INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880
The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 129, No. 35
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012 ! ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
News Lights, Camera, Action
Two Cornell alumni started Flicstart, a company that brings films of the viewers’ choice to movie theaters. | Page 3
Science Extraterrestrial Life?
The Mars Curiosity Rover has found evidence that water once existed on the red planet, a Cornell astronomy professor says. | Page 7
Opinion The Road to Employment
Dan Rosen ’13 weighs the benefits and downsides of taking a job that one is not passionate about after graduation. | Page 9
Arts Brief Wondrous Life of Love
The Sun reviews Junot Díaz’s M.F.A. ’95 latest series of short stories. | Page 11
FIONA MODRAK / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Police line-up | Police officers and firefighters protest Mayor Svante Myrick’s ’09 proposed budget, which would cut the number of employees in the Ithaca police and fire departments, at a City Hall meeting Tuesday. Photographs of former Ithaca mayors look on in the background.
Firefighters,Police: Kill This Budget
Officers say mayor’s plan would hurt emergency response
By JEFF STEIN
Sports
Sun Managing Editor
End of a Winning Streak
Sun News Editor
The Cornell football team fell to undefeated Harvard over the weekend. | Page 16
Weather Showers HIGH: 63 LOW: 37
and AKANE OTANI
The health and safety of Ithaca’s firefighters, police officers and citizens will be imperiled if Common Council approves Mayor Svante Myrick’s ’09 proposed budget for 2013, dozens of officers said at a public meeting Tuesday. Myrick’s proposed budget — which will
reduce the number of firefighters by four and the number of police officers by about nine — was met by an intense backlash at the meeting. With the number of emergency calls soaring, Ithaca Fire Department Lieutenant Tom Deis said the cuts could decimate the department. “Firefighters will be put in a position to choose between [protecting] our safety and [protecting] the safety of the people we serve — please do not put us in a position to have to choose,” Deis said, noting that firefighters will continue to put the safety of civilians first.
“Cutting us lower than our current levels will have serious ramifications.” Deis added that the department recognizes the precariousness of the city’s budget crisis. Should Common Council approve Myrick’s budget in November, the safety of an already strained police force is also at stake, several officers said. Kevin Slattery, an IPD officer and who has lived in Ithaca for more than 30 years, begged See BUDGET page 4
After Wild ChaseThrough C-Town, Teen Arrested on Cocaine Charges By JEFF STEIN Sun Managing Editor
CHRIS PHARE / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Political debate | Misha Checkovich ’13 and Stephen Smith, candidates for the Fourth Ward Common Council seat, field questions at a public forum Tuesday.
Candidates for Fourth Ward Tackle Collegetown Issues By KEVIN MILIAN Sun Staff Writer
The two candidates for the Collegetown seat on Ithaca’s Common Council –– Democrat Stephen Smith and Republican Misha Checkovich ’13 –– sparred on their visions for Collegetown and the city’s current budget deficit at a debate Tuesday. The forum –– co-sponsored by the Collegetown Neighborhood Coucil and The Cornell Daily Sun –– will be the
only event of its kind held in the race for the Fourth Ward seat before the Nov. 6 election. However, of the 19 questions asked at the forum, Checkovich declined to answer four, saying she would provide responses to the questions in a press release at a later date. One question Checkovich did not answer was about the Collegetown Crossing project, Josh Lower’s ’05 proposed housSee FORUM page 6
Fleeing from police, an 18year-old allegedly struck two cars, almost hit a police officer and then attempted to escape into a Collegetown house early Friday morning before he was caught and arrested on drug and reckless driving charges, the Ithaca Police Department said. Police said Timothy Spann was reportedly found with an eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine after a wild ride through Collegetown that began shortly after midnight. Bail for his release from Tompkins County Jail has been posted at $50,000. Initially, police attempted to stop Spann for a routine traffic violation before he reportedly sped off “at an excessive rate” — setting off a chain of events that would later culminate in his arrest, police said. “The vehicle was followed throughout the East Hill area of the city [before it] struck an Ithaca Police vehicle that was stopped on a side street handling an unrelated matter,” police said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Before Spann reportedly hit the police car, an officer was forced to jump out of the way to avoid being struck, the statement said. Despite this, Spann
kept driving, apparently still hopeful he could escape, according to the police report. See CHASE page 6
Catch the bouquet
JEEVAN GYAWALI / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
After her wedding on campus Sunday, a bride at the top of McGraw Clocktower throws her bouquet of roses.
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Today
DAYBOOK
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Weird News
Umpteen speedy televisions perused two sheep, then umpteen tickets towed Jupiter, and Dan untangles five progressive orifices. Umpteen quixotic aardvarks annoyingly bought two Macintoshes. Umpteen bureaux tickled two extremely putrid botulisms. Paul sacrificed one lampstand, then Jupiter marries the very quixotic pawnbroker. Five purple poisons laughed, yet umpteen chrysanthemums kisses five aardvarks. Batman noisily untangles one Jabberwocky. Two Macintoshes laughed, then one extremely schizophrenic Jabberwocky drunkenly untangles two sheep, however Quark telephoned umpteen obese Jabberwockies. Five irascible botulisms slightly lamely auctioned off the subway, and five chrysanthemums easily untangles one mostly speedy Klingon. Five dogs drunkenly perused Minnesota, however the mats ran away cleverly, although one partly progressive subway quite comfortably sacrificed
Daybook
of the Week
Today Photocathode Physics for Photoinjectors 8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m., 700 Clark Hall
Man’s Roach-Eating Death Raises Question: Why?
Global Climate Change, Glaciers and People 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., 101 Phillips Hall Veterinary Senior Seminars 4:30 - 5:45 p.m., Veterinary College, Murrary Lecture Hall 1 Writing as a Method of Inquiry 4:45 - 5:45 p.m., 3343 Carol Tatkon Center Zen Meditation Practice 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., Founders Room, Annabel Taylor Hall
Tomorrow Collecting Imagination: Treasures From The Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Level 2B, Rare Manuscripts Collections Kroch Library, Olin Library
MIAMI (AP) — As a Florida medical examiner tries to determine how 32-year-old Edward Archbold died after eating insects during a contest to win a snake, people around the country are asking: Why? Why would anyone eat a live cockroach? Why did he die when several others in the contest ate the same bugs without incident? What inspired Archbold — who was described by the snake store owner as “the life of the party” — to shovel handfuls of crickets, worms and cockroaches into his mouth? While eating bugs is normal in many parts of the world, the practice is taboo in the U.S. and many western countries.
C.U. Web Forum 10 - 11:25 a.m., Statler Hall
Man Tries to Rob Bank Of $1 in Prison Bid
NORTHERN CAMBRIA, Pa. (AP) — A man tried to rob a Pennsylvania bank of $1 because he hoped to be sent to a federal prison nearby, police said. Jeffrey McMullen, a 50-year-old regular customer of an AmeriServ bank in the western Pennsylvania town of Northern Cambria, handed notes to two tellers Friday demanding a dollar, according to a police complaint reported by The Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown. The tellers thought it was a joke, police said. He then spoke with a new accounts employee and repeated he was robbing the bank for a buck.
Social Media in China and its Implication 12:15 - 1:30 p.m., G08 Uris Hall C.U. Music: Midday Music at Lincoln 12:30 - 1:15 p.m., 101 Lincoln Hall Grain Boundary Engineered Nanostructures 4 - 5 p.m., B11 Kimball Hall
www.cÀreÁsÃn.cÀµ The Corne¬ Daily Sun INDEPENDENT SINCE 1880 Editor in Chief
Juan Forrer ’13
ALL DEPARTMENTS
Business Manager
Helene Beauchemin ’13
(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 144 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.
Police say McMullen apparently wanted to be prosecuted federally so he could be taken to a prison in central Pennsylvania. Police could not immediately say why. McMullen awaits a preliminary hearing, and court records didn’t list an attorney. Under terms set by a Northern Cambria district judge, he must undergo a mental evaluation and post $50,000 bail in order to win release from jail. One note given to tellers said, “FBI custody. Preferbly (sic) Loretto Pa. No press. Seal all files,” according to the complaint. Police took that to be a request that McMullen hoped authorities would not publicize his case. The other said, “Federal bank robbery. Please hand over $1.00.”
World Champs Win Maine Wife-Carrying Contest NEWRY, Maine (AP) — A Finnish couple has added to their victories by taking first place in the North American Wife Carrying Championship at Maine’s Sunday River ski resort. Taisto Miettinen and Kristina Haapanen traveled from Helsinki, Finland — where they won the World Wife Carrying Championship — for Saturday's contest. The Sun Journal reports that the couple finished with a time of 52.58 seconds on a course that includes hurdles, sand traps and a water hole. The winners receive the woman’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash.
Pick up your FREE COPY of The Corne¬ Daily Sun at the following locations: CORNELL CAMPUS
Please Recycle this Paper in one of the recycling bins located on the Cornell Campus.
Admissions Office Africana Library Center Alice Cook Dining Alumni House Anabel Taylor Hall (One World Café) Appel Commons Baker Hall Barnes Hall Bartels Hall Bethe House Big Red Barn Carl Becker House Carpenter Hall Library Clark Hall Cornell Store Court Hall Dairy Bar Day Hall Main Lobby Dickson Hall Donlon Hall Duffield Hall Environmental Health & Safety Building Flora Rose House Gannett Goldwin Smith
Ives Hall (ILR) Ivy Room (WSH) Johnson Museum Kosher Dining Hall Mac’s Café Martha’s (MVR) Mann Library Myron Taylor Hall (Hughes Dining) Noyes Main Lobby Okenshields (WSH) Libe Café Rhodes Hall Risley Dining Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC) Sage Hall Atrium Sibley Hall (Green Dragon Café) Statler Hall Stocking Hall (front lobby) Tatkon Center Teagle Hall Trillium & Trillium Express Uris Hall Vet Center (Shurman Hall) WSH Lobby
OFF CAMPUS Autumn Leaves Used Books (Ithaca Commons) Bear Necessities College Variety Collegetown Bagels Commons Market (Aurora St. downtown) CFCU (Triphammer Rd.) Express Mart Hillside Inn Hilton Garden Inn Holiday Inn Ithaca Coffee Co. Ithaca College (Phillips Hall) Jason’s Grocery & Deli Kendal Kraftees Lifelong Mayer’s Smoke Shop P&C (East Hill Plaza) Shortstop Deli Stella’s Tops (Triphammer Rd.) Universal Deli
or stop by The Sun’s downtown Ithaca office at 139 W. State Street
NEWS
Grads Change Moviegoing Experience
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012 3
Alumni startup allows on-demand movie screenings at theaters By EMMA JESCH
they can now get it,” Cloetingh Sun Contributor said. Schoen said that, ultimately, Three Cornell alumni Flicstart will revitalize the recently combined their busimovie industry by giving the ness smarts and love for the big viewers a say in what they screen in their new startup, watch. It creates a win-win situFlicstart –– a venture they ation, he said: theaters will fill promise will shake up the more seats, and viewers, so far, movie theater industry. have said they are satisfied. Flicstart “empowers movie Mayda Dorak ’13, who lovers to demand screenings of requested that Flicstart bring any content” at their local the“The Room” to Cinemapolis, ater, according to Jeff Cloetingh said that when she heard about ’12, co-founder and CEO of the company’s concept through the company. Yang, one of her friends, she Movie-lovers can ask thought it was “too good to be Flicstart to bring screenings true.” ranging from feature films to “It’s a genuinely fantastic sports tournaments or concerts idea and a brilliant opportunito their local movie theater, ty,” she said. “It’s not very often according to Cloetingh. you get to have an active role in “If you get enough people to customizing a service as a conjoin — say, 60 people — [the sumer.” screening] happens,” Cloetingh Another student, Gena said. Topper ’16, said that she would When someone expresses probably start using Flicstart to interest in an event and “joins” create screening events if the it on Flicstart’s company can show website, he or she “People go because they want the movies that she likes. reserves a ticket, “They should according to experience. It’s gotta be different make people aware of C l o e t i n g h . than watching your computer, it’s how easy it is [to use However, “if the Flicstart],” Topper event doesn’t get gotta be social, it’s gotta be epic.” said. enough people, it For both doesn’t happen, Andrew Schoen ’12 Cloetingh and and you don’t Schoen, the journey to have to pay,” Cloetingh said. other online streaming services, Flicstart’s first event at Flicstart.com connects the people visit the cinema because Cinemapolis was full of lessons. movie lover with the movie the- they are looking for a unique Schoen said that he learned ater through its online service. experience, Schoen said. that entrepreneurs, who are It ultimately solves a two-part “When people go to see responsible for running multiproblem — filling empty seats movies, they go because their ple aspects of their business, at the cinema by allowing view- friends are going, or they go need to “do everything well.” ers while permitting them to because they can’t access the “You have to have a foot in customize what is playing on content any other way, or they every door,” he said. “If you the big screen, according to go because it’s the premiere of want to be a founder of a comCloetingh. one of their favorite movies,” pany, you need to have a balCurrently, Flicstart is run by Schoen said. “People go because anced aptitude.” a three-person team; Cloetingh they want the experience. It’s Despite the success of and Andrew Schoen ’12 co- gotta be different than watch- Flicstart’s first event, Schoen founded the startup in June, ing on your computer, it’s gotta said that he does not consider and Paul Yang ’12 joined the be social, it's gotta be epic.” the startup a “done deal.” company as the Chief “The best entrepreneurs are Cloetingh said that because Technology Officer over the theaters have increasingly shift- never satisfied,” Schoen said. “I summer. ed from using large, expensive, can’t wait to see [Flicstart] grow On Sept. 28, the company heavy film reels to digitally pro- regionally and nationally.” successfully screened its first jecting content, it is now easier film — “The Room,” a cult for theaters to screen a wider comedy classic — at variety of movies. Emma Jesch Cinemapolis. The show pre“It gives a voice to the peo- can be reached at sold 94 tickets, and sold about a ple — if enough people want it, eaj54@cornells.edu. dozen more at the door, according to Schoen. “It was amazing, and the turnout exceeded our expectations for Flicstart,” Schoen said. “It proved the concept –– proved that there was a demand for this kind of service.” The idea behind Flicstart was inspired by a class that Cloetingh and Schoen took together at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. “For any new business, entrepreneurs often start by looking for problems,” Schoen said. “We discovered a massive problem in the movie theater industry.” Typically, movie theaters only fill 15 percent of their seats, according to Schoen. Theater revenue has dropped while theater expenses have not. “We asked ourselves, ‘How can we fix this?’” he said. With the rise of Netflix and
Under construction
OLIVER KLIEWE / SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The Cornell Law School is undergoing extensive construction as part of a project that will cost between $55 to $60 million to expand and renovate its facilities.
Petit Larceny
Cornell police took a report Thursday from a student regarding the theft of an unsecured Trek Navigator bicycle from the Alice Cook House Bike Room. The bicycle is valued at $600, according to CUPD. Unlawful Marijuana Possession
Cornell police referred an individual to the Judicial Administrator Thursday for unlawful possession of marijuana. The marijuana was found in Mary Donlon Hall, according to CUPD. Grand Theft Auto
Cornell Police dispatched an officer to take a report Friday from a staff member regarding the theft of a blue sport jacket while on a bus trip to New York City. The jacket is valued at $1,000, according to CUPD. — Compiled by Kerry Close
After Spending a Year in Sweden, Castle’14 Becomes C.U.Activist Ithaca to Washington, D.C., to participate in a protest against the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline –– a This article is part of students’ sto- proposed extension of a pipeline ries, a series profiling students across that carries oil from Canada to the United States. The pipeline’s extencampus. After spending a year abroad in sion has been hotly debated because Sweden, Anna-Lisa Castle ’14 took some people believe it will negativethe University by storm her sopho- ly impact the environment and the more year, becoming a student economy. Castle has also demonstrated her leader and campus activist in groups such as KyotoNOW! and the passion for the environment on a policy level. She is in the process of Women’s Resource Center. After winning a scholarship from starting a campaign to encourage the The Swedish Institute, a govern- University to limit its use of fossil ment agency that aims to spread fuels as energy sources in campus interest in Sweden’s culture, Castle, buildings. “Essentially, we’re going after the who had just finished her freshman year at Cornell, seized the opportu- endowment and working to making nity to move to Sweden. During her sure that Cornell is investing responyear abroad, she taught Swedish to sibly … but if we really want to immigrants and English to Swedish change the way we impact things that are bigger than just campus, we adults. Though she initially planned to need to look at the way we invest stay in the country for only one our … endowment,” Castle said. When Castle is not fighting for semester, Castle was offered an extension of her scholarship and environmental causes, she also volunteers for the chose to remain at the Women’s Resource Institute to continue teachCenter, a campus orgaing and to study Swedish litnization devoted to erature. education and activism “It was a really great around women’s experience,” Castle said. “I rights. made some great friends.” As part of her work When Castle returned at the center, Castle –– from Sweden in the summer along with members of of 2011, she began working CASTLE ’14 the International in Chicago, Ill., with the Public Interest Network, an organi- Women’s Day committee –– orgazation that supports groups that nized a tribute to Wangari Muta Maathai, a Kenyan environmental hope to generate social change. “I loved it,” she said. “I love the and political activist who died in people I was with. It was this great September 2011. Castle said that one of the most community of active and politically memorable moments she has experiengaged people.” It was in part because of the enced as a campus activist was helpPublic Interest Network that Castle ing to lead a demonstration of discovered her passion for activism, approximately 150 people protesting what she called the administrashe said. When she returned to campus for tion’s inadequate response to a racial her sophomore year, Castle searched attack near the Sigma Pi fraternity in for an outlet for activism — and May. “My favorite moment was seeing found KyotoNOW!, an organization the turnout and the string of continthat fights for “climate justice.” In her work with KyotoNOW!, uous action,” Castle said. She stressed the importance of Castle, who is the organization’s copresident, has helped organize getting involved on campus and demonstrations against hydraulic standing up for one’s personal fracturing, or “fracking” — a beliefs. “Get involved sooner rather than method by which petroleum and natural gases are removed from the later … Find the things that you really love and do that,” she said. Earth. Her work with KyotoNOW! has taken her beyond Cornell’s campus, too. Castle said she helped organize Ashley Chacon can be reached buses for students to travel from at anc56@cornell.edu.
By ASHLEY CHACON Sun Contributor
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
NEWS
Myrick’09 Defends Proposed Budget Cuts BUDGET
Continued from page 1
the council to stop the mayor’s budget. “We are at our bare minimum right now,” Slattery said. “The bottom line is there are no more areas in which we can make cuts.” Under Myrick’s plan, the fire department would lose two firefighters and see the closure of its fire prevention bureau, which would in turn transfer the responsibility for fire inspections to the building department. Additionally, two vacancies in the fire department would go unfilled. Meanwhile, Myrick’s budget proposes the elimination of nine and a quarter positions in the police department. Myrick noted that none of these cuts — which he said would save the city more than a million dollars — would come from layoffs. While recognizing the potential severity of the cuts, Myrick defended his proposed budget, asserting that public safety is “still our number one expenditure by a long shot.” The city faces a $3 million budget deficit, and Myrick stressed that in closing the gap he is seeking both revenue increases — through higher property taxes and other measures — and reduced expenditures. He emphasized that he took the concerns raised by city residents and officials into consideration when making what he described as a “very painful budget.” “Everything you have told me weighs heavily on my conscience,” Myrick said. “I tried to be honest about the fact that with multimillion dollar deficits occurring each year, pain could only be deferred for so long.” Although recognizing that the city “needs more officers, not less,” Myrick said that the costs of maintaining the fire and police departments have skyrocketed over the years, increasing by $4 and $5 million, respectively, from 12 years ago. “We can’t … we can’t afford the amount of personnel that we have,” Myrick said. “I don’t think we can.” Yet Myrick’s defense seemed to fall on deaf ears, as officials said that firefighters and police officers are already stretched thin in protecting the city. IPD Lieutenant Vince Monticello said that “calls are up more than I’ve ever seen in my 30 years at the police department.” Whereas in 1990, the IPD received 14,000 calls for help, in 2011, it received more than 21,000, he said. Officer Slattery added that of all the tools a police officer has, “whether it be our pepper spray or our baton … the most important one we have is our fellow officer.” Cutting the police department when “all we have is each other” would put officers’ lives in danger, Slattery said. Myrick’s move to transfer the responsibility of conducting fire inspections to the building department also drew ire among residents and officials. Frances Weissman, a city resident of more than 30 years,
expressed skepticism that the move would benefit the city, saying personnel in the building department will “inevitably miss dangerous conditions and circumstances” that those in IFD would have caught. Myrick, however, said that transferring the responsibility for conducting fire inspections to the building department will allow the city to simplify the inspection process. “These are people who inspect buildings for a living and have for decades — they know everything there is to know about buildings,” Myrick said in an interview Tuesday. He added that members of the building department have assured him that they can handle the increase in requests. Yet firefighters maintained that it is still beneficial to have their officers conducting fire inspections, noting that the knowledge gained during these checks often proves valuable during fires and emergencies. Myrick, however, maintained that it is unlikely that the firefighter who did the inspection will also happen to respond to a call at that specific building. Even if this is the case occasionally, he said, a streamlined inspection process will improve all city departments. Still, other residents expressed concern that their safety will be imperiled by a decrease in police officers on the streets and firefighters responding to emergency calls. Decrying the cuts, Weissman said, “I fear this budget … is the price of a potential tragedy.” City residents are already unable to access the police department for help on weekends, said Fay Gougakis, a city resident. Heeding city residents’ concerns but stressing the necessity of the budget cuts he has proposed, Myrick said that the cuts do not only touch the IPD and IFD. Nine vacancies will also go unfulfilled in the Department of Public Works, and funding for the city’s department of building and its department of information technology — among others — also stand to be slashed in what Myrick described as “extremely difficult choices” made to rein in a multimillion dollar deficit. He added that his budget curbs the city’s recent dramatic escalation in property taxes. While recent budgets raised taxes by as much as nine and six percent, Myrick’s budget raises taxes by approximately two percent. Unlike a national income tax, he said, taxes imposed by the City of Ithaca disproportionately hurt middle and low income residents. “I really have a passion for the people who are struggling to get by … raising taxes will hurt those people the most,” he said. With city rules mandating that Common Council vote on a final version of the budget by the first week of November, Alderperson J.R. Clairborne (D-2nd Ward) said that council members face a formidable task in the next few weeks. “I hope we can find some kind of middle ground solution … but we definitely have our work cut out for us,” he said. The Sun’s news department can be reached at news@cornellsun.com.
Call 273-3606 Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. for information about placing your ad in the
Dining Guide
Please Recycle
Help hungry Cornell students find their way to your restaurant!
This Newspaper
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012 5
6 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
NEWS
Teen Also Charged With Fleeing Police Officer, Property Damage CHASE
Continued from page 1
Spann “continued driving recklessly through a heavily congested Collegetown area” before striking another car, police said. Spann then reportedly ran out of his car before police apprehended him toward the back of the Collegetown house, located on the 300 block of College Avenue, that he ran into. No injuries have been reported in connection with the incident, police said. In addition to the drug and reckless driving charges, Spann faces two counts of leaving the scene of a property damage accident and one count of fleeing a police officer, the police statement said. This is not the first time Spann has seen legal action. This summer, he was charged with driving while intoxicated and unlicensed operation of a vehicle, The Ithaca Journal reported in June. Jeff Stein can be reached at managing-editor@cornellsun.com.
Candidates Disagree on C-Town Development Plans, City Budget FORUM
Continued from page 1
ing complex on 307 College Ave. But Smith, who is currently serving as as an interim replacement for the Fourth Ward seat, touted the plan’s benefits, noting that “it brings needed things to the area.” “The fact that it brings a grocery store is great,” he said. Though she did not allude to the Collegetown Crossing, Checkovich, a member of the Cornell Republicans, emphasized her commitment to encouraging more businesses to set up shop in Collegetown. “I really want to address the empty storefronts,” she said. “Collegetown is prime realestate for retail, but [if it is] empty, it deprives the city of a tax base.” At the debate, Checkovich also declined to answer questions about the mayor’s handling of a discrimination lawsuit against the Ithaca Police Department, the hotly contested and recently rejected Collegetown Plan — which would have set new zoning regulations for developers — and Mayor Carolyn Peterson’s handling of the Jungle, a homeless encampment in Ithaca. For all these questions, she deferred to a press release slated for release later in the week. Smith, meanwhile, also declined to answer the question about Peterson’s handling of the Jungle residents at the debate. At the debate, he also proposed a solution to the increasingly early Collegetown housing rush. “I think a two-month waiting period between the start of the lease and the showing of apartments would be enough,” Smith said. Checkovich said the city should not dictate when landlords can begin showing apartments because doing so “won’t change anything.” The candidates also spoke about the merits and drawbacks of the current budget plan that Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 is proposing for the 2013 Fiscal Year. “The core city function is to
provide city health, so the plan should not fire policemen and firemen,” Checkovich said. “We need to bring in more tax bases, more jobs to make the city coffers flow.” Smith praised Myrick’s plan as economical for the city. “I think [Myrick] is making the city more efficient,” he said. “He’s done a great job with transparency in the government, and with the budget, we’ll be borrowing a lot less money than other years.” The candidates also expressed their views about the city’s involvement in the suicide prevention nets currently being constructed at or under seven community bridges. Some of the nets are being built on Cornell’s property, but others are being placed on city owned bridges. “It’s Cornell’s problem,” Checkovich said. “In their mission statement, they say they have to take care of their students and their needs, and it should not be a burden for the city.” Smith said that, given the location of some of the nets, the city may have the duty to provide financial assistance to the project. Although the University has agreed to pay for upkeep and maintenance on all bridges for at least five years, the terms of this agreement will be revisited. “Cornell can afford the project, but some of the nets are going to go in city property, and seeing how students are residents of the city during their time here, I think the city should contribute,” Smith said. In the wake of former Fourth Ward Alderperson Eddie Rooker’s ’09 vacating his seat one year before the end of his term to attend New York University Law School, both candidates promised to, if elected, remain in Ithaca for at least the duration of their terms. “[I] will definitely stay for the long haul,” Checkovich said. “I want to see Ithaca develop into a powerhouse city of upstate New York.” Kevin Milian can be reached at kmilian@cornellsun.com.
SCIENCE
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012 7
Astronomy
Curiosity Finds Evidence of Ancient Water
Mars rover just getting started, says Prof. Steve Squyres ’81 By NICOLAS RAMOS Sun Staff Writer
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory landed Curiosity, the latest Mars rover, on the surface of Mars on Aug. 6. Although the rover has yet to start the research central to its mission, after two months on the Red Planet it has already found some new evidence for the existence of water on Earth’s planetary cousin. Finding Fluvial Conglomerates According to Prof. Steve Squyres ’81, astronomy, the Mars rover Curiosity found evidence of ancient flowing water on the surface of Mars last month. What makes Curiosity’s finding different from previous findings of water on Mars is the type of rock from which the rover obtained its evidence, as well as the implications of the finding. Curiosity discovered a piece of fluvial conglomerate, a substance synthesized from a river. The bed of a rapidly flowing stream has pebbles and other stones rounded by the water and sand. When these materials solidify into a rock, they form a fluvial conglomerate. Scientists do not need to perform intensive analysis to identify this type of stone; the examination from Mars for instance, was done entirely with cameras. “It’s a form of rock that’s so distinctive. You just need eyes to see this in the field,” Squyres said. The most identifiable characteristic of a fluvial conglomerate is the range of grain sizes in the rock. “If you see a bunch of different grain sizes all jumbled together, it means that there was a very high-energy process taking place,” Squyres said. “Only strong flowing water will produce a rock made of rounded pebbles.” Significance of the Streams Although Curiosity has found evidence of water on Mars, it is not the first evidence scientists have discovered on the Red Planet. Direct evidence of water on the surface of Mars was first found in 1972 by the Mariner 9 space orbiter, which took pictures of riverbeds and canyons. More recently, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers found evidence of water in Martian stones in 2004. Squyres explained that the discovery of the fluvial conglomerate by Curiosity was a new form of evidence for a process scientists already know occurred on Mars. “It’s not a surprise, but it’s cool to see,” Squyres said. “This is a cool thing and we happened to come across it in the first month of the mission.” Squyres is the Chairman of the NASA advisory Council and Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers. The primary focus of the Curiosity rover mission is to assess whether Mars has ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life. To accomplish this goal, Curiosity has an arsenal of advanced tools at its disposal. Detective Tools Many instruments on the Curiosity rover set it apart from its predecessors. The new sampling system on Curiosity allows it to drill into rock and extract powdered samples. This system allows the rover to then place the extracted rock into the rover for chemical analysis. Two important instruments are used to conduct the analysis. The first is SAM, or Sample Analysis at Mars. SAM is a system of instruments that can detect organic molecules at extremely low concentrations. This aids scientists in determining whether or not the environment on Mars is, or was, suitable for micro-
COURTESY OF NASA
Martian waterway | A topographic image shows different elevations within the Gale crater, indicating where water may have flowed in the past. bial life. The second instrument is CheMin, short for Chemistry and Mineralogy. This instrument uses X-ray powder diffraction to determine, with high precision, the minerals present in rock samples. Data from CheMin is useful in the search for biosignatures — indicators that the environment was habitable in the past. ChemCam, or the Chemical Camera instrument, is a tool that allows scientists to fire a laser at a rock from a few meters away. The energy from the laser turns atoms from the rock into plasma, which scientists can analyze and use to determine the rock’s constituent elements. “This instrument is used as a survey. You
can shoot a series of rocks with the laser to get a rough idea of the elements present,” Squyres said. A complementary tool to ChemCam is APXS, or the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer. APXS is an instrument located at the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm. This tool will be used to interpret the minerals that compose Martian rocks and help select materials for other instruments to sample. “If you see something that stands out [from ChemCam], you can use [APXS] to get more specific information,” Squyres said. The advanced technology aboard the
Curiosity rover is currently in the checkout phase. “It takes a long time to get good at this. Curiosity is a very complicated rover,” Squyres said. Ground Zero: The Gale Crater Gale, a crater on the surface of Mars, is the primary location of interest for the Curiosity mission. The crater contains a thick sequence of layered sedimentary rocks, which preserve detailed information about what conditions were like when they were laid down. According to Squyres, the sedimentary rock layers are particularly important to scientists. “A geologist can look down into the Ithaca gorges and see the layered rocks,” he said. “From these rocks, we know that millions of years ago Ithaca was under a shallow sea. We can find fossils in Ithaca to prove this. We don’t expect to find fossils on Mars, but with basic training and tools we can read the rocks and the story they tell.” Gale appeared to have a large amount of valuable information for scientists involved in the mission. Using spectrometers, scientists determined that the rocks in Gale contained clay minerals, which form in the presence of water. Because water is an essential component of life, Gale became the target location for the Curiosity expedition. Although Curiosity has already landed within Gale, it is not yet at the stack of sedimentary rocks that scientists want to study. “We need to drive kilometers before we get to the interesting stuff,” Squyres said. Because scientists are still in the engineering checkout phase of the mission, it may be some time before new discoveries are made. “You don’t know when the discoveries will come. It will take years, maybe.” Squyres said. “Geology is like a forensic science and a geologist is like a detective looking for clues among the rocks.” he said.
COURTESY OF NASA
Related rocks | Top: A comparison of Martian gravel fragments with Earth rocks left behind by streams. Bottom: Three possible water sites and Curiosity’s path to Glenelg.
Nicolas Ramos can be reached at nramos@cornellsun.com.
OPINION
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Oh, You Fancy, Huh?
Independent Since 1880 130TH EDITORIAL BOARD
J
JUAN FORRER ’13 Editor in Chief
HELENE BEAUCHEMIN ’13
JEFF STEIN ’13
Business Manager
Managing Editor
RUBY PERLMUTTER ’13
JAMES CRITELLI ’13
JOSEPH STAEHLE ’13
LAUREN A. RITTER ’13
ESTHER HOFFMAN ’13
ANN NEWCOMB ’13
Associate Editor
Advertising Manager
Sports Editor
Web Editor
Design Editor
Photography Editor
ELIZA LaJOIE ’13
BRYAN CHAN ’15
ZACHARY ZAHOS ’15
DAVEEN KOH ’14
Multimedia Editor
Blogs Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
ELIZABETH CAMUTI ’14
KATHARINE CLOSE ’14
AKANE OTANI ’14
REBECCA HARRIS ’14
City Editor
News Editor
News Editor
News Editor
ELIZABETH PROEHL ’13
DANIELLE B. ABADA ’14
Associate Multimedia Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
SCOTT CHIUSANO ’15
HALEY VELASCO ’15
REBECCA COOMBES ’14
AMANDA STEFANIK ’13
NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR ’13
SYDNEY RAMSDEN ’14
Assistant Sports Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
Assistant Design Editor
Assistant Design Editor
Science Editor
Dining Editor
JOSEPH VOKT ’14 Assistant Web Editor
MAGGIE HENRY ’14
SEOJIN LEE ’14
AUSTIN KANG ’15
Outreach Coordinator
Marketing Manager
Assistant Advertising Manager
ERIKA G. WHITESTONE ’15
HANK BAO ’14
Social Media Manager
acob Kose found Evan Fairbrother ’12 and Ben Dreier ’11 trying to build a grand piano out of tuxedos in the basement of Bloomingdales. They debated the question everyone’s been asking since October 10, 1886, while trying to build a piano bench out of 800 bowties: What did dudes used to wear to parties before the first tuxedo was worn to an autumn ball at Tuxedo Park, New York? We went through our wardrobes to come up with what can best be described as the truth. Disclaimer: As always, Scrambled Eggs strives to adequately approximate what was said and who said what, but may at times mess all of that up. JACOB KOSE: It’s definitely much harder to document the evolution of men’s clothing than women’s clothing. Like, corsets, garters, going commando, I know how and why all of that happened. But when and where trends in men’s clothing happened I have no idea.
man sexy, but a sexy man in a tuxedo — theres nothing better. J.K.: Can I quote you on that? B.D.: Mmhm. J.K.: To be fair though, I think a tuxedo isn’t necessarily the best thing a man could wear, just the safest. Speaking of, I’m not sure if I’ve ever gotten down and dangerous in a tux. B.D.: Hmmm I have to think. I first wore a tux for my 10th grade choir. Pretty risque. But yeah, a really nicely cut suit could work better, I love my charcoal suit. J.K.: I’d go a dashing gray with a slim black tie and white shirt. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten dangerous in a suit either … yeah never mind, I definitely have. There were just so many bar and bat mitzvahs in seventh grade. Evan has actually fallen asleep, his eyes scrunched close and head cocked straight in the air like a man possessed by his sneeze. He has never worn a tuxedo and feels sad, neglected even, by the sartorial
Online Advertising Manager
JESSICA YANG ’14
KATERINA ATHANASIOU ’13
Human Resources Manager
Senior Editor
DAVID MARTEN ’14
Jacob Kose
JACOB KOSE ’13
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
JAMES RAINIS ’14
PATRICIO MARTÍNEZ ’13
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
DANIEL ROBBINS ’13 Senior Editor
Scrambled Eggs
WORKING ON TODAY ’S SUN DESIGN DESKER PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR NEWS DESKERS SPORTS DESKER ARTS DESKER SCIENCE EDITOR
Amanda Stefanik ’13 Brian Murphy ’16 Shailee Shah ’14 Kelly Yang ’15 Akane Otani ’14 Kerry Close ’14 Haley Velasco ’14 Zach Zahos ’15 Nicholas St. Fleur ’13
Letters
Apathetic coverage of an active campus To the Editor: Re: “Cornell Campus Politicos View Presidential Debate With Criticism, Snark and Cheetos,” News, Oct. 4 I have been confused recently about the nature of The Sun’s reporting on oncampus political activity. In the wake of the article bemoaning a lack of visible political activism on campus, recent reporting has displayed an odd anti-campus politico slant. In recent weeks, we have hosted events and made over 1,500 calls in favor of democratic congressional candidates, and in a recent voter registration rally (with the help of other campus politicos) registered over 350 of our fellow students to vote. I can understand that there is a lot going on on-campus, and so that our phone banking efforts have received no mention in The Sun and that our voter registration efforts have merited only a picture is understandable, or at least it was. Today I picked up the paper to see a front page article in which a laid back debate-watching social gathering was portrayed as a gathering of contemptuous, smirking, snarky, sarcastic smart-mouths, in a front page article no less. At this point, I have to ask, what can a campus politico possibly do to gain favorable coverage from your publication? Perhaps instead we should have watched the debate in a state of dignified stoicism? Perhaps then the headline would read, “Campus Politicos View Debate with Apathy, Detached Resignation.” If registering over 350 students to vote in a day merits merely a picture, but some jokes at a party (where people generally try to have a good time and make each other laugh) are deemed worthy of a front page, full length article, it seems that The Sun is more concerned with controversy and ridicule than with actually encouraging and fostering a culture of robust political engagement on campus. Perhaps next time The Sun looks to cry crocodile tears about the lack of political engagement on campus, it should look at the role it itself plays in ignoring or else ridiculing campus political life.
BEN DREIER: I feel like guys still decked themselves out way back when though, you know— EVAN FAIRBROTHER : Just think about colonial accessories, like George Washington’s wooden teeth. J.K.: Are those more or less thug than Kanye’s diamond teeth? I feel like Kanye’s teeth are accessories cause he can call up a dentist anytime and be all “These shiny rocks don’t taste good anymore, can I have my teeth back now?” but G-dub was wearing his wood for good. E.F.: What about those big gray wigs they used to wear for balls and festive occasions? I think party attire and I think big gray wigs. B.D.: Nothing says “take me home tonight” like a pile of someone else’s stanky old hair. I still can’t think of what was going on in the late 19th century that the tuxedo evolved and changed the history of mankind. J.K.: I think it’s interesting that 1886 is close to the invention of the photograph, which was maybe the first modern technological art form. Maybe tuxedos got big when black and white portraits were all that and a bag of chips. But I guess there were pianos for hundreds of years before that … no one seems to borrow fashion ideas from instruments though. Evan snores loudly, pretending to have fallen asleep on account of Jacob’s historical meanderings and his use of the phrase “all that and a bag of chips.” B.D.: Here’s an idea: You put a girl in a red dress on a piano and that’s art. You put a guy in a tuxedo on a piano and that’s art. A tuxedo can’t make a
conversation. J.K.: In all seriousness though, I’d have to say I’d prefer to party in the nude, then a tux or a suit, then maybe a pool. B.D.: So birthday suit, suit, bathing suit? I respect that. J.K.: You know, I own a maroon, navy and gold velour suit? I went through a phase where I was really sympathetic for this kid in my grade who was going through a ghetto phase. Would you wear one of those? B.D.: That’s definitely out there. Not as bad as denim though. I’d rather do anything before wearing all denim. J.K.: How about patent leather? Like red patent leather, no shirt over jeans and a jean jacket. B.D.: I mean, not fire truck red or candy cane red but crimson, sure. Evan snores in agreement then wakes up and looks at his phone. E.F.: Oh. Jackie’s at Wegman’s and she asked me if I want anything and I said maybe some chicken noodle suit. You guys suck. B.D.: That’s awesome. E.F.: I’m just kidding, you guys are cool. Plus I learned something today: A tuxedo can’t make a man sexy, but there’s nothing better than a sexy man in a tuxedo. I feel wiser than I’ve been in years, maybe ever.
Jacob Kose is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He may be reached at jkose@cornellsun.com. Scrambled Eggs appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
Dalton Vieira ’14
SUBMIT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012 9
OPINION
A Job’s, a Job’s, a Job F
orget the fact that our generation has the most student loan debt of any other, which severely limits and deters new college grads from taking risks once they graduate. And don’t think about how the job market is absolutely horrendous and will not return to normal rates for at least a few years. Apparently when we graduate we are supposed to find a job. This is something I have theoretically known for a while, but it is only now, with every person I know hounding me about what I am going to do
While I know that whatever I decide to do when I graduate is not necessarily what I will do for the rest of my life, I am reaching the point where I am no longer preparing for the rest of my life, but actually starting to live it. And so yes, I can hopscotch from job to job, from career to career in my 20s and maybe even in my 30s. But each superfluous job or sidetrack could be viewed as less time spent progressing in whatever career I end up in. And so the sooner I decide on something, theoretically the better. To me it is utterly preposterous that a 20-something is supposed to decide what he will do for the rest of his existence. I reject it out of hand. Why would Smell the Rosen 50-year-old me want to be stuck doing something that lazy, ignorant but devastatingly handsome 21-year-old me decided on? I made decisions a week ago that I already regret, how am I supposed to expect to be the same in 30 of 40 years? Past me will often make decisions without thinking about how it will affect future me. These can range from things as trivial as leaving a paper to the night before or eating a chipotle burrito with extra beans to as consequential as choosing which college to attend. Either way I am at the mercy of my former self. We are, after all, selfish beings and the victims of
Dan Rosen
when I graduate, that it has really sunk in. Every day that passes by of my senior year is another day that I haven’t figured out what I am going to do when I graduate and another day closer to supposedly doing what I haven’t decided to do. It’s exhausting and stressful, but mostly it is absolutely terrifying. Because the question of what I want do when I graduate inevitably leads to the question of “What do I want to do with my life?” and that is a question that I try to avoid like the plague.
our selfishness can often be ourselves. But this is in the end the society we have all bought into. We did all of the usual school things: worked hard, got good grades, went to a good college and are apparently expected to continue on that trajectory to some sort of career. Once we finish our career, whatever it might be, we either look back upon it happily, feeling that whatever we did was worthwhile or we spend the rest of our adult diapered days regretting our past decisions. But that’s it. We can’t take it back, can’t do it over or learn from our lessons and try again. As much as I hate the idiocy that comes with “YOLO,” perhaps there is some truth to it. Even more so than death, I am absolutely terrified of reaching old age and coming to the realization that the path I went down was the wrong one. Maybe I am not as fortunate as some of my peers who have come into college knowing their path, knowing what they were going to do with their lives for years. And perhaps I am to blame for my indecisiveness and lack of initiative. But never before have I been faced with a decision that could be a permanent fixture in the rest of my life. What happens if 10 years into my career path I suddenly feel like I have made the wrong decision? What happens when it is too late to do something else? Soon I will be hurtling myself down a road that could be the wrong one, that could make me spend the rest of my life in abject misery. Wish me luck. Dan Rosen is a senior in the College of Art, Architecture, and Planning. He may be reached at drosen@cornellsun.com. Smell the Rosen appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
Fracking:There Is No Objective Role O
n Sept. 24, President Skorton and Glenn Altschuler, Vice President of University Relations co-authored Forbes article entitled, “Fracking: A Role for Universities.” In this piece, the authors insist that hydraulic fracturing has swept the nation and globe, and is imminent in New York. They argue that “we cannot put this genie back in the bottle,” the most we can do is ensure that we do our homework and that all necessary precautions are taken. In order to avoid “public perceptions that lobbyists will influence policies and that the foxes are
“Fracking is too important to foul up” by another high-power duo, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and George P. Mitchell, “philanthropist and hydrofracking pioneer.” The Cornell tag team seems to have drawn its inspiration from Bloomberg and Mitchell’s argument, which endorses fracking but recognizes that there are bases to cover and money to be made first. Skorton and Altschuler highlight the following statement from the Bloomberg-Mitchell piece, “each of our foundations will support organizations that seek to work with states and industries to develop
Anna-Lisa Castle Guest Room guarding the henhouse,” Skorton and Altschuler argue that government and industry should turn to universities (READ: Cornell), and pay them to conduct unbiased research. Universities, they say, have “a commitment to and reputation for rigor and objectivity in research.” As evidence for their argument, they vaguely refer to two Cornell studies that reached opposite conclusions concerning the relative impacts of fracking on climate change. They fail to mention, as one commentator pointed out, that the study conducted by Robert Howarth, which found that methane leaks from fracking would have a larger impact on climate change than burning coal, was consistent with EPA estimates for methane emissions and the other was not. In their article, Skorton and Altschuler refer to a Washington Post column entitled
common-sense regulations that will protect the environment — and ensure that the industry can thrive.” Isn’t part of the research process meant to determine whether or not those two things can happen simultaneously? What if “objective” university research reveals that protecting the environment and fracking our Earth are mutually exclusive? It seems that the results of the hypothetical objective research have already been decided. Aside from the assumption that fracking is here to stay, perhaps the most disturbing assertion in the article was that universities produce thorough, “objective” research. How then, could the two Cornell fracking-climate studies yield opposing results? While I’m not a scientist and do not pretend to be, I would venture to guess that at some point in each study, different decisions were made on what
THE SUN THRIVES ON YOUR FEEDBACK.
variables to use and how to measure them. And that’s where things get messy. Science is never unbiased; it is a study of the physical and natural world through observation and experimentation. However, we cannot pretend that the observer is without certain predispositions or that experiments can be conducted without making critical decisions along the way, which are, of course, informed by the biases we all hold. We must ask ourselves, then, how would those critical choices vary if the science, and scientists, were industry-funded? We can look to history to help illustrate the relationship between university research, government and industry. Research for the Manhattan Project, which ended in the catastrophic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, began at a few universities, primarily Columbia, University of Chicago and UC Berkeley. Additionally, in the 1970’s, US officials in Chile conspired with Theodore Schultz, Chair of the Economics Department at University of Chicago, to send the best and brightest minds of Chile to the University of Chicago to study liberal economics. More specifically, these men who came to be known as “The Chicago Boys,” were meant to derail the outstanding progress of developmentalism in Chile, which was considered a threat to American-style capitalism. After the CIAassisted coup of ’73, the Chicago School’s ideas became the basis for Pinochet’s economic policy and essential to maintaining his repressive regime. Albert Einstein did not drop the bomb and Milton Freidman did not orchestrate mass killings in Chile, but these are just two examples of how university work can be used, (mis)guided and manipulated by government and special interests to detrimental ends. Even if the science is good, the math is exactly right and we come as close as we can to
SEND 200-500 WORD SUBMISSIONS TO OPINION@CORNELLSUN.COM.
objective study, we must remember that research doesn’t happen in a vacuum, there are always consequences. But then we come back to that word, “objective.” A more recent, perhaps more relevant example of university-industrial-government relations can be found in Jennifer Washburn’s 2010 report, “Big Oil Goes to College: An Analysis of 10 Research Collaboration Contracts between Leading Energy Companies and Major U.S. Universities.” With the economy as it is, and the future of government-issued energy research subsidies clouded by uncertainty in the face of the election, universities are left to turn to the private sector for funding. The report highlights some concerning trends in research contracts; to name a few: None of the research contracts in the study required an impartial peer review process, energy companies controlled research proposal selection and in most cases, Big Oil maintained “exclusive commercial rights to academic findings.” Unchecked, handpicked, privately owned research does not sound very objective to me. This is how corporate sponsorship works; there is always a give and take. What are we willing to sacrifice for a piece of the hydrofracking pie? Skorton and Altschuler’s Forbes piece reads as a bid for funding in exchange for results that the industry — and its highpower allies — would find favorable. Do we want to be part of the justification process for a method of natural gas extraction that threatens to poison our water, clutter our country roads and contribute hugely to climate change? And if so, what’s our price? Anna-Lisa Castle is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, and current president of KyotoNOW!. She may be reached at amc394@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears periodically this semster.
ALL OPINIONS AND POINTS OF VIEW WELCOME.
A&E
10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT How to Grow a Band The Sun talks to Noam Pikelny of Punch Brothers
BY RUBY PERLMUTTER Sun Associate Editor
On Saturday, Sept. 29, Punch Brothers came to Ithaca and performed at The State Theatre. Noam Pikelny, who plays banjo, spoke to The Sun over the phone. He talked about banjos, his band and Ithaca. THE SUN: Have you ever been to Ithaca? NOAM PIKELNY: I have never been … It was quite a nice place. I wish every town had a theater like that. It’s a beautiful sounding room, great crowd. SUN: Did you guys make it to AppleFest? N.P.: I wandered around the streets a little bit, during the day. SUN: How did you start playing banjo? N.P.: I started playing banjo when I was eight years old, and my brother was playing mandolin. I grew up in Chicago, and [when] my brother … heard a bluegrass band he kind of got bitten by the bluegrass bug. … I wanted to try that out … My mom suggested the banjo so that we could play music with each other. So I went and rented a banjo with my family on my ninth birthday and went to the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. I really fell in love with the instrument and bluegrass music. SUN: I was reading another interview you did with Fretboard Journal, and you were talking about having, essentially, the heaviest banjo ever. Is that still what you play? N.P.: Yeah, I play a 1941 Gibson banjo, and the style is called Top-Tension; and it is one of the heaviest banjos that Gibson ever made, and the deepest pitch. They were adding more metal to it, at that time. It was post-Great Depression, so everybody was trying to come up with some way to an edge on the competition. And, back then in those days, they used skin for the head of the banjo … the hide of a cow or a goat. … So on the banjo I have a way to adjust that head really easily because it would fluctuate so much with the temperature. SUN: In interviews about your solo album Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail, you spoke about wanting to do a solo album after playing with Punch Brothers and how your playing had changed. How
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
has Punch Brothers changed your solo music? N.P.: They’ve had a pretty profound impact on everybody — both on a micro and macro level … Our first foray as a band, our first piece of music, was this piece called “The Blind Leading the Blind” — a piece that Thile had written that really forced all of us to break out of our current comfort level as far we were able to do on instruments. It was such a technical challenge for each of us that we really had to expand our individual toolboxes as far as how we played the instrument. With Thile, I was PHOTOS BY SHAILEE SHAH / having to try to accomSUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER plish things on the banjo that I hadn’t really come across in my investigations with the banjo. … Thile not being a banjo player … I’d always been very inquisitive on the instrument but when you get someone new, especially a guy like Thile, writing music for these instruments, it’s inevitable that you … kind of push the boundaries and challenge yourself. So, what was interesting to me was that the progress that I’ve made on the instrument individually is … what wasn’t very bluegrassy, or very much removed in some ways from the bluegrass tradition … which I had grown up with, and that my playing had emerged from … I was very much surprised that my explorations with the band really ended up transforming my playing regardless of the genre or style. My solo record is an opportunity to kind of showcase myself more in the traditional realm. SUN: To promote the album, you did a Funny or Die video. It was very funny, and premised on the idea that it would be your vocal debut. The gag is that your singing is just terrible. Is there any truth to that? Do you sing at all? N.P.: I sing every now and then with the band. There are a few songs that we have … There’s a song on the new record, called “Don’t Get Married
Without Me” … I sang bass on a couple of songs on How To Grow a Woman From the Ground, one being The Strokes cover, “Heart in a Cage,” and another one, “If the Sea was Whiskey.” So I do sing a little bit, just depending on how many parts there are. I have a very limited range. SUN: How did you decide to make the video? It was really funny. N.P.: Yeah right. Every time a record comes out these days there has to be some kind of online content … One of the things that people turn to are these kind of electronic press kits. A lot of them are very much the same; they sit down and talk about the record and their experience … We were looking for a way to somehow get the word out, and found this kind of crazy construct. We wanted it to be something that was a little bit of a farce, and my brother got the idea of, “Well maybe we should pretend that this is supposed to be your vocal debut.” A lot of friends were very generous to participate … and then Funny or Die got involved … It was a very fun opportunity; it was very surreal. SUN: Recently, Punch Brothers also made a documentary, How to Grow a Band. How was it like being filmed for that, how do you feel about how the movie turned out? N.P.: I really enjoyed the experience … It seems like really long time, it was a really long time ago. It was three, almost four years ago that he was travelling with us … It’s a cool snapshot of the band in the early days. It’s a unique push backwards … It’s hard to watch a movie where you’re the subject of it, and the band is the subject of it. It’s an interesting experience … There are moments in it when you become sentimental about the time that was going on … it was a special time, and I’m glad we were able to capture some of it.
Ruby Perlmutter is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at associate-editor@cornellsun.com.
A&E
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11
Something Like Grace BY KAITLYN TIFFANY Sun Contributor
“I’m not a bad guy. I’m like everybody else: weak, full of mistakes, but basically good.” This introduction to Junot Díaz’s, M.F.A. ’95, second collection of short stories, This is How You Lose Her, could be considered the thesis of the work. Díaz’s voice has always been a unique combination of gruesome, aggressive and graceful. What you think you’re reading is a series of horrible things done by horrible people. By the end, however, you are startlingly aware that the abuses Díaz’s characters heap on those they love are the by-products of distinctly universal human failings. Newsweek has described Díaz as one with “the dispassionate eye of a journalist and the tongue of a poet.” Indeed, Díaz reaches standards of honesty and forthrightness that can only be described as journalistic. His voice is a far cry from the traditional interpretation of “poetic,” though — it’s fast and aggressive, often angry. It’s English, but also Spanish; it’s an American story, and a Dominican story, too; as much as this book is about romantic relationships, it is about familial ones, as well as the overlap between. Díaz has a lot to say in a mere 200 pages and, to get it all out, he has no choice but to forgo restraint. Díaz made a mark on the literary world with his widelyacclaimed first collection of stories, Drown, in 1996 and his first novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008. The boy Yuníor narrates several of the stories in Drown and appears again in fullforce as an adolescent and adult to narrate the majority of the stories in This is How You Lose Her. It is irresponsible at this point to pretend that Yuníor is anything but Díaz’s own consciousness, as he represents the strongest, most consistent and by far the most tortured voice of every story he appears in. The recurring character Rafa, Yuníor’s brother, is a haunting one — cruel and dispassionate, “a monster,” but ultimately a brother, a hero and Yuníor’s one role model when it comes to love, for better or for worse.
Largely, it’s for worse. Every story in this collection is about love gone or going wrong. Any statement of emotion has a qualifier, and almost every story with a male narrator involves infidelity. These narrator are painfully aware of their own deficiencies. The first story of the collection, “The Sun, the Moon, the Stars,” is not about the way that cheating can damage a relationship, but rather how a lack of dedication to saving it in the aftermath can destroy it completely. “Our relationship wasn’t the sun, the moon and the stars, but it wasn’t bullshit either,” is the narrator’s evaluation of losing the battle to keep the woman he loves. “All we have to do is try,” he says. But the story ends before that can happen. The story “Flaca” is an eight-page love letter. But not admittedly so. “It was sort of like love, wasn’t it?” asks the narrator, in characteristic hesitation. This story is about nothing other than that quickly-encapsulated uncertainty. The deficiencies are within and the excuse is, “That’s the most we can hope for. Nothing thrown, nothing said that we might remember for years. You don’t want to let go, but don’t want to be hurt either. It’s not a great place to be but what can I tell you?” It can be frustrating, this constant apathy in the face of something so important. And initially, the cultural dissonance that rings throughout Díaz’s work is not especially relatable to a variety of readers. But in truth, these are not stories of cultural or socioeconomic or political entrapment — only stories of being trapped in general. The problems and hang-ups that destroy Díaz’s characters aren’t dreamt up at all, but things we all suffer from. Insecurities and fear and hesitation and blind stupidity derail all of us, and with his brutal depictions and carefully gruesome prose, Díaz constructs a window for us to find ourselves in his experience. The shortest story in the collection is also one of the most powerful and the one from which the collection takes its title. “Alma” is a simple story, one of cheating — like most in this book — and it is a theme which would get old if it wasn’t confronted from so many different angles. “Alma” introduces the angle of self-incrimination. Díaz’s narrators
record their sins in letters, diaries and photographs and hide them there — but not well. And this, Díaz says, “is how you lose As her.” much as writing may serve to incriminate its creator, it COURTESY OF RIVERHEAD HARDCOVER retains duality in its power as a release. The longest and most autobiographic story of the book, “The Cheater’s Guide to Love,” is a summary of the five years following the demise of a relationship. The peace from this story doesn’t come from some sort of resolution with the people that have been hurt. It admits that this is sometimes impossible. The journals that revealed the infidelity are mailed to the narrator. In thinlyveiled metafiction, the accompanying note reads, “Dear Yuníor, for your next book.” The narrator begins the work in earnest, saying, “In the months that follow you bend to the work, because it feels like hope, like grace — and because you know in your lying cheater’s heart that sometimes a start is all you get.” This is How You Lose Her leaves us with the feeling which is exactly that, a start. It’s something “like grace,” in that it recognizes love and family as a divine, undeserved gift, and it makes some sort of tentative avowal to move toward appreciating it instead of losing it. Kaitlyn Tiffany is a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at krt38@cornell.edu.
All Honey, No Boo Boo I
have to confess: Although critics have universally lambasted the TLC reality TV series Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, I love the show. I have no idea why I love it so much. Maybe it was because I already fell in love with the family when that Toddlers and Tiaras segment featuring six-year-old Alana Thompson first appeared on YouTube. Toddlers and Tiaras is itself horrific, showing the inner world of child beauty pageants and how parents would do absolutely anything (like plastic surgery) to have their daughters win. In that ultra-competitive environment, Alana shone. “Those other girls must be crazy if they think they’re gonna beat ME HONEY BOO BOO CHILD!” And although she didn’t win against those mini-plastics, her eccentricity won my heart. She seemed really sincere about beating the other girls, but it didn’t sound malicious or dramatized in the way reality TV normally is. She was just being a normal six-year-old pepped for a competition, and if she didn’t win, then it was okay (supposedly because she didn’t show her belly to the judges). It wasn’t until Here Comes Honey Boo Boo came out that we knew more about Honey Boo Boo and her mother, June (“Mama”). Mama has three other daughters, all with different men, though HBB’s father (“Sugar Bear”) has been with the family for eight years now. They live in rural McIntyre, Georgia, next to a busy railroad. Mama Bear dropped out of high school after she was pregnant with her first child and obsesses with couponing (“It’s even better than sex”). She believes that farting at least 10 times a day helps lose weight.
People have responded to the show in two ways. The first reaction is to the family itself as trashy rednecks and “everything that is wrong with America.” The title card loudly features Mama’s flatulence. They eat cheese puffs for breakfast. In the pilot, they go to the Redneck Games to bob for pig snouts and play in mud pits. In the entire show, their dialogue is supplemented with subtitles because their speech is so unintelligible. For these haters, the show is such a trainwreck that it’s impossible to look away. These criticisms say more about the critics than the family themselves. Here are spectators, typically 18-30-year-olds from upper-middle class families, putting others down to make themselves feel better. “Their shotgun shack lies virtually on the railroad tracks,” one critic writes. “Southern Pacific brakemen could grab a bottle of go-go juice as they pass through without leaning out of the train.” The star of the Lifetime reality TV show Dance Moms, Abby Lee Miller, told TMZ about how she herself needs to lose weight before saying that at least she wasn’t as bad as HBB. Cheap.
Kai Sam Ng You’ve Got to Be Kitsching Me The second criticizes TLC for exploiting the family for malicious amusement. This is much more warranted: TLC was paying the family $4,000 per episode, compared to $25,000 for the Duggars in 18 Kids and Counting (another TLC reality show). TLC’s condescending editing is also extremely uncomfortable: At one point they
visit a dumpster to salvage things, before cutting to HBB innocently whispering that all of her sister’s clothes were from the dumpster. She says that sweetly just like every other six-year-old would do when telling a secret they shouldn’t — yet TLC clearly wants you to giggle at her because of the family’s poverty. That’s a real shame, because, despite their faults, they are the best thing to happen to kitschy reality TV — they dump the scripted crap for some genuinely human positive interaction. Mama might have had two kids by 17, but she has a sharp wit and an amazingly positive and pragmatic outlook on life (one that we cynics fantasize for). Casually mentioning her chins, Mama says that she doesn’t care because “beauty comes from the inside,” before saying that she would like to lose a hundred pounds in support of her second daughter’s diet. They even weigh themselves on camera, which takes a lot of confidence and self-esteem given society’s images of body weight. TLC, hit with those well-deserved accusations of exploitation, recently offered them a bigger house, to which they refused (“Keeping it real,” as CNN described). And although Mama refuses to marry Sugar Bear (even though he’s asked many times), all her daughters try to push her into marriage, saying that he’s like the father they never had. Sugar Bear himself dresses up as Santa Claus in July to solicit canned donations for the less fortunate and claims that family always comes first. Perhaps the moment that really solidified this show’s value was when Sugar Bear gave HBB a pet pig to cheer her up after losing a pageant. HBB immediately took to the pet pig with painted toenails, changing “Glitzy” from a boy pig to a girl pig so “he could be a little gay.” When her older sister (“Chubbs”) pointed out that the pig was probably not gay, she pointedly retorts “He can if he wants to. You can’t tell that pig
ZANDER ABRANOWICZ / SUN STAFF ILLUSTRATOR
what to do.” As hard as TLC may try to slap that redneck trash stereotype that we Northerners enjoy, the family always worms their way out of it to prove them and its critics wrong. So I only have one response to the haters who need a little self-esteem boost: Get over yourselves, because they definitely have. Yes, the go-go juice is really, really bad, but at least unlike other pageant moms, Mama wants HBB to be the first in their family to go to college. Besides, the family doesn’t care about your criticism. Absent TLC, absent reality TV and absent us as an audience, the Thompsons will just keep doing what they do. If schadenfreude is unavoidable and people demand reality TV, I want to see more things that bond than divide (Real Housewives of NJ, anyone?). Seriously, more power to them. Kai Sam Ng is a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He can be reached at kng@cornellsun.com. You’ve Got To Be Kitsching Me appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Aphid’s meal 4 Marsh bird 9 Neil Simon’s “__ Suite” 14 Communication at Gallaudet U. 15 Concert venue 16 Bona fide 17 *Role in the films “Wichita” and “Tombstone” 19 Opposite of après 20 Place for un chapeau 21 Miracle-__ 22 Get-up-and-go 23 Opera featuring Iago 25 Lint collector 27 It may be set or set off 29 Glowing, perhaps 30 Cleaning closet item 33 Nautical pole 35 Spry 37 Will Smith title role 38 French noble 39 Trail behind 40 Grape-growing spot 42 Back when 43 Put to shame 45 Mutineer 46 Neither mate 47 Noisy quarrel 48 “Hotel Rwanda” tribe 50 Compote ingredient 52 Fired on 55 __ of Gibraltar 58 Source of lean red meat 60 Pertaining to planes 61 Pope after Sergius II 62 Rip to pieces, and a hint to what’s hidden in the answers to this puzzle’s starred clues 64 Lexus competitor 65 Malady with swelling 66 “Norma __” 67 Potter’s apparatus 68 “Count me out” 69 Part of DOS: Abbr.
DOWN 30 *Indoor antenna 51 Start a hole 1 Managed 31 Lotion addition 53 Variety 2 So far 32 Gibson __ 54 Big name in 3 *Protection for 33 Diagnostic test raingear jousters 34 Comic strip 55 Picnic side 4 “Mangia!” possum 56 One helping after 5 Genetics pioneer 36 Beetle juice? a crash Mendel 41 Lather again 57 Cad 6 Derrière 44 Flu fighter’s 59 Cass’s title 7 2001 bankruptcy episode 62 “Spare me the filer 49 Seizes details,” in brief 8 Brew source unlawfully 63 Backpacked 9 *2000s 50 Renaissance __ beast documentary ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: whose first episode was “From Pole to Pole” 10 Video game stage 11 Ice cream thickener 12 Criticize with barbs 13 DOJ employee 18 “We want to hear the story” 22 Devil’s work 24 *One who was held up, most likely 26 Land 28 Mozambique 10/10/12 xwordeditor@aol.com neighbor
Sun Sudoku
Doonesbury
Mr. Gnu
Strings Attached
Puzzle #64770
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)
Circles and Stuff
By Matt Skoczen (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
COMICS AND PUZZLES
by Robert Radigan grad
10/10/12
by Garry Trudeau
Travis Dandro
by Ali Solomon ’01
It’s up to us. reduce reuse conserve protect recycle
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012 13
CLASSIFIED AD RATES
Standard Rate: $3.40 per day for first 15
words, 32 cents per day per word thereafter. 5 or more consecutive insertions, $3.15 per day for first 15 words, 30 cents per day per word thereafter.
Commercial Rate: $5.20 per day for first 15 words, 33 cents per day per word thereafter. 5 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 make good on ads.
273-3606 classifieds@cornelldailysun.com
16 AUCTIONS AND S ALES GIGANTIC RUMMAGE SALE
Collegetown Parking Available Now Certified Properties of TC Inc 273-1669 certifiedp@aol.com
COLLEGETOWN PARKING AVRAMISRENTALS@AOL.COM 607-272-3389 PARKING Available now! Premium Collegetown Locations Assigned spaces www.ithacarenting.com. 607-272-3000
Parking Collegetown Available Now 607-277-1234
PRIVATE ROOMS with or without bathrooms Fully furnished, utilities included Kitchen and laundry facilities on-site Free internet and shuttle to campus Fitness center, pool table, TV lounges www.ithacastudentapartments.com office@ithacastudentapartments.com 607-277-1234
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT ************************************** RENT NOW, GET THE BEST! w w w. m a t o u l a s h o u s e s . c o m
1 & 2 Bedroom available
Fully furnished, with laundry room, parking available (extra) (607)339-9644 First come, first served! No exceptions. ************************************** *************************
PAM JOHNSTON APARTMENTS COLLEGETOWN Studios to 18 Bedroom Mansion 607-277-0910 www.pjapts.com pjapartments@gmail.com Many New Beautiful Renovations Completed. Tours available M-F 11am-6pm or by appointment. Available for 2013-2014. ************************
2013-2014 2 & 3 BR furnished apts. Prime location. Call 607-273-8576
Campus Hill Apts.
NORTH CAMPUS AFFORDABLE 1 & 2 BEDROOMS OR A GROUP OF 6 OR 7 CAN TAKE REST OF THE HOUSE. AVRAMISREALESTATE.COM 607-272-3389
2013-14 Collegetown 317 Upper Eddy Street One, two and three-bedroom apartments. Furnished. All utilities paid except electric. 10-month lease. Laundry next door. Located one block from Cornell. Reputable owner. Call 227-0924 2013-2014 College Ave 4,5,6,7 & 12 BR Apts. Utilities included except electric Furnished, Laundry, Parking available. 761-1966/748-1129
2013-2014 Collegetown 2 BR Apt Furnished, Laundry, Parking Available. Includes all utilities. 315-254-1717 www.cpstudentproperties.com 2013-2014 Spacious 5 bedroom apartment. 2 baths. Furnished. Washer/Dryer. Call 607-273-8576
2013-2014 WESTBOURNE APARTMENTS STUDIOS, 1, 3, 4 & 5 BR APTS. We are located within a beautiful 10 minute walk to campus in the historical district of Cornell Heights and are managed by concerned Cornellians with 40 yrs. experience in caring for the residential needs of Ithacans . Our apts. have all the features you would expect in the very best area residences. Some of the units have 2 bathrooms and dishwashers. We provide free Roadrunner internet and standard cable service. Resident parking available.
RATES BEGIN AT $480/person plus electric 257-0313 www.kimballrentals.com
312 College Ave Collegetown’s Best Address Beautifully Furnished Studio, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom & 3 Bedroom units. Professionally managed on-site offering superior customer service. Fitness Center, Media Room Streaming Netflix in High-Def on a new 100” screen, Study, Laundry, Lounge. Garage Parking Available. Free Hi-Speed Internet. Ideally Located in the Heart of Collegetown. Office Open M-F 9-9; Sat 10-5; Sun 11-4. 273-9777 or 312collegeave.com
519/521 Wyckoff Rd. Arts and Crafts Style House on North Campus. Two bedroom with hardwood floors, fireplace, dining area with built- ins, and upstairs attic loft. $1230. Available 8/15. Two bedroom (one room is converted porch) with large living room with high beamed ceilings and hardwood floors. $1120. Available 8/6. Three Bedroom Lower level with spacious living room and fireplace $1025. Available 6/5. Heat Included. Call to view 257-0313 Casa Roma Apartments Studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms Free Internet, Fitness Center Heat and Hot Water Included Covered Parking Available office@ithacastudentapartments.com www.ithacastudentapartments.com 607.277.1234
COLLEGETOWN
1 & 2 BEDROOMS ON COLLEGE AND
7 BEDROOM AT 227 LINDEN BEAUTIFUL, A/C, LEATHER FURNITURE AVRAMISREALESTATE.COM 607-272-3389
709 Stewart Ave. We are not near the campus, We are ON THE CAMPUS, The only privately owned apartment complex literally on Cornell University’s campus. We have 1,2,3,4 bedroom residences w/all the usual amenities and lots of the unusual; 1. Walk to Campus in minutes 2. Most have wood burning fireplaces 3. Balconies 4. Two on site Laundry rooms 5. Free high-speed roadrunner internet 6. Free Standard Cable (70 channels) 7. On site parking 8. Furnished with TVs Campus Hill Apts. are owned and operated by concerned Cornellians w/40 years experience managing local residential Real Estate.
www.kimballrentals.com 257-0313 College Ave. 5, 4 & 2 Bedroom Fully furnished. Large bedrooms with walk in closets. Laundry & parking.
607-339-1137
COLLEGETOWN APARTMENT 2013-2014 STUDIO, 1, 3 & 6 BEDROOM. FURNISHED, LARGE, LAUNDRY, EXCELLENT CONDITION. CALL 607-272-0781, 908-334-3665 FOR DETAILS. Collegetown Terrace Apartments
Now Open!
2 Bedroom/2 Bath Apartments Available now and for Spring Semester! Heat, hot water and high speed wireless internet included. 2 bedrooms apartments also available to share for graduate housing. Stackable washer and dryer in apartments. Covered parking available for a fee. Novarr-Mackesey Property Management www.ithacastudentapartments.com office@ithacastudentapartments.com 607.277.1234 Like Collegetown Terrace Apartments on Facebook!
Free Utilities Furnished 3,5,6 BR’s available. Rent starting at $695. Parking available. On-site laundry. Big bedrooms. Call or text 607-227-3506 or email dqstdenis@gmail.com
HOUSES, APTS, PARKING 1,2,3,8 & 9 Bedroom Collegetown - College Ave, Cook St. Linden Ave, Dryden Rd, Bryant Ave. 607-330-2442 Office at 307 College Ave. info@urbanithaca.com www.ctownrentals.com Ithaca Renting Apartments, Houses, Parking Premium Collegetown Locations Superb Panoramic Views Modern Elevator Buildings Collegetown Plaza: Featuring a Fitness Room Studio, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 BRs Collegetown Center: Featuring Concierge Service Studio, 1, 2 BRs Collegetown Court Featuring Exceptional Value Studio, 1, 3, 5 BRs Other Central Collegetown Locations: Featuring Unbeatable Locations Aces Apartments: 4 BR Buffalo St, Dryden Rd: 2 BRs Rent Smart. Live Well. 607-272-3000 Visit our office at: 119 Dryden Road www.ithacarenting.com
Nicest Apts. in Collegetown Located on Eddy St. 3, 4, 7 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
North Campus 3 Bedroom Apartments Next to Suspension Bridge Free Off-Street Parking office@ithacastudentapartments.com www.ithacastudentapartments.com 607.277.1234
North Campus Two blocks from Suspension Bridge Westbourne Apartments Off Corner of Highland and Wyckoff Included in the rent Road Runner High Speed Internet Standard Cable TV service 31” TV Furniture package Dumpster fees Laundry facilities on site Parking available for fee Dishwashers and fireplaces Call to schedule an appointment
257-0313
www.kimballrentals.com
NOW RENTING 2013-14 WALK TO CAMPUS Perfectly located 1 bdrm. Professionally managed with 24/hr maintenance, free off-street parking, on-site laundry, w/w carpeting. Newly renovated kitchen w/dishwasher in select units. 607-257-5444 www.brooklanecornell.com
Now Renting 2013-2014 1 Bedroom Apartments to 10 Bedroom Houses. View our selection at certifiedpropertiesinc.com Certified Properties of TC Inc 273-1669
27 H OUSE FOR R ENT 5 BR House 4 floors of luxury living space. Big bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 living rooms. Can house up to 8 residents for best pricing. Free parking. 12 bedroom house 3 floors, all fully renovated 2 kitchens, 6 baths & 2 living rooms Spacious & bright bedrooms Call for more details 607-277-0910 photo on our website www.pjapts.com
N-E AREA HOUSE 5 BEDROOMS, WITH 2 1/2 BATHS. HUGE LIVING, DINING, KITCHEN. $1800/MONTH CALL 272-0781 OR 908-334-3665 FOR DETAILS. Quality, Affordable, Convenient! 1 to 10 Bedroom Houses Parking, Laundry & Utilities! 607-277-7111 214-289-5134 www.IthacaApartmentRental.com
www.cornellsun.com
www.cornellsun.com
25 ROOMS FOR RENT
110 Heights Court 3 bedroom furnished apts. in historic mansion on North Campus just 1 block from Thurston Ave.and close to Suspension Bridge.Spacious living room with high ceilings and balconies. Gas heat, Standard cable, High Speed Modem Internet, water and dumpster all included. Coin op washer/dryer on premises. $625-630/person. Some 3 bedrooms can accommodate 4 people @$470/person. Check our website under neighboring properties; www.kimballrentals.com Call 257-0313 to view.
•
PARKING RIGHT BY CORNELL 227-0557 OR 273-6864
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT
www.cornellsun.com
23 PARKING
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT
•
Friday October 12th 8:00a.m.-8:00p.m. Saturday October 13th 8:00a.m.-Noon ($1 BAG SALE) Lansing United Methodist Church Rt. 34B & Brickyard Rd.
26 A PARTMENT FOR R ENT
• www.cornellsun.com
Ads are accepted at The Sun‘s office at 139 W. State Street downtown, by phone or e-mail. Deadline: 3:30 p.m. at The Sun‘s office on the day preceding publication. Monday’s deadline: Friday, 3:30 p.m. at The Sun office.
14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Cornell Practices To Achieve Better Future Outcomes FOOTBALL
Continued from page 16
Cornell in the first half contained Scales, the leading rusher in the Ivies in 2012, but the senior broke loose after the break to finish with 106 yards and a score on 21 carries. The Red defenders could not generate much pressure on Chapple despite the Crimson playing two backup offensive linemen, and when they did, the nimble signal caller scurried away, finishing with 53 rushing yards and a touchdown on nine attempts while avoiding a sack. “You’ve got to give credit to the offensive line,” Chapple said. “I haven’t been touched in a few games [and] the amount of success we’re running the football with is something that’s very hard to defend.” Harvard, meanwhile, sacked Mathews four times and hit him often to ensure the Crimson’s seventh straight win over Cornell. Mathews never fully got into a rhythm as he finished 20-of-41 passing, his lowest incompletion percentage since he posted the same numbers 51 weeks ago at Colgate. “Harvard has probably been most consistently the best defensive line we go against every year,” Tretter said. “They’re a talented group of guys [and] they’ve always been
SPORTS
Sprint football
good. We got them sometimes, they got us other times. We’ve just got to do better.” The Red must also figure out why its offensive execution in big moments has disappeared this season. Cornell converted only two-of-13 third downs ABHISHEK SHAH / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER against the Crimson, The Cornell sprint football team fell to Army this past weekend, 38-14, while on the road at Shea Stadium. including one-of-six on third-and-5 or shorter. This loss was the first of the season for the Red, while Army walked away still undefeated for the season. Austin said at least some of the misfiring was due even close to 100 percent healthy. Savage 12:30 p.m. versus Monmouth in the firstto Harvard’s suffocating pass defense. “Their secondary shut down most of our couldn’t come down with a Mathews hurl in ever meeting between the schools. While the receivers most of the game — that’s the bot- garbage time as multiple defenders hit him lopsided loss to the Ivy favorite was disaptom line,” the third-year coach said. “Our to end his streak of 31 consecutive games pointing and may have dented Cornell’s title production on first and second down needs with a reception, second best in program hopes, the club has no choice but to move forward. to go way up. We’re not very good right now history. Still, the group posted decent results. “Our team will be defined by what we do offensively in scoring territory. We’ve got to Tasker finished with eight catches for 87 these next six games,” Tretter said. “It will be get to the bottom of that.” A bad omen for Cornell’s receiving corps yards and the Red’s only touchdown of the nice to get back in front of the Schoellkopf is the apparent limitations of fifth-year game. Gellatly added 111 yards on six recep- crowd. We’ll refocus this week. We’re going to senior Shane Savage’s injured leg. The Ivy’s tions, while Hagy shook off the fumble to come out with fire and we’ll be ready to go.” triple-crown winner from 2011 gave it a go tally 25 rushing and 77 receiving yards. The Red returns home to wrap up its Quintin Schwab can be reached at after missing all but the first series of the season opener on Sept. 15, but he didn’t look non-conference schedule on Saturday at qschwab@cornellsun.com.
Knowledge, Allegiance and Chirping Lead to Success RITTER
Continued from page 20
least the basics of the Core 4 — football, basketball, baseball and hockey. If you can understand the general flow of play, then you should be able to follow along with your friends. Most of my guy friends say that they are impressed by a girl who understands the gist of a game that they are watching together, so take note, ladies — knowledge really is power. Use it to your advantage. 2. Pledge Your Allegiance While knowing the basics of a sport is helpful, following specific teams is even better. Being able to name certain key players or recall a few stats about a team is usually enough to make a good impression in a conversation. However, be warned that you may encounter another fan who questions why you support your team or tries to engage you in a conversation that goes beyond the depth of the Wikipedia page you read. You don't need to become an expert, but it's good to know enough about a team — especially a successful team — so that people don't assume you are bandwagoning. Successful teams are popular for a reason, but it's better to say that the team is good because it
won MLS Cup recently rather than because David Beckham has a nice rump. 3. The Art of Chirping The final way to blend into our sports-obsessed culture is to learn how to properly chirp. No, I don't mean make bird noises. Instead, I'm referring to the witty (or not so witty) banter and smack-talk that has become an integral part of most sporting events. If you want to learn the best comebacks and chirps first hand, then I would suggest making dismissive comments about your friends' teams and seeing how they respond. While this method may seem questionable, it will provide results. Proceed with caution. I learned a great deal about chirping last year during the Flyers-Penguins Playoff series. Friendships are thrown to the wayside when a chance to play (or have one's team play) for Lord Stanley's Cup is on the line. So, ladies, there you have it. These tips are not going to turn you into a bleacher creature, but my hope is that you'll enjoy watching sports just a little more than you did before and be more accepted by the sports fanatics in your lives. Lauren Ritter can be reached at sportseditor@cornellsun.com.
w w w. c o r n e l l s u n . c o m
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 10, 2012 15
SPORTS
Cornell Extends Winning Streak to Four Straight Games By SHAYAN SALAM Sun Staff Writer
The Cornell field hockey team has extended its winning streak to four straight games — after facing both Colgate and Georgetown on the road. The Red (5-6, 21 Ivy League) defeated the Raiders, 3-2, on Wednesday and then travelled to College Park, Md. to defeat the Hoyas, 3-1. The game against Colgate was played on the road for Cornell, but just in nearby Hamilton, NY. The Red converted its first few penalty corner chances — with the first two being scored by freshman Marisa Siergiej with assists from junior Hannah Balleza and freshman Taylor Standiford respectively. Balleza then proceeded to score the third goal, putting the ball into the net off of a rebound near the goal. However, the Raiders were determined to put up a fight, and proceeded to score two goals within the last 12 minutes of play. Jade Dennett and Lauren Dittman were the scorers for the Raiders. Colgate was able to outshoot the Red, 18-9, but Cornell was
the victor due to the tremendous work of goal keeper Carolyn Horner, who recorded seven saves in the second half alone. The Red then travelled to Washington D.C. for a dinner hosted by the Field Hockey Alumni for family and friends of the team. The following day, the team travelled to the University of Maryland to face the Georgetown Hoyas. Three different Cornell players were able to notch a goal — with Balleza, Siergiej, and junior Brittany Thompson each scoring. Additionally, Siergiej and Standiford each recorded an assist for Cornell. Thompson was able to draw first blood — scoring 28 seconds into the game to give the Red an early lead. Georgetown was able to equalize, scoring its only goal of the contest when senior Annie Wilson scored off of a rebound. The Red scored its next two goals unanswered to finish off the game. Again the Red was outshot, 11-8, but managed to come up with the win, relying on the presence of Horner and smart decision making on the field. As a result of an impressive performances during the last two games, Balleza and
Siergiej received honors as the Ivy League Player of the Week and the latter Ivy League Rookie of the Week. This is the first time that two Cornell athletes swept the awards since 1995. The Red will look to these players to continue their impressive play throughout the last six games of the season. The Red will head back on the road and travel to Harvard next Saturday to face the Crimson (3-8, 1-2). This will be the fourth Ivy League contest of the year for the Red and a win would give the team a 3-1 record. The Crimson are led offensively by sophomore Noel Painter who spearheads the offense with four goals so far on the season. Another Crimson sophomore Caitlin Rea is the playmaker for Harvard — she leads the team with four assists this season. The team is also anchored by senior goalkeeper Cynthia Tassopoulos who has played in nine of the eleven total games for Harvard so far. The team is coached by Tjerk van Herwaarden, who is in his first season of holding the reins for Harvard but comes to the Crimson with past experience.
Red Hopes to Build on Last Two Games for Positive Season End
Herwaarden helped the University of Maryland Terrapins win five national titles in the seven years he spent there. The Red will then come back to Ithaca for a matchup against the Davidson Wildcats. The visitors are led on offense by senior Finley Amato, who leads the team with 10 goals. The creative player to watch is freshman midfielder Melissa Funsten who has recorded six assists on the season. In goal for the Wildcats is senior Sarah Fisher, who has played in all 12 games for the Wildcats this season. If the Red can pull off two more victories in these next two games, it will elevate the team to a winning record for the first time this season. At 7-6 and 3-1 in the Ivy League, the Red will be in a prime position to finish off the season with a strong record. Cornell has played with unmatched tenacity in its last four games and will continue this mentality in practice and hopefully in games. Shayan Salam can be reached at ssalam@cornellsun.com.
Men’s soccer
… I think that she did well, [she] punched a few out. She is very brave and things in crowds and stuff, she done very well with [that] … She This past weekend, the tie against Harvard has been very good through all three Ivy games seems to follow a trend with the Red versus and with Lafayette,” said Farmer. Hoping to build off its current momentum, Crimson matchups ending in a tie — the teams Cornell will continue the Ivy part of the seatied last season, 2-2, on Oct. 8 at Berman. “The fact that we tied them last year was a sonthis Saturday when it goes up against Yale at big thing for us. We wanted to at least get a 4 p.m. on Berman Field. “It’s Ivy League season … these are extremepoint off of them again,” said Keroack. “Having the confidence after our Lafayette ly important games for us ... Just building confidence, keeping things moving and staying game was also a big factor.” This year’s draw was thanks to a goal from positive for the rest of the season [is the goal],” said Keroack. Keroack in the 75th Then the Red minute, for the only will continue with a Cornell goal of the “I think that a lot of it for us is trip to Brown the entire game. confidence and I think that is building next weekend and “I was more surwill finish off the prised than any- after the last two games” fall with games thing. I hardly saw Patrick Farmer against Ivy foes it go into the net Princeton and when I headed it in. I thought it was surely going over,” said Dartmouth. “I think a lot of it for us is confidence and I Keroack. “I just threw my hands up.” The goal was executed off of a corner kick in think that it is building after the last two the second half by Chitanvis, which Keroack games. Yale significantly outplayed them last capitalized on with a header 15 yards from goal. year. So for this weekend it is to get them to The goal for Keroack was her first since her sec- play a little different, a little more defensively ond showing during her freshman season when and a little faster play to matchup with Yale … she scored twice over Delaware State on Sept. 5, Believing that they can and coming from behind against Harvard should give them some 2010. CONNOR ARCHARD/ SUN SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER “Mary has been playing really well in train- confidence [for this weekend],” added Farmer. Sophomore midfielder Conor Goepel helped the Red last night with a goal ing and then has been a little up and down in to take down Colgate, 3-1. The victory gave Cornell it’s 11th win of the seasome of the matches. But she came into this Haley Velasco can be reached at son, which tied the program record for wins recorded in a single season. match and played really hard. She was in a great hvelasco@cornellsun.com. place for the corner kick and then had a really intelligent header,” said Farmer. “It was a really good goal and a deserving reward for the work that she has put in.” VOLLEYBALL Chitanvis’ assist also gives her points in the PENN 3 last three games for the Red and puts her in a CORNELL tie with Hompe for the scoring lead at 10 0 points apiece. MEN’S SOCCER Game: 1ST 3rd 2ND “I think that scoring some goals on Tuesday Penn 25 25 27 HARVARD 1 night gave them some more confidence. We Cornell 21 23 25 didn’t play especially well the first half [against CORNELL 3 PRINCETON Harvard], but the second half we picked it up, 3 Game: 1ST 2ND TOTAL played pretty well and came from behind to CORNELL Harvard 1 0 1 1 score that goal,” Farmer said. Cornell 1 2 3 Game: 3 4th 1 ST 2 ND RD The game also gave Christ an opportunity to Princeton 25 25 27 20 COLGATE show her stuff for the Red with a career-high 10 1 Cornell 14 14 25 25 saves. The only shot missed was one at the twoCORNELL 3 minute mark where Harvard turned a bouncing BINGHAMTON Game: 1ST 2ND TOTAL 3 pass at 10 yards into its solo goal for the game. Penn 0 1 1 CORNELL Harvard’s goalie Bethany Kanten saw a lot less 2 Cornell 1 2 3 action than Christ with only two shots on goal Game: 3RD 5th 1ST 2ND 4th from Cornell — the goal from Keroack out of Binghamton 16 22 25 18 25 Be sure to pick up tomorrow’s Sun for a complete recap the two shots attempted throughout play. Cornell 18 25 16 25 20 on the games. “[Christ] played very well in the last game
W. SOCCER
Continued from page 16
Tuesday Night Recap
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Sports
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 10, 2012
16
FOOTBALL
Cornell Falls Against Undefeated Harvard By QUINTIN SWCHWAB
pleted his first 12 passes. The Red offense countered those possessions with three punts. When Red junior safety Brian Gee cor“One drive is not going to kill you, ralled a deflected third-quarter pass for his you’ve got to stay in there,” said Cornell left first career interception, it looked like the tackle J.C. Tretter. “But we [started] piling Cornell football team might have turned up three and outs. You can’t do that — you what was heading towards laugher into a need to gain some momentum right away.” nailbiter. But Harvard (4-0, 2-0 Ivy) proved The defending Ivy Champs kept the it is still the class of the Ivy League by book- early punch until junior wide receiver Ricky ending two 21-0 scoring streaks in a critical Zorn dropped a third-down pass in the end early-season conference matchup to run zone and junior kicker David Mothander away with a 45-13 victory on Saturday after- missed wide right on the resulting 30-yard noon in Cambridge, Mass. — its 13th win field goal attempt with 10:44 remaining in a row. until halftime. Cornell (2-2, 1-1) received the opening Cornell junior quarterback and offensive kickoff like it has in all four games, but co-captain Jeff Mathews then put the Red senior wide receiver Kurt Ondash continued on the board with three straight completions a season-long team and individual bugaboo — a 44-yard beauty to Hagy, a 19-yard post by dropping a pass on first down and fresh- route to junior wide receiver Grant Gellatly man running back Luke Hagy fumbled on and a three-yard touchdown toss to senior third down for the Red’s second opening- wide receiver and special teams co-captain drive cough up of the year. Luke Tasker. Just 15 minutes of play later, Harvard The Red defense stepped up to force conjunior wide receiver Andrew Berg became secutive three-and-outs, and Mathews and the fourth-ever the receivers Crimson playled another er to record “We had guys open and I didn’t scoring drive. three receiving make enough throws.” But this time a touchdowns in 12-yard loss on a game — the Jeff Mathews a doublefirst two by reverse trick beating Red play forced the freshman cornerback Kendall Brown to the squad to settle for a 25-yard field goal from back of the end zone. Berg’s 15-yard catch in junior kicker John Wells and a 21-10 halfthe first minute of the second quarter vault- time deficit. ed the hosts to a 21-0 cushion as Harvard Mathews recorded a Cornell-record senior quarterback Colton Chapple com- ninth career 300-yard game and moved into
Sun Senior Writer
ABHISHEK SHAH/ SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Pushing forward | Senior wide receiver Luke Tasker made eight catches for 87 yards, including a touchdown, in Cornell’s loss to Ivy foe Harvard.
second all-time for career yardage, but the competitive gunslinger is not in a mood to rejoice. “I didn’t make enough plays today,” the 2011 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year said. “We had guys open and I didn’t make enough throws. We didn’t respond well today and I think a lot of that’s on my shoulders.” On a warm and sunny day with strong winds, Cornell played solid defense in the middle two quarters with the breeze in Harvard’s face. The Red and Crimson traded field goals in the third for a 24-13 score, but when the teams again switched sides, the top-ranked offense in the Ancient Eight blew through the visitors in the final frame. Harvard gained 70 percent of its passing yards and scored 35 of its 45 points with the wind. With 12:53 to go, Zorn fought to snatch a 24-yard touchdown pass over Brown, whom Chapple targeted all game long, to stretch the Crimson lead to 31-13 and add the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“Cornell is playing a lot of young guys in the secondary,” said Chapple, who improved to 10-0 as a starter with a 362-yard, fourscore passing performance. “We knew that’s something we can exploit. Having the playmakers on the outside, it’s just a great matchup all around.” “They made a lot more plays than we did,” added Cornell head coach Kent Austin. “Their receivers made some great catches. [When] the ball was thrown up, there [were] many times it was either guy’s ball and [Harvard] made the play and we didn’t. Give some credit to them.” During a long-shot comeback attempt, Mathews threw his second and third interceptions of the season, leading to two more Crimson scores — a six-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Treavor Scales and a four-yard scoring sprint from Chapple. The latter came on a fourth-and-goal that put an exclamation point on a convincing 45-13 triumph. See FOOTBALL page 8
Red Beats Lafayette; Ties Harvard Sports 101: A Girl’s WOMEN’S SOCCER
By HALEY VELASCO Sun Assistant Sports Editor
Things are looking up for the Red after this past week of play including both an Ivy game and a non-conference showing. After a 4-1 win against Lafayette on Tuesday, Cornell (1-10-1, 0-2-1 Ivy League) went on the road to tie the defending Ivy League Champion Harvard, 1-1, after two periods of overtime. The 4-1 win against Lafayette ended the 14 game losing streak that
the Red has been fighting to break since the early onset of the season. The first goal of the game came from senior forward Moonie Mancho with 40 seconds left in the first half to even the playing field after an early Lafayette advantage. The Red returned to the second half and scored three more goals — two from senior forward Maneesha Chitanvis and one from senior forward Xandra Hompe — within nine minutes of play to take the victory for Cornell. Hompe also racked up
TINA CHOU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
She shoots, she scores | Junior midfielder Mary Keroack came up big this past weekend scoring the only goal against Harvard to secure the tie for Cornell.
three assists in the game as well to add to the tally. The game against Lafayette was the first collegiate victory for junior goalkeeper Tori Christ in 45 minutes of play. “[The success was from] a little more determination in the second half. Mostly I think we finished more of our chances that game than some other games,” said head coach Patrick Farmer talking about the team’s first win. “We certainly possessed the ball and played a little better, but we haven’t been playing badly. We just haven’t been finishing things off very well.” The game against Lafayette was the first time that the Red scored four goals in a game since Sept. 5, 2010 against Delaware State — where it beat the Hornets, 7-0. Hompe also became the first Cornellian to pick up three assists in a game since 1991 — with the accomplishment only occurring three times previously in 1983, 1987 and 1991. “I think we have really come together as a team, it took us a little bit but we are definitely doing some things that are working … and we are just really starting to come together and it’s great,” said junior midfielder Mary Keroack. See W. SOCCER page 15
Guide to the Game T here are plenty of female sports fans in the world. However, this column is not for them. This column is for all the women out there who might not know the difference between a grand slam and a slam dunk, but have people in their lives that are sports fans. Ladies, listen up — I’ve got a few suggestions for surviving in a sports-centric world.
were addicted to basketball. A visit to Brosquad’s apartment was not complete without watching at least one game, with all of the guys simultaneously yelling (sometimes incoherently, no offense) at the little men running across the screen. While I usually had fun spending time with the guys, I’m not a huge NBA fan, so I would occasionally get lost in their
Lauren Ritter Five for Fighting 1. Know the Game
Half the battle of enjoying a game, in person or on television, is understanding what is happening in front of you. Therefore, having a boyfriend or guy friends who have a great love for sports, while you do not share their enthusiasm or passion, can be rough. I had a group of guy friends my junior year that
conversations. I wanted to be more active in what the guys spent 85 percent of their time talking about, so I did what any smart girl would do — I googled basketball. You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy watching a game; however, a little bit of knowledge isn’t a bad thing. I recommend learning at See RITTER page 14