if my wrists were going to in 2014. meant to be.” could be and heal properly or what was going Cornell manwould be the to happen after the casts came aged to Robert Somborn starting quarter- off,” Somborn said. “It taught increase averback and get me to have faith and that everyage passing yards from 144 to 234, increase everything out of the offseason thing was going to work itself out, if that's the way it was NCAA passing efficiency from that I could possible.” Head coach David Archer ’05 meant to be.” 96.1 to 129.3 and up passing touchdowns per game from 1.2 pitted Somborn against Jatis in to 2.0. The newly strengthened fall camp, but eventually named Joon Lee can be reached at passing game opened up the Somborn the first-week starter joonlee@cornellsun.com.
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Sports
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
16
CROSS COUNTRY
At Beantown Battle, Runners The Problem Accomplish Fourth Place Finish With Chip Kelly’s Eagles T
Rainero takes fifth place individually after strong showing in 8K race for Cornell
he Eagles escaped MetLife Stadium with a win on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Jets, 24-17, and avoiding the organization’s first 03 start since Donovan McNabb’s rookie season. A win is a win — especially on the road — but the Eagles didn’t look much better than they did in the opening two weeks versus Atlanta and Dallas. And beating the Jets — a team missing two key offensive weapons in Chris Ivory and Eric Decker — isn’t exactly awe-inspiring. Philadelphia established an early lead thanks to a punt-return touchdown by Darren Sproles and a boneheaded lateral attempt by Brandon Marshall in Jets’ territory that ultimately resulted in a turnover and an Eagles touchdown. Marshall himself called the play “the worst play in NFL history.” The Jets finished the game with more first-downs and total yards than the Eagles and Philly didn’t score a point in the second half. Chip Kelly called it a “gritty win.” Kelly should feel fortunate to have one win, because through three games, his inventive, new-look offense has been a failure. I thought that the Eagles would be title contenders this season. So did a lot of people, like NFL maestro Adam Schefter, who picked the Birds to win the Super Bowl. With two winning seasons under his belt, head coach Chip Kelly’s unique approach to the NFL seemed to be paying dividends. Kelly was given oversight of player personnel decisions; he had become both the Eagles’ head coach and the Eagles’ G.M. And even after Kelly released DeSean Jackson and Evan Mathis — both
By JEFFREY ASIEDU Sun Staff Writer
Cornell’s men’s cross country team brought 10 of their best runners down to Boston on Friday for a major early season showdown, the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown. Although it was only the second meet of the season, the Red were competing that they were up against multiple potential late season national championship contenders, and put on a great performance to win the fourth spot in the meet out of 21 schools. Senior runner Ben Rainero, who ran a blazing 24:04.0 8K race to take the fifth spot individually, led the Red. “[Ben Rainero] was leading the race or in the front pack the first four, four and half miles,” said Cornell head coach Zebulon Lang. “The four guys who finished ahead of him are all all-Americans or close to All-Americans, so this shows that he’s performing at a high level. It was a standout performance for sure.” Senior captain Connor Herr was another runner who had a strong performance, finishing the race in 24:17.0 to earn 11th place. Dominic DeLuca, Brian Eimstad, Josh Dyrland and other runners contributed valuable runs to earn Cornell’s spot in the top five. Even with an overall strong team showing, neither Lang nor Herr said
CONNOR ARCHARD / SUN FILE PHOTO
“A standout performance” | Senior captain Connor Herr said he is “happy”
Ben Shatzman
with both his own and the team’s performance during the race in Boston.
they were surprised. “I was happy with both my performance and the team’s performance this weekend,” Herr said. “I wouldn’t say we exceeded our expectations though. We have very high
aspirations this year, I would say this race was a good start and a good indicator of things to come.” Cornell’s men’s cross country has See CROSS COUNTRY page 14
Under center COURTESY OF CORNELL ATHLETICS
Junior quarterback Robert Somborn beat out sophomore gunslinger Jake Jatis for the starter’s position for head coach David Archer’s ’05 team. Read more about Somborn’s personal journey on page 15.
Calling the Shatz multiple time Pro-Bowlers — traded LeSean McCoy — a three-time Pro-Bowler — and let Jeremy Maclin — fresh off of his first Pro Bowl - sign with Kansas City, for whatever reason, it all seemed to make sense. “This is the Eagles’s year,” my friend John told me, admiring the life-size gold statue of Chip Kelly that watches him sleep. I’m exaggerating, but the point is this: There was a ton of preseason hype surrounding the Eagles, despite the fact that four of their star offensive talents from the past few seasons would be wearing different uniforms in 2015. If Chip thought a move would make the team better, then it probably would, right? Kelly’s fast-paced offense thrives when the defense is reeling and the chains are moving. But through three games, the Eagles rank second-to-last in the league in yards, averaging just 19.3 points per game. In 2014, the Birds averaged just shy of 30 points per game. The Eagles offensive line has struggled. Why was Evan Mathis — one of the best linemen in the game — not resigned? Protection is always crucial, but even more so in Kelly’s offense in which the goal is to run as many plays as possible. A string of three-and-outs can result in major time-of-possession discrepancies. Against the Cowboys, the Eagles had the ball for 19 minutes and 35 seconds, while their defense was on the field for 40 minutes and 25 seconds. Philadelphia’s young receiving corps has been an issue, too. The receivers have failed to generate consistent separation. It’s only week three and the NFC See SHATZMAN page 14