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Prof. Robert Lieberman M.S. ’65 is not only a physics professor, but also a novelist and filmmaker. | Page 3
Calvin Patten ’15 says the “genre-smashing” Transparent is Amazon’s first success in internet television. | Page 11
The swimming and diving team beat the University of Buffalo in a pre-season scrimmage Saturday. | Page 16
Endowment Breaks $6 Billion
For second consecutive year, return percentage hits double digits By ANNIE BUI Sun News Editor
Cornell announced Tuesday that it earned a return of 15.8 percent on its endowment during the 2014 fiscal year, marking a more than four-percent increase from fiscal year 2013. This figure stands in stark contrast to the University’s endowment return just two years ago, when Cornell saw only a 0.14 percent gain during the 2012 fiscal year. This is the second year in a row where Cornell saw a return in the double digits. Cornell’s endowment reached $6.2 billion, surpassing the $6-billion mark that it previously achieved in
fiscal year 2008, according to the University. In comparison, the value of Cornell’s long-term investments at the close of the 2013 fiscal year was $5.7 billion. The University attributed the significant increase in the value of its long-term investments to “careful management and generally favorable market conditions.” However, despite the increase in its endowment return, the University has seen the second-lowest endowment return among the Ivy League institutions for the third year in a row. This year, Cornell barely edged out Harvard University’s return of 15.4 percent. Yale University saw the greatest endowment return See ENDOWMENT page 4
DATA COMPILED BY ANNIE BUI / SUN NEWS EDITOR
Raising the bar | This graph shows endowment returns for fiscal year 2014 among Ivy League institutions, by percent.
Cornell,County Prepare Local Ebola Responses Cornellians split by mandated University travel restrictions to Western Africa By ASHLEY CHU Sun Staff Writer
K.K .YU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Prevention is key | John Rudd (center), president and chief executive officer of Cayuga Medical Center, speaks at the Ebola media roundtable held at the Tompkins County Health Department Tuesday.
Cayuga Medical Center, Gannett plan for potential virus threat Prevention’s recently intensified Ebola guidelines may require the hospital to adopt additional measures. The new guidelines encourage hospitals to Officials say Tompkins County is preparing itself to face Ebola, despite the low risk the deadly have three sub-zones within all disease isolation areas — a green, yellow and red room — with the virus faces to the community. During a panel held Tuesday, representatives rooms’ codenames correlating directly with the potential of Ebola contaminafrom the Tompkins County according to Dr. David Health Department, Cayuga “The key is continuous tion, Evelyn, vice president of medMedical Center and the ical affairs at Cayuga Medical University said they are lookmonitoring of what is Center. ing into strengthening key According to Evelyn, a health measures to prepare for coming out of the CDC green room is a safe place for a potential incident. and New York State medical practitioners to put “A coalition of health care, on protective gear, the yellow academic and first responders is actively developing strategies Health Department to be room is a buffer between the area and contaminatfor to respond in the event of a on top of compliance.” doctor’s ed space and the red room confirmed case of Ebola in houses the infected patient. Tompkins County,” said Frank John Rudd He added some of the CDC’s Kruppa, public health director other suggestions include of the Tompkins County Health Department. “This coalition has been more intensive personal protective equipment for engaged in collaborative planning since August.” hospital workers and toilets in patient isolation According to Kruppa, Cayuga Medical Center rooms. already has protocols for handling communicable See PANEL page 4 diseases, but the Centers for Disease Control and
By ALEXA DAVIS Sun Senior Editor
Following the University’s announcement that travel restrictions would be placed on certain West African nations, several Cornellians said they supported Cornell’s decision. Administrators announced Thursday that it would be placing restrictions on University-related travel to West African nations under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention travel warnings, which for Ebola currently includes Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Shivang Tayal ’16, international liaison at large and vice president of diversity and inclusion for the Student Assembly, said he agreed with the University’s response to the Ebola crisis.
“While these restrictions may create inconveniences to people and students who need to travel from Ebola-affected regions, I feel these are required to ensure that this outbreak is contained and restricted,” he said. Prof. Jens David Ohlin, law, said he believes that the University’s response seems “appropriate,” in light of the appeal process for exceptions. Those who request exemption from the travel restrictions must fill out an International Travel Advisory and Response Team application form two to six weeks before their anticipated trip, according to the University. “The risk at Cornell is very low, just as it is across the United States,” Ohlin said. “However, we See ABROAD page 5
Happy birthday
KERN SHARMA / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Cafe Jennie, located in The Cornell Store, celebrates its first birthday Tuesday with cake and fruit punch for students.
2 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014
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rescued and arrested. Super-Drunk Woman Ventura County fire Capt. Ron Oatman says firefighters to neighbors’ reports of a woman Arrested; Mistook Jail for Bar crying hadresponding to chisel away much of the chimney and
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Tomorrow Naturalizing Europe: Symbols, Practices and The Construction of Banal Authority in the E.U. 12:15 - 1:30 p.m., G08 Uris Hall Always Coca-Cola: A Reading by Alexandra Chreiteh 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., 106 White Hall Student Assembly Meeting 4:45 - 6:15 p.m., Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room
PAW PAW, Mich. (AP) — One is a building with bars. The other is a building with a bar. A very drunk woman apparently had trouble telling them apart and ended up in a southwestern Michigan jail cell. The Van Buren County sheriff ’s department says a 39-year-old woman mistook the Van Buren County jail for the bar where she was trying to pick up her boyfriend. The department says Deputy Robert Miersma spotted the Hartford-area woman backing into the jail parking lot in Paw Paw about 2 a.m. Sunday and noticed she smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated. It says a breath test showed her with more than twice the 0.08 percent blood alcohol considered drunk in Michigan. She’s expected to face drunken driving charges.
Woman Rescured From Chimney, Then Arrested
Zombie Lurch 8 - 9 p.m., Big Red Barn
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — A woman stuck in the chimney of a Southern California house has been
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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
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lubricate it with dish soap Sunday to free 30-year-old Genoveva Nunez-Figueroa. The Ventura County Star reports she was arrested on suspicion of illegal entry and giving false information to police. Police say Nunez-Figueroa knows the owner of the home in Thousand Oaks, who wasn’t there. They wouldn’t elaborate.
Bobcat Escapes Again From New Jersey Home STAFFORD TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A pet bobcat that has repeatedly escaped from its owner's southern New Jersey home is again on the loose. The Asbury Park Press reports Rocky went missing from Ginny Fine’s home in Stafford Township on Tuesday morning. Animal control officials spotted the 38-pound bobcat later in the day but couldn’t catch it before it ran off into a wooded area.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 8, 2014 3
NEWS
Prof. Lieberman M.S. ’65 balances physics, writing and filmmaking PHOTOS BY KERN SHARMA / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
By OLIVIA LUTWAK Sun Contributor
When he’s not teaching Cornell students about electromagnetism, Prof. Robert Lieberman M.S. ’65, physics, spends his time writing fiction novels and traveling overseas creating documentaries. When asked how he balances a variety of interests, Lieberman said that he lives “a schizophrenic existence.” “I start off in the morning working on a book, run to the studio to check in with our editors on o u r Cambodian film, then to Cornell to work, then dinner at one of the dorms as a faculty fellow and then collapse,” he said. “Everyone thinks I have high energy, but they haven’t seen me in the collapsed state.” Lieberman said his passion for writing preceded his passion for filmmaking. He began writing short stories at eighteen — the first of which were published in Sweden, where he used to live. “I began writing novels because I thought I would leave something behind, but we’re in a post-literate generation,” he said. “There’s a natural evolution going from novels to film … and my books are all printed on acid paper that’s eating itself up.”
His most recent film, They Call It Myanmar, is set in Burma. Lieberman and examines everyday life in the second-most isolated country on Earth. “The hardest part [of filming] was protecting people,” he said. While his films are set all over the world, Lieberman said most of his novels — including his most recent one — The Boys of Truxton — are set in and around Ithaca, which provides him with inspiration for his novels. “ I ’ m trapped here,” he said. “Ithaca is a dark hole: It has heavy gravity, it’s very hard to get out and it always sucks you back, for better and worse,” he said. After traveling all over the w o r l d , Lieberman said he is unable to choose a single memorable experience. “Every place is different, yet every place is the same,” he said. “I find that people, regardless of their size or shape or color of skin, are still human beings who laugh and cry and love their children.” Though Lieberman said he came to Cornell with the intention of becoming a veterinarian, he eventually pursued a degree in electrical engineering. “The biggest mistake of my life [was] that I did-
n’t stay in veterinary medicine. I do love animals, and I’m sorry that I didn’t do that,” he said. “The other big mistake is that I started piano at age five and quit at age 10.” Having been at Cornell for over 50 years, Lieberman said he has a “unique perspective” on the University and has seen many of the changes that have occurred. “Cornell does some great things,” he said. “They teach me, so that’s why I’m still here. I could have retired a long time ago. My plan is to die at the blackboard.” However, Lieberman said that Cornell “misses the boat” when it comes to sending the right message to students about the college experience. “I worry that the students are getting the wrong message,” he said. “I worry that the students are caught up in this hamster wheel of prelims. No one is actually reminding them that they’re here to learn, and if you learn, the grades follow naturally.” He added that he believes Cornell can encourage students to get trapped in a “competitive frenzy.” “Cornell should be sending that message clearly rather than stoking the competitive frenzy,” he said. “Don’t worry about the job, worry about the education, because you can never guess what you’re going to be doing in the future.” Lieberman also said he believes that there needs to be more “cross-fertilization” among the students. “The engineers aren’t talking to the art history majors, and the government kids aren’t talking to the natural resource students,” he said. “Sometimes you can learn more outside the classroom than you can inside.” Olivia Lutwak can be reached at ocl2@cornell.edu..
Cornell Alumni Develop Software for Emergency Agencies By ASHLEY COLLIS-BURGESS Sun Staff Writer
Aiming to improve first responder technologies, two Cornellians — Sam Jones ’13 and Connor Fitzpatrick ’13 — released software that facilitates communication and information exchange for first responders. Echo Responder, released last year and used by the Cayuga Heights Fire Departments, provides chat messaging, incidental mapping, location sharing and other personal data to first time responders through web, Android and iOS platforms, according to Fitzpatrick, who was formerly a Cayuga Heights firefighter and Bangs Ambulance EMT. “Echo Responder is a software platform that provides tactical tools to emergency first responders.” he said. “We were originally founded by Cornell graduates who are also firefighters, medics and software developers.” Within two weeks of Echo Responder’s release, both the Cayuga Heights Fire Department and Newfield Fire Company began actively using the software to search for the nearest fire hydrants and communicate “without being limited by radios,” according to Fitzpatrick. Jones, a former lieutenant firefighter for the Cayuga Heights Fire Department who studied electrical and computer engineering, said the program was created to improve the current technology services for information
dissemination in the fire department. “Fire departments are often using heavily outdated information technology services and it affects performance in everything from response time to membership retention,” he said. “Armed with timely and correct information, officers and firefighters alike make better, faster decisions, which enables greater cohesiveness and effectiveness in the unit.” Compared to others competitors, Echo Responders will be a leading program in analytics because of its efficient and user friendly structure, according to Jones. “Adopting a cloud based service that utilizes existing infrastructure and hardware presents a low risk, low cost opportunity to push information and analytics to the edge in real time,” he said. The Cornellians hope to expand the use of Echo Responder. “The software is currently used nationwide and we hope all Tompkins County Agencies will adopt the technology,” he said. Referencing plans for user expansion, Fitzpatrick said that Echo Responder can be easily customized to meet the needs of any emergency unit through its cloud-based infrastructure. “The software is a robust and customizable solution for almost any type of emergency agency,” he said. “Ultimately we intend to expand to all facets of emergency services — police, fire and EMS, as well as specialized teams such as search and rescue
and wildland fire suppression.” Jones added that he hopes Echo Responders will be a leading program due to its user-friendly structure. “A cross platform, open, service married with existing infrastructure and hardware will get more users on the platform lead-
ing to an overall better product - this is where the competition has failed,” he said.
Ashley Collis-Burgess can be reached at aburgess@cornellsun.com.
Soaring ahead
K.K. YU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Brigid Sofen '16 talks with a recruiter from United Airlines at the Hotel School Career Day Tuesday.
4 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014
NEWS
Yale Leads Ivies in 2014 Endowment Returns Princeton close behind with 19.6 percent return ENDOWMENT
Continued from page 1
for the 2014 fiscal year among Ivy League schools with a return of 20.2 percent, bringing its total endowment to $23.9 billion — an all-time high — according to The Yale Daily News. Princeton University followed closely behind with an endowment return of 19.6 percent, The Daily Princetonian reported. Dartmouth, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown reported returns of 19.2, 17.5, 17.5 and 16.1 percent, respectively. Cornell’s largest returns for fiscal year 2014 came from private equity, domestic equity and non-United States developed portfolios, according to a University press release. Chief Investment Officer A.J. Edwards said in the release
that while changes in the world economy “need to be watched,” recent fluctuations in the market have not been a major concern. “The [long-term investments are] positioned both to weather the continued uncertain and ever-changing economic outlook and to benefit from opportunities that may arise from time to time,” he said. According to the press release, Cornell’s long-term investments has returned 11.7 percent annualized over five years and 8.2 percent over 10 years. Additionally, the Consumer Price Index has grown at a 2.5 percent annual rate over the past 10 years — an increase of 0.1 percent from the previous year, The Sun previously reported. Annie Bui can be reached at abui@cornellsun.com.
At Panel,County Officials Talk Ebola Preparedness PANEL
Ebola by placing travel restrictions on University-related travel to some West African countries Cayuga Medical Center to all students, faculty and staff. already has isolation areas in its According to Dr. Janet emergency room and intensive Corson-Rikert, associate vice care unit, but neither are cor- president for campus health and rectly equipped for treating director of Gannett Health patients with Ebola, according Services, if individuals suspect to Evelyn. Areas in the ICU are they may have contracted the intended for common diseases, virus they should call Cayuga such as influenza, and areas in Medical Center before checking the E.R. were not designed with themselves into the facility. anti-rooms or in-room patient “[Over the phone], we can toilets. coordinate [with patients] to figHospital officials say they are ure out what the best place is to currently researching various receive the best care,” Corsonways to accommodate the Rikert said. “We might arrange CDC’s enhanced guidelines and travel to Syracuse or maybe an update protocols emergency as recommendahealth departtions are “The key is continuous ment for testreleased. ing.” “The key is monitoring ... to be on Although continuous health officials top of compliance.” monitoring of say there is a what is coming low risk of John Rudd out of the CDC Ebola coming and New York to Tompkins State Health Department to be County, residents have been on top of compliance,” said John expressing their concern and Rudd, president and chief execu- confusion to the health departtive officer of Cayuga Medical ment. Center. “We’ve received calls from The hospital has already people who are confused about joined other medical centers scary media messages and don’t across New York in a drill for know how to compare that to Ebola readiness, according to other risks,” said Sigrid Connors, Rudd. One of these drills took director of patient services at the place recently when an individ- Tompkins County Health ual entered Cayuga Medical Department. “We need to teach Center’s emergency room and people how to put risk in peridentified themselves as having spective.” recently travelled to Liberia. No cases of Ebola have been Nurses and receptionists — confirmed in the local area or the who were not aware the scenario state of New York, according to a was a drill — successfully fol- Tompkins County Health lowed protocol and isolated the Department press release. patient within five minutes, he said. Cornell has also implemented Alexa Davis can be reached at preventative measures against adavis@cornellsun.com. Continued from page 1
NEWS
Prof: Ebola Crisis May Cause Bias ABROAD
Continued from page 1
need to set in place policies that will protect the community if the situation worsens — which may very well happen. That’s the most important thing.” Ohlin said he sees the administration’s approach of “getting out in front of the situation instead of responding after-the-fact” as “smart.” “I think everyone can go ahead with their business on campus without any fear,” Ohlin said. Although no Cornell Abroad programs have been directly affected, Gerrit Wissink ’14 — who studied abroad in Senegal — said he feels that the measures might be excessive. “Regardless of Ebola’s origin, it certainly sounds like Cornell is taking appropriate [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]-endorsed steps to make sure the entire community remains safe from Ebola without buying into panic,” Wissink said. “However, the strong discouragement of hosting visitors from those countries and the requirement to contact Gannett could be viewed as excessive, especially on top of the screenings that have started at major U.S. airports.” Wissink said he does not feel that other study abroad programs in neighboring countries should be affected by the Ebola crisis. “If I were back in Dakar at this time, I would not be “People might jump to panicked by Ebola,” Wissink said. “The most conclusions regarding stressful thing would probasomeone’s threat level ... bly be to convince family simply because of the color and friends in the U.S. that they should not panic for of their skin.” me. As a student there, I would be much more careProf. Jens David Ohlin ful about personal and food hygiene as well as stay upto-date on the Ebola situation.” The Ebola crisis most likely will not affect students studying abroad in programs in other neighboring countries, according to Wissink. “As a potential parallel example, violence broke out in neighboring Mali when I was in Senegal,” Wissink said. “It had zero impact on my experience there other than I learned a lot more about Mali. I think it is important to keep in mind that the virus is rare and relatively difficult to get, as the University highlighted.” Discriminating against or stereotyping Africans is a potential problem in light of the Ebola crisis and travel restrictions, according to Ohlin. “I think there is a potential problem that people might jump to conclusions regarding someone’s threat level –– with regard to contagions – – simply because of the color of their skin,” Ohlin said. “That’s just plain wrong because it is discrimination, pure and simple. It’s also irrational.” At the same time, Ohlin also said he warns against possible oversensitivity to discrimination that might prevent an effective response to Ebola. “I think that sensible public policy requires heightened scrutiny for individuals who have traveled to certain locations,” Ohlin said. “Again, that’s not based on skin color, that's based on travel itinerary.” Ohlin stressed the importance of asking the right questions to the right people when it comes to the government’s approach to Ebola. “The government should be keeping track of which specific locations in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea are most affected by the outbreak, so that they can ask the right questions for those individuals returning from those locations,” Ohlin said. “Hospital workers and triage nurses also need to be trained to ask the right questions. That's not discrimination, that's sensible public health measures.” Ashley Chu can be reached at achu@cornellsun.com.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014 5
OPINION
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Christo Eliot | The Tale of the Dingo at Midnight
Green Lawns and The Death of Divergent Thinking
Independent Since 1880 132ND EDITORIAL BOARD HALEY VELASCO ’15 Editor in Chief
CATHERINE CHEN ’15
TYLER ALICEA ’16
CAROLINE FLAX ’15
ZACH STEELE ’15
NICK DE TULLIO ’15
SCOTT CHIUSANO ’15
RACHEL ELLICOTT ’15
ALEX REHBERG ’16
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KELLY YANG ’15
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SEAN DOOLITTLE ’16
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Editorial
Affirming Affirmative Consent IN HIS ADDRESS GIVEN OCT. 2 IN NEW YORK CITY, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) ordered all State University of New York schools to adopt new, comprehensive sexual assault policies resembling that of the legislation signed into law on Sept. 28 in California. The SUNY Board of Trustees passed a memorandum to create a uniform sexual assault prevention and response plan for all 64 SUNY campuses, which, among a number of other necessary changes, establishes a clear definition of affirmative consent. The new SUNY campus policy reads, “Consent is clear, knowing and voluntary. Consent is active, not passive. Silence, in and of itself, cannot be interpreted as consent.” We at The Sun applaud Governor Cuomo’s call for all SUNY schools to adopt these policies, and, moreover, fully support the adoption of affirmative consent sexual assault policies for universities. For too long our definition of consent has been based upon the verbal and physical resistance of the individual. The “no means no” paradigm is bound up in passivity and silence, merely built upon what consent is not. New affirmative consent standards reorient our society’s approach to sex by enabling greater accountability and mutual communication between sexual partners. Consent must be enthusiastic, communicative and ongoing throughout any sexual encounter, so that we may move past ambiguity and silence to a place where sexual partners are better able to express, engage and understand each other’s needs and wants when it comes to sex. We at The Sun urge our University to push the state legislature to enact similar sexual assault policies across the state, as Governor Cuomo intends. We further charge the University to take on a broader and more active role in affirmative consent education for current and, especially, incoming students. Through the adoption of comprehensive statewide sexual assault policies and an active dedication to affirmative consent education, we can begin to fundamentally change the cultural norms that have enabled sexual assault to occur and be so prevalent today. We must strive to bring balance to the power dynamics of sexual encounters and relationships by empowering the voices of those involved.
I
t was the illustrious Christopher George From the East Hamptons Latore Wallace — better known by his down to the West Coast stage name, the Notorious B.I.G. — who once said “I never thought it could happen, Suburban houses with unkempt lawns this rapping stuff / I was too used to packing become neighborhood pariahs simply gats and stuff / Now honies play me close like because they refuse to conform. Who else butter played toast / From the Mississippi refused to conform? Well for starters, archaedown to the East Coast.” This lyric epito- ologist Indiana Jones threw the commonly mizes just one of the many parallels between held belief that college professors should only my life and Biggie’s; I too, of course, never wear tweed, lecture and hold office hours out thought my rapping career had much poten- the window, and George Lucas put him in tial. It obviously didn’t, but I, like Biggie, movies because of it. “never thought it could happen.” Horticulturally speaking, maintaining Although I would love to (and definitely green lawns sexually repress your grass and can) talk about how closely my life trajectory forces it to build an unnatural web of undermirrors that of Big’s, it is the line “Now hon- ground shoots resulting in the thick bed of eys play me close like butter play toast / From green grass we have all come to know. We the Mississippi down to the East Coast” that pour chemical fertilizer and pesticides all over I would like to focus on. Maybe he was not our lawns in an effort to maintain that green his school’s sixth grade Geography Bee carpet. We spend money on lawn mowers, champ like yours truly (... ladies), so I will water and sprinkling systems. We hide the excuse the fact that the space between the natural beauty of our landscape under an Mississippi River and the East Coast com- unnatural carpet of turf. Perhaps worst of all, prises just roughly a it is the only option quarter of the we present anyone United States’ landas a possibility for a I never thought it would happen, front yard. mass. Both west and east of the In the 1960s, this grass and stuff, Mississippi, howevGeorge Land perMy frontyard had just er, you will find formed a longitudisome things truly nal study of 1,600 a “Welcome” mat and stuff ubiquitous in children between American culture. ages three and five, Now lawns are clipped close Some of these eight and 10 and, like Patrick Swayze played Ghost lastly, things are great: 13 and 15 in dogs being funny, order to characterFrom the East Hamptons free Wi-Fi in ize the effects aging down to the West Coast. McDonald’s and has on one’s ability forcing out an to be creative or to imminent sneeze by think divergently. looking at the sun. Others, however, are bad Divergent thinking is a creative way of for our health and stifle our creativity: obesity, approaching problems by considering many McDonald’s Monopoly (though I debated possibilities as a solution for a given problem. making this a positive keystone of American The classic divergent thinking test is to ask a culture) and our obsession with green lawns. participant to list as many uses for a paperclip Environmental historian Ted Steinberg as they can imagine. A divergent genius can wrote a book called American Green: The come up with dozens of uses in a matter of Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. I person- minutes. Perhaps not surprisingly, divergent ally did not read it but I did read The geniuses in Land’s study were decidedly conChristian Science Monitor’s and The New centrated in the three to five year-old age York Times’ reviews. … So yeah, I am an group. In fact, 98 percent of the youngest expert. According to Steinberg, America’s fix- participants were classified as divergent ation with perfectly manicured green lawns geniuses. By the age of 15, only one-tenth of came about as a result of mandating a 40- the student population could claim the same. hour work week in 1939. Before that, people The death of divergent thinking can be typically worked half-days on Saturdays and attributed to a number of factors: children were therefore too busy to groom the patch of becoming jaded with age, the failure of the earth on front of their homes. The passage of education system and its focus on rote learnthis legislation — combined with the post- ing and memorization and general commitWorld War II housing boom — made con- ment to the status quo in the world around trolled green spaces more and more com- us. I have no authority and am not going to monplace. As the Cold War and use this column to offer any sweeping McCarthyism permeated its way into scholastic or corporate solutions for the American culture, upstanding capitalists decline in creativity that comes with age. But, needed to fit in with each other, turning the when a child’s only exposure to a landscape American lawn into a weapon of homogene- other than a green carpet of grass comes in ity. How could you tell if your neighbor was the form of an occasional trip to the zoo or, if a communist radical? Well he or she probably they a lucky, a State or National Park, how spent their Saturdays at a radical communist can we expect them to stay creative? Our riot rather than mowing their lawn. An obsession with green lawns is presenting unkempt lawn meant only one thing: Red everyone with only one solution to the quesnonconformity. tion “What do I do with my front yard?” Although the cultural history related to Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunt is the green lawn may be a little far-fetched and over; I encourage you to consider letting your hard to believe, Steinberg does make the grass grow long, letting your grass flower or argument that our obsession with perfectly turning your lawn into a 8-foot high maze of manicured green lawns stems from our gen- neon purple astro-turf. No longer should the eral fear of communism. I am not sure if I front yard be a weapon of homogeneity. buy that particular theory, but the fact Contemplate all possibilities as landscaping remains: solutions. Think divergently and honies will, I promise, play you close like butter played I never thought it would happen, toast. this grass and stuff My frontyard had just Christo Eliot is a senior in the College of Engineering. a “Welcome” mat and stuff He can be reached at celiot@cornellsun.com. The Tale Now lawns are clipped close of the Dingo at Midnight appears alternate like Patrick Swayze played Ghost Wednesdays this semester.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7
OPINION
Scott Stern | The Yale Daily News
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The Politics Of Profanity
ust as a little background, I’ve been writing book reviews for the Weekend section of the News for nearly as long as I’ve been writing columns for this page. Last week, I came into the News’ building to edit my book review, as usual. My editor and I spent about 45 minutes tightening the language and streamlining the thesis, as usual. I left, went back to my room, did some homework and fell asleep. I woke up the next morning to a message informing me that my column had not run because it contained too much profanity. I think, at this point, I should tell you that the book was Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, by Melissa Mohr. Mohr, a recently minted Stanford PhD, took a surprisingly academic approach to her subject, and the book’s almost slavish devotion to detail and historical context was perhaps my only substantive criticism. Mohr did make unflinching use of every swear word you could possibly think of, and many more you couldn’t. In my review, I too repeated the words without caution. One of these began with the letter “c” and ended with a “t.” Another started with the letter “f.” Many of the book’s central arguments were about the evolution of these particular words. I thought — and still think — it would be absurd to write about the history and politics of a word without using the word itself, or by using it only sparingly. The News’ management disagreed (as did other editors). Though I don’t want to parody their argument, I will attempt to state it here. They believed I was not merely profane in the review; I was excessively profane. I used words that truly offend many people. I used them throughout the entire column — I didn’t just isolate them in one paragraph or section, which might have been more palatable. I met with the editor in chief and discussed the issue with him. I argued that this book was an important and original work by a respected academ-
I think that avoiding swear words for the sake of respectability, even in print, even in a newspaper, is ridiculous. ic, that it was my duty as a book reviewer to review important and original works and that to further stigmatize these words only gives them more power over us. I quoted the immortal Albus Dumbledore: “Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself.” Besides, I pointed out, “Holy Sh*t” had been widely reviewed, swear words often included. He responded that the words risked alienating readers with little justification. He said the News would consider printing swear words if they advanced dialogue on a relevant campus issue; he felt my review did not do that. Further, he felt that my use of the offensive words was gratuitous. It seems to me that characterizing particular words as offensive, and therefore unsuitable for a newspaper, is conforming to a disturbing standard of propriety. Upon my soapbox on this page, I’d like to put the question out there: To what extent should a newspaper conform to the politics of respectability? What is problematic about the very concept of respectability in the first place? At what point does writing about offensive topics become offensive in and of itself? Is it important to consider that I, a man, was using the cword and b-word? I hope this column will cause someone to ask herself, What exactly is wrong with printing a swear word in a newspaper? It is, after all, how nearly all of us speak. By avoiding these words or by using euphemism, who exactly are we helping? This is my opinion column, so obviously I cannot resist giving my opinion. I think that avoiding swear words for the sake of respectability, even in print, even in a newspaper, is ridiculous. “Respectability” in print or speech or decorum has always been a straitjacket that constrains any deviation from the status quo. It has always been a tool for those with power to police those without. Further, to claim that the f-word or the c-word are offensive is to be selectively offended. There is nothing inherently troubling about these strings of letters that make a sound. Offense is different for different individuals. Offense is arbitrary. In the 19th century (as Mohr writes), “leg” and “trousers” were offensive. In the fourteenth century, the f-word was fine but “God’s bones” was vulgar. Just a few decades ago, actors basically couldn’t swear on television. History does not look too kindly on censorship for the sake of propriety or prudishness. Words are political, and words are important. I just don’t know who exactly was served by censoring a review that merely stayed true to the language of the book itself. Without staying true to the language of a book about language, there’s no point in the book review. And I write a column of book reviews! It was certainly the News’ right to refuse to print my review. But were they right to do so? Scott Stern is a senior at Yale University and a staff columnist for The Yale Daily News. His column runs on Mondays. He can be reached at scott.stern@yale.edu.
Comment of the day Web
“Israel claims that Hamas used human shields by firing rockets from areas adjacent to schools and hospitals and that Israel was forced with a choice — accept incoming rockets without retaliation or return fire. Hamas denies it used human shields and claims that their rockets were at least 200 to 300 yards away from schools and hospitals when fired. Yet even Hamas admits that ‘mistakes’ were made and in some instances rockets were fired near schools or residential areas.” Robin Messing ’78 Re: “GUEST ROOM: Remembering Rachel Corrie,” Opinion, published October 20, 2014
Samantha Weisman | A Weisman Once Said
Back to Basics “T
hat’s all you want? Just plain?”’
you may be thinking, “What sort of real world issue is Sam going to try to spin this into today?” Don’t worry — I’m not going to try to tell you to try more new things or that being picky is going to hold you back from opportunities. In fact, I would sort of like to advocate for the opposite. Sometimes, going back to the basics and being a Plain Jane can be really nice, or even successful. On Sunday night, John Oliver, host of the new HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, aired a hilarious segment about the Supreme Court. Since only the audio of
As a person who has been called “Plain Jane” my entire life, I hear this a lot. When asked this question at countless eating establishments, I am more used to saying, “Yes, that’s all,” or “Yes, just plain,” than most Chipotle lovers are used to saying, “Yes, I know guac is extra.” My taste buds never seemed to live up to anyone’s standards. From a young age, I have been questioned and teased for only liking vanilla desserts, refusing to eat chocolate and sticking with the same foods all the time. My parDon’t worry — I’m not going to try to tell you ents — probably rightfully to try more new things or that being picky is so — became going to hold you back from opportunities. f r u s t r a t e d In fact, I would sort of like to advocate for with my limited palette, the opposite. since there were only so many foods they could make for Supreme Court proceedings is dinner that I would eat. A com- available to the public, Oliver mon dinner for seven-year-old played the audio from a recent Sam included pasta with butter case over a scene featuring dogs or a bagel with cream cheese, as the justices. While the backeven when the rest of the family drop for the video is intricate — was eating Chinese food. they created a replica of the Trying broccoli at age eight Supreme Court, sized appropriwas a huge accomplishment. I ately for dogs — the concept was at a friend’s house, and her itself is pretty simple. Instead of mother sent a picture of me eat- coming up with a complicated ing it to my mother, since she and never-before-seen idea, knew she wouldn’t believe it Oliver literally set an audio otherwise. Pics or it didn’t hap- recording to dogs sitting in pen, right? chairs. Evidenced by the masI used to get frustrated when sive amounts of Facebook and all of my friends were eating Twitter posts I have seen featurchocolate chip cookies, or when ing the video, people loved it. parents of my friends didn’t The simple idea of showing make something I liked for din- dogs instead of people was still ner. It wasn’t until I got older funny and extremely successful. that I realized that most of this Last Thursday, I attended A frustration was with myself. I Capella United, a performance can’t control my taste buds, but featuring 13 of Cornell's a I can control my willingness to capella groups benefiting the try new things. United Way of Tompkins At this point in the column, County. While all of the partic-
ipating groups are talented, the ones that stood out to me were the groups that played it simple, by choosing talented soloists to sing songs suitable to their voices. The groups that played to their strengths, as opposed to singing complicated or risky songs, were the most fun to watch and seemed to have the best time performing. Although I have certainly tried more new things and foods as I’ve gotten older, I always appreciate a trip back to Simple Town. Let’s take CTB for an example: My staple is a bagel with cream cheese. (Lately, I’ve been loving the seasonal apple cinnamon ones — I highly recommend them.) But sometimes I tell myself I should venture out of my comfort zone and order one of those fancy bagels that everyone is always posting pictures of on Instagram. More often than not, when I order these elaborate creations, it doesn’t live up to the hype and I regret my choice (the important decisions, I know). Sometimes, I tell myself, it’s okay if I don’t want to venture out of my comfort zone. While getting a plain bagel might seem lame or boring to some, to me it represents comfort and reliability. And it may be silly, but when faced with a choice between comfort and risk, every now and then, sticking with your version of a bagel and cream cheese might be all you really need.
Samantha Weisman is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She may be reached at sweisman@cornellsun.com. A Weisman Once Said appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
8 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014
SCIENCE
Microbiology
science around ithaca COURTESY OF PROF. ESTHER AGNERT
Prof. Esther Angert Studies Extreme Bacteria
Proud parent | Prof. Ester Angert, microbiology, studies Epulopiscium, a group of bacteria species that reproduce by growing their daughter cells inside them until they burst open, releasing the new young cells. By SIDDESH RAMESH Sun Contributor
While the majority of bacteria cannot be seen without a microscope, there exists a group of bacterial species that is visible to the naked eye. Known as Epulopiscium, they are “an extreme on the spectrum of diversity of bacterial life in existence,” according to Prof. Esther Angert, microbiology. Species within the genus Epulopiscium are some of the largest known bacteria, but size isn’t the only unusual characteristic of Epulopiscium. Unlike typical bacteria, Epulopiscium reproduces internally. “By studying an extreme organism, you may be able to more easily understand fundamental processes that apply to all sorts of bacteria,” Angert said. Typically, binary fission is the main form of reproduction for bacteria, according to Angert. This process involves the elongation of a cell, replication of its genetic material and subsequent division resulting in two daughter cells. According to Angert, Epulopiscium operates slightly differently. Angert said the cellular structures involved in division, some genetic material and other necessary resources all migrate to the ends of the cell. The mother cell forms walls around these two areas, separating them from each other and the rest of the cell. According to Angert, the offspring will reside and grow for a period inside the mother cell. This form of division can result in not just two daughter cells, but up to 12, according to Angert. The mother cell becomes an incubator for the offspring, continually collecting and transferring nutrients to the daughter cells to allow them to grow and mature,
friendly to microbial life it will begin growing again, according to Angert. “The endospore has receptors that respond to environmental stimuli and can change back to its non-dormant state when nutrients return back to normal,” she said. According to Angert, sporulation and the reproductive process of Epulopiscium are similar but have one major difference: Sporulation is used for survival rather than reproduction, she said. Because of the similarity between the underlying mechanisms of Epulopiscium reproduction and sporulation, Angert said the next step was comparing the “By studying an extreme genomes of Epulopiscium to two organism, you may be able to bacteria more easily understand funda- other species: Bacillus, mental processes that apply to which has wellunderstood genes all sorts of bacteria.” relating to sporulaProf. Esther Angert tion and another species which is a close relative of ry fission to reproduce and to grow its Epulopiscium. Angert said the research team found population, but when nutrients become limited, Bacillus can use a developmental many genes related to sporulation that program to produce an endospore,” were shared in common between the bacterial species tested, indicating that there is Angert said. According to Angert, this developmen- an evolutionary relationship between bactal program is known as sporulation and is teria that form endospores and typically a last resort. The endospore, a Epulopiscium. “Epulopiscium has taken [sporulation] dormant and extremely tough cell, is formed within the mother cell and is even- into a different direction,” Angert said. “It tually released through the rupture of the has done a few little tweaks to this develmother cell, similar to Epulopiscium. The opmental program to allow — instead of endospore may then stay where it is or be the production of a single endospore — transported to a new environment by the production of a few or more offspring.” water or air movement. Having shown an evolutionary relaWhen the endospore senses that its surrounding environment is once again tionship that could explain the origins of culminating in its rupture to release the offspring. “The offspring grow to fill the mother cytoplasm,” Angert said. “Eventually a tear forms in the mother cell's envelope and the offspring emerge from that tear.” Angert said she and her team sought to learn more about Epulopiscium’s mechanism of cell division, given its novel nature. As they studied Epulopiscium, Angert said, they realized that its reproduction process was very similar to sporulation, a process that certain other bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, undergo. “Bacillus subtilis usually divide via bina-
Epulopiscium’s reproductive method, Angert said she is currently conducting research to try to understand how Epulopiscium can be so much bigger than typical bacteria. “Epulopiscium, in terms of cell volume, can be a million times the size of E. coli,” Angert said. There is a limit to the size of a cell because as size increases, the volume of the cell outpaces its surface area. Ideally, a cell should have more surface area than volume because surface area is essential for chemical communication with the environment, according to Angert. Having such a large size typically presents problems in acquiring nutrients and the effectiveness of cell functions that rely on the diffusion of molecules through the cell, she said. Angert said her research on Epulopiscium’s origins will provide a better understanding of bacterial evolution and how genes can be modified for new purposes. “One thing we hope to gain from this is understanding how genomes evolve to take one type of function and modify it to allow for the development of a novel form of cell propagation,” Angert said. Angert’s work with Epulopiscium has already revealed more about a novel reproductive process which may have originated from a well-known bacterial process with a slightly different purpose. Her continued research with this unique bacteria gives us a glimpse into the diversity and versatile nature of life as we know it. Studying the extremities of life can yield insight into the essential mechanisms and functions that drive us all. Siddesh Ramesh can be reached at sr746@cornell.edu.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014 9
SCIENCE
Food Day Thursday, October 23 and Friday, October 24 A celebration of the movement to advocate for a better food system.
October 23, 3 p.m. Farm to Food Work Party at Dilmun Hill Student Organic Farm, 705 Dryden Rd. October 23, 5 p.m. Potluck dinner and documentary screening at Dilmun Hill Student Organic Farm October 23, 7:30 p.m. Screening of Cowspiracy: the Sustainability Secret at Regal Cinemas at the Shops of Ithaca
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 25 in Comstock Hall
X
October 23, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Food Day Festival on the Agriculture Quad featuring the Farmers Market at Cornell as well as Health NutS, Cornell Union of Diability Awareness, Cornell Vegan Society, Cornell Food Recovery Network, Green Catch Global, Gourmet Club, New World Agriculture and Ecology Group, Food Agriculture and Nutrition Graduate Students.
Insectapalooza An insect fair hosted by the Department of Entomology featuring hundreds of live insects, spiders and other arthropods. Attractions include the live butterfly room and arthropod zoo.
P
Science Around Ithaca
Entry is $3 per person, children 3 years old and under are free. — Kathleen Bitter COURTESY OF PROF. COLE GILBERT, ENTOMOLOGY
Science Cabaret Presents: The Zombies Are Coming!
October 24, 5 p.m. The Faults in Our Food System Expert Question and Answer Panel featuring Cornell faculty experts in G71 Martha Van Rennsalaer
Tuesday, October 28 at 7 p.m. Lot 10 Bar and Lounge, 106 South Cayuga St.
October 24, 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sustainable, Seasonal Food Day Feast at Okenshields
Halloween is quickly approaching and to help you prepare Tristan MacLean, a former experimental pathologist, will be presenting on how to respond to a zombie outbreak. Topics covered will include how to identify a zombie, treatment of the zombie condition and how to formulate a disaster plan in the event of a zombie outbreak. Fancy dress is encouraged.
October 24, 7 p.m. Screening of A Place at the Table in Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall — Kathleen Bitter
Free entry
— Kathleen Bitter
10 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, October 22, 2014
A&E
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT The Arts Abroad: Sculpture After Sculpture
CHARLES RAY, ‘THE NEW BEETLE’ BY JULIA SYLVESTER Sun Contributor
Although I am a Senior at Cornell, I have decided to abandon the Hill for my penultimate semester to pursue the beginning of a career in the art world. I am studying with the Sotheby’s Institute of Art — connected to the fine art auctioneer of the same name — and in the meantime have been exploring the vibrant art scene that London has to offer. The art world is as intriguing as it is opaque — a place where paintings sell for $142 million (Francis Bacon), yet the majority of artists cannot support themselves solely by practicing their craft. London is largely considered the art hub of Western Europe, but it also provides a jumping off point for my art-related travels around England and beyond. On that note, a recent trip to Stockholm and the Moderna Museet (Modern Art Museum) inspired a discussion of its temporary exhibit Sculpture After Sculpture: Fritsch, Koons, Ray. Each of the artists — Katharina Fritsch, Jeff Koons and Charles Ray — reacts to the often abstracted and minimal forms of previous modern sculpture, as well as Pop Art and the
KATHARINA FRITSCH, ‘MADONNA’
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MODERNA MUSEET
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
readymade. Each of the artists subverts and distorts common subject matter in their work, whether through a 15-foot electric blue cockerel statue (Fritsch), monumental steel tulips and balloon dogs (Koons) or oversize mannequins dressed in seasonal fashions (Ray). Taken together, these works of the 1980s and 1990s signal a return to more traditional and figurative forms, but rethought and subverted via subject matter, material and scale. With 13 pieces scattered throughout a single space, Sculpture After Sculpture allows for an intimate connection with each work. Few of the works have barriers, and the majority are placed on the floor — freeing the viewer to investigate the room on their own terms, stumbling upon works as they go. This is emphasized by the attendants placed around the room, tasked with protecting sculptures like Fritsch’s “Ghost and Pool of Blood (1988)” — which includes a crimson plate of glass on the floor — from unknowing feet and elbows. This new freedom to approach and observe the object without being inhibited gives the space a democratic and relaxed atmosphere, which one doesn’t often feel in the closed-off space of the museum. This intimacy between work and audience allows for closer relation to the pieces’ commonplace and figural aspects — balloon dogs, pop idols and elephants are subject matter most people can recognize. Yet, one also feels a sense of alienation from this return to the figurative: Alienation from Ray’s eight-foot female mannequin (“Fall ’91”), from the molten blue steel of Koons’ Venus, reminiscent of Greek and Roman sculpture (“Metallic Venus”), and his unnaturally shiny, colossal balloon dog (“Balloon Dog (Red)”). Yet this alienation doesn’t necessarily seem to be affecting the buying market — an orange brother of Koons’ “Balloon Dog” made $53 million at auction in 2013. A recurrent theme of these works is the idea of kitsch commerce and the shop window, which the exhibition labels as “a foundational leitmotif of the modern period.” For example, Fritsch’s life-size “Madonna (1987)” physically enlarges the traditional religious trinket of the Virgin Mary and colors it banana yellow, jarring the viewer with the ghostly presence of such a ubiquitous object. While Fritsch asserts that she “never exhibits readymades” — the artistic use of mass-produced materials — there is still a strong commercial reference in the artist’s expansion of a banal religious souvenir. Similarly, Ray’s “Fall ’91” focuses on the inherently commercial figure of
JEFF KOONS,‘BALOON DOG (RED)’
the mannequin, but distorts it to an enormous size, speaking to the duplication typical of Pop Art and the readymade. The commercial culminates with Koons’ 1988 “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” — a life-sized porcelain figurine of the pop star and his primate pet, modeled from a publicity photograph. Each of the works seem to simultaneously glorify their subject matter and reject it — embellishing and undermining these easily recognizable figures in neon colors, flashy materials and large scale. Overall, in their choice to move past the commercial reproduction of mass-produced works of Pop Art and Modern sculpture, the pieces in Sculpture After Sculpture end up embracing similar figures of the store-front like the mannequin, the publicity photograph, and religious trinket. Yet, through the use of garish colors and exaggerated size, as well as the overwhelming embrace of the kitsch, Fritsch, Koons and Ray subvert these traditionally commercial pieces and ultimately poke fun of the sculpture that preceded them. Julia Sylvester is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jjs467@cornell.edu.The Arts Abroad will appear periodically throughout the semester.
A&E
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | 11
Jeffrey Tambor Shines in Amazon’sTransparent BY CALVIN PATTEN Sun Staff Writer
Transparent is ostensibly a dramatic sitcom about a 70something trans woman, Maura, who is in the process of coming out publicly. But, more broadly, it is about the chaos and crisis in the everyday lives of a close family, with Maura’s late life transition only serving to open up the metaphorical wounds that each of her middle-aged children carry. Transparent is a genre-smashing show and Amazon’s first success in internet television — rapidly swinging from laughout-loud funny to tear-inducing, it openly challenges its audience with the stark authenticity and weirdness of real life. Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) stars as Maura. Tambor’s gentle grace is incredible and he plays her as one would an infant, full of wonder, enthusiasm and fear. And it makes sense — although Maura is a grandmother, she is also a brand new individual, just beginning to open up and meet the world. With the help of a support group and a new friend, Davina, played by transgender actress Alexandra Billings, Maura works to establish a life for herself. The first few episodes find Maura, already long divorced, attempting to open up to her children, Sarah (Amy Landecker), Josh (Jay Duplass) and Ali (Gaby Hoffmann), all of whom live in Los Angeles. Sarah has two children and is in the midst of a troubled marriage when she reignites an affair with her college girlfriend, Tammy (Melora Hardin). She is simultaneously the most receptive to her father’s transition and infuriatingly selfish. Josh, meanwhile, is a music executive and playboy. Seemingly carefree and successful, it becomes rapidly apparent that he is hiding insecurities and fears related to a childhood trauma in weed and sex (a coping mechanism that is a commonality for all three kids). Ali, meanwhile, is a classic underachiever, terrified of following through and choosing to live off of her parents while avoiding dealing with her own insecurities. Ultimately, a distinct irony arises in that all of Maura’s children are in a more opaque state than she. The family dynamics between Maura and the children are the driving force and glue to the show, with the familiar interactions of sitcom families torqued into something much more interesting. They talk incessantly, with nothing off limits but while still doing their best to avoid having to say anything truly uncomfortable. Quickly, an authentic family
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COURTESY OF AMAZON
atmosphere is formed. An early scene involves a glutton of barbecue sauce and the kids wiping the sauce off each other’s faces without hesitation. It is gross, but it is a sharp look into a tight-knit group. Transparent itself is an iceberg, with the bulk of the most substantial material told via passing jokes, cinematography or musical selection. Not that the show is especially abstract, but, like Louie or Girls, uncomfortable ideas are not necessarily going to be shared directly. The show also makes extensive use of flashbacks, with a later episode composing entirely of scenes from 20 years previous. The flashbacks are effective in demonstrating that these people did not just appear as the troubled individuals that we see, but that they were developed over time. They are especially important in establishing Mort’s early attempts and pitfalls in his transition to Maura and the stresses it established in his relationship with his ex-wife. The show is the brainchild of Jill Soloway (formerly a producer and writer for 6 Feet Under), whose distinct print marks the show. She has spoken previously about identifying Judaism with both feminism and questioning authority, and that combination is reoccurring in Transparent. The Pfeffermans are simultaneously very secular and very Jewish, with Bat Mitzvahs, Holocaust references and Josh dating a rabbi mixed right in with all the other shit. The self-lacerating
nature of Jewish humor is also on display, as the family jokes and laughs together about the predicaments they find themselves. It is an essential part of the show, helping make the series’ darker turns, especially in later episodes, palatable. And I will say: It does get dark sometimes. The 10-episode series starts as a peculiar comedy with some distinct if flawed people and rapidly transforms to something heavier. As the series progresses, the humor remains but the lows get lower, the atrocious behavior more shameful. The seventh episode, “Symbolic Exemplar” was the highlight of the season, an episode so poignant it is crushing, even as you see the train wreck coming from miles away. Despite the occasional grimness, Transparent is simply great television. An average show might use Maura as a prop and a gimmick, but in Soloway’s pitch perfect writing and Tambor’s careful acting she is never anything less than a person. Juxtaposed with her flawed, fleshed-out children, we see a very modern family dealing with the dilemmas that are presented in a world where the boundaries of sex and gender are blurred. Transparent certainly represents progress, but no one said it would be easy. Calvin Patten is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He can be reached at cpatten@cornellsun.com.
Loving and Hating, But on Whose Terms?
n all worthwhile criticism, two inclinations are always at war, and they are humility and vigilance. Too much humility precludes the ability to say anything at all, while excessive vigilance almost always reads as petty after the blood has cooled. Being discerning but fair and above all curious demands a balance, which seems feasible until you’re faced with the question: Do you judge a movie on your terms or its own? In other words: Do you evaluate a movie for what it does do or for what, in your lowly opinion, it should do? Do you place it against the exemplary works of its own genre and judge accordingly, or do you have the right to rebuke a whole genre, a whole mode of filmmaking, for violating principles you yourself set? These are questions with answers that vary on a case-bycase basis, but like Ready to Die versus Illmatic and sexual preference, you tend to lean one way or the other. I’ve gotten to the point where I embrace my power to set the terms of engagement. By that, I mean I don’t watch a movie now and give it a thumbs-up or down depending on how successfully and seamlessly it “does its job.” Instead, I see my job, when writing a review, to track down missed opportunities in a movie, moments of shallowness or cheapness that are often reinforced by the codes of genre and narrative. And when a movie connects, the priority is not to judge it against its generic peers but rather for the revelations it touches upon by breaking expectations, by doing what it should not do. Let me clarify with an example. Over the weekend, I saw that other Brad Pitt World War II movie, Fury. It’s brutal, draining and unequivocally “well-done,” my friend and fellow Sun columnist, Julia Moser ’15, and I
all the pandering we’ll soon slog through with Oscar season now upon us. Time to flex that vigilance I mentioned before, for no matter how polished every Blackfish or Philomena may be, we all have the right, and distinct pleasure, to call bullshit. This disparity between what is “well-done” and what is actually interesting to each of us, on a personal level, has been reinforced by the illusion that there is any difference between “favorite” and “best.” We lie when we say, “That is the best movie of the year,” yet we feel no personal connection to it, no urge to think it over or watch it again. “Best” most often esteems the “white elephants” in the room, Manny Farber’s term for those lumbering films with loud artistic or thematic aspirations, which are often unpleasing, unimagiA Lover’s Quarrel native and overlong. The idea that we with the World can objectively judge works of art, as so many gamers insist when a critic enterthe “last stand” scene intrinsic to so many war tains a feminist reading instead of just sticking movies instead of subverting that trope in some to the “gameplay,” perpetuates a borderline way. The ending was “well-done,” no doubt, fascistic, anti-intellectual and above all boring but far and away the stupidest part of the film. culture. Let your taste carry you, through all the culSo I reject Fury’s reality and substitute it with my own — or something like that. I don’t care tures and all the genres. It’s really the only way for the “the acting was good, that plot twist was to open yourself up to surprise after watching dumb” kind of pseudo-criticism that stays with- hundreds and thousands of movies. I’m guilty in a movie’s world and makes no effort to bridge of not rushing to see Frances Ha last year it with our own. That line of thinking, or lack because I anticipated just another ditzy indie thereof, assumes that no film exploits, cash- comedy. When I finally saw it at Cornell grabs or, worst of all, panders. Lord, to think of Cinema, I couldn’t shake it, and my instincts agreed. About halfway through, the battlefield carnage halts for a 20-minute interlude in an apartment that two soldiers, played by Pitt and Logan Lerman, have entered with the intent of raping the female occupants. Things complicate from there, and through facial expressions, pregnant pauses and the use of space, the scene vivisects a much less gory, but more entrenched form of male violence. The movie surprised me there, for its commitment to exploring sexual violence at the expense of on-screen action or spectacle. That’s something not many war movies dare to do, and I give Fury credit for trying. It’s too bad the movie ends with one of those airheaded standoffs that glorifies the valor in mowing down as many Nazis as possible. It shoots itself in the foot by obeying and so ferociously embracing
Zachary Zahos
COURTESY OF IFC FILMS
urged me to keep that opinion to myself because this was, after all, just another ditzy indie comedy and not worth serious attention. But no, Frances Ha is a masterpiece, and I have no qualms saying it because it is a judgment forged in my soul. It is in turns the funniest and saddest movie of last year, for its depiction of melancholia is all but unspoken, maybe even unrecognized by Greta Gerwig’s protagonist. I ranked it alongside heavyweights like The Act of Killing and 12 Years a Slave in my “Best of 2013” list, and if I could do it again I’d rank it higher. Frances Ha obliterates any expectations of its genre through its command of cinema and its intimate understanding of what it is to be human, and for doing all that in a way that speaks to me, it’s simply my job to meet it with awe. Zachary Zahos is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun.com. A Lover’s Quarrel with the World runs alternate Wednesdays this semester.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
12 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014
COMICS AND PUZZLES
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Snoop’s former “surname” 5 Sinatra’s “The Lady Is a __” 10 Fine 14 Polynesian capital 15 __ roll 16 Hard-to-explain feeling 17 Bird between the partridge and French hen 19 Exile isle 20 In dreamland 21 Smashes to smithereens 23 Pique condition? 25 Univ. aides 26 Jamaican music 29 Species of falcon also called an American kestrel 35 Boot parts 37 __-Ball: arcade game 38 “I’m not kidding!” 39 Dreads sporter 41 What’s always in poetry? 42 “__ So Vain”: Carly Simon hit 43 Sci-fi regular 44 Optic layer 46 Feds under Ness 47 Epic novel symbolized by the ends of 17and 29-Across 50 Future 32-Down: Abbr. 51 “Go for the Goal” author Hamm 52 Sales rep’s tool 54 Gym gear 59 Musical ineptitude 63 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit 64 Author of 47Across 66 Witty remark 67 Pasty 68 Italian volcano 69 Egyptian symbol of life 70 Garden path piece 71 After-school mall frequenter
DOWN 33 Cable installer, at 53 Start 1 Crunched stuff times 54 __ California 2 Magnum __ 34 Wails 55 Yemen port city 3 Lass 36 Post-workout 56 Put on the line 4 “Pirates of relaxation spot 57 For fear that Silicon Valley” 40 Musical set in an 58 Artsy Manhattan figure orphanage district 5 Knight crew? 45 Salon solvent 60 Cigar butt? 6 Bit of fishing 48 Texas city that 61 Primo tackle spans five 62 Meg of “Sleepless 7 Give __ to: okay counties in Seattle” 8 Relocate 49 Oscar winner 65 Down-for-the9 Magic word Jannings count count 10 Miss, as an intended target ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 11 Roughly 2.2 pounds, briefly 12 First name in advice 13 Votes for 18 Eyepiece piece 22 Lion-colored 24 Start, as a new hobby 26 Camel’s undoing 27 Tree-dwelling marsupial 28 Pantheon led by Odin 30 Superman player 31 Enjoy again, as a cherished book 32 Ones who no longer have class? 10/22/14 xwordeditor@aol.com
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14 THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014
SPORTS
Red Will Open Regular Season With Binghamton Match Underdogs & SWIMMING AND DIVING Continued from page 16
will be staying focused and continuing to perform at our duel meets not just at practice and at the end of the season,” he said. “The offseason was mostly about gaining strength and power as opposed to endurance. … Our weight room workouts were brutal but they are really paying off now as we see the benefits of a stronger and more powerful team.” On the women’s side, Cornell also showed early season potential, winning nine of the 14 events this past Saturday. Sophomore sisters Billy and Currie Murch Elliot won
a combination of three events between the two, and Junior Jenna Immormino also had a tremendous showing. “Not only did we swim really well for this point in the season, but we also did well coming together as one team for the first time this season to get up and race on a Saturday morning. We exceeded our goal of 2,500 dollars, raising over 2,700 for the Breaststroke 4 Hope Fundraiser, which was a really great cause to swim for,” said senior Bethany Douglas. Douglas attributed the squad’s solid performance to its ability to come together throughout
September to prepare for the competition and said she looks forward to beginning the regular season. “We built up our team cohesion and really came together as a group prepping during the month of September to be ready for the meets to come” she said. “Coming off of the success we had last season, and the work we put in during September and October, we’re anxious to start our official duel meet season.” Satterthwaite added, “ I personally have never felt so optimistic about a season. This is the faster and most dedicated team that I have been on since I have
been at Cornell and I think there are a few teams in the League that may be surprised when we come out swinging.” The Red will open its regular season against Binghamton on Nov. 9. “I think I speak for every member of the team when I say we are hungry for success this year. We’ve never felt stronger and I know everyone is motivated and excited to get in the pool and prove ourselves as one of the strongest Ivy competitors this season,” Hallowell said. John McGrorty can be reached at jmcgrorty@cornellsun.com.
Superstition DUBNOV
Continued from page 16
you may not get to see too many for the rest of the baseball postseason. The starters on both squads, despite their promise, will carry the main burden of limiting early runs, since the bullpens will certainly be lightsout through the series. Despite the similarities in the “underdog” status that both teams maintain and the core structure of the squads, there are some stark differences. The Giants have won their most recent World Series titles in 2010 and 2012 under the same manager, Bruce Bochy. Bochy is now being hailed as one of the best managers in baseball history after bringing his Giants squad to the World Series, despite an underwhelming roster, for the third time. A win in 2014 would certainly help him secure that honor in the eyes of many baseball fans. On the other hand, a team from Kansas City has not gone to the World Series in 29 years. Despite the win in 1985, the Royals have had a long standing streak of disappointment in the organization. Ned Yost, the Royals manager, is not on the same echelon as Bochy and was recently considered to be one of the major parts of the aforementioned disappointment. Yost was let go from the Brewers manager position in 2008. However, he claimed a spot in the Royals dugout in 2010. There wasn’t much success to be found soon after his ascension back to a major league manager position. Fans were not fond of him for his snap decisions in close games and lack of media presence. The media put much of the blame from early struggles on Yost and continuously noted his failures in the Brewers organization. You can still find articles online from as recent as mid-September calling for Yost’s firing for mediocrity. However, whether it was truly Yost’s influence or the scrappy play of a decently talented team, the Royals are ready to compete on the world’s biggest stage. There are many amazing storylines to follow as the best of seven series progresses. Last night’s game was just a taste of the action. Who will emerge victorious? Who will shine under the big lights? Who will crumble under pressure? Which underdog will be the greater underdog? As for my prediction for the outcome of the series: Giants win in six games. There are several reasons for this. First of all, a recent SportsNation poll had 70 percent of voters giving the Royals the World Series victory, so it safe to say that that Giants are once again the underdogs. Moreover, the Giants’ recent victories have come on evennumbered years, and 2014 fits that category. It might be a bit crazy, but my prediction is in honor of underdogs and superstition. Let’s see what happens. Play ball! Nikita Dubnov can be reached at ndubnov@cornellsun.com.
THE CORNELL DAILY SUN | Wednesday, October 22, 2014 15
SPORTS
ROWING
Red Competes at 50th Head of Charles Regatta By TUCKER MAGGIO-HUCEK Sun Staff Writer
The Cornell men’s lightweight, heavyweight and women’s rowing teams kicked off their fall season in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this past weekend. All three teams competed in the 50th Head of the Charles Regatta that had over 2,200 entries from all different backgrounds. The men’s lightweight team had two boats race on Sunday. The lightweight eights boat, which was led by senior captain Chris Rogers, finished the race in third place behind two Ivy League rivals. The race was extremely competitive, with all three boats finishing within .05 seconds of each other, as Princeton and Harvard edged out Cornell for first and second, respectively. “The eight had a really tight race and put us in a great position for the rest of the season and for winter and spring training,” said senior captain Richard Richhart. The other lightweight boat competed in the fours and had a strong showing, finishing in third behind two international foes. The London Training Center, who won the race, bested the Cornell boat by a large margin but junior Ian Sigal led the boat ahead of all other collegiate entries. “The four truly defined themselves against our League competition. They placed third and were only bested by international competition. We’re all really proud of those athletes,” Richhart said. The heavyweights had two boats take to the waters in Massachusetts. In the men’s championship fours the Red took seventh place and finished under 40 seconds behind the winners from Camp Randall, a rowing club from Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin finished in sixth place, finishing just over three seconds before the Cornell boat. In the men’s championship eights, the heavyweight boat had a rough outing and finishing in 33rd out of 36 boats, thanks to a pair of collisions and a one minute penalty that was added on to their time. Harvard, Princeton and Yale all placed within the top-ten.
Squad Looks Forward to Playing Next In Skidmore College Match WOMEN’S POLO Continued from page 16
chukker of the match, Cornell outscored the Maryland Polo Club, 6-1, to take a decisive 2110 victory over the Maryland Polo Club. “It was a very strong showing by our women’s team for our first competitive match back this season. I’m really looking forward to what this year will have in store for us,” Cox said. This was a high-scoring match for Cornell, with Winslow scoring 11 times followed by Wicker with four goals and Eldredge who had three. The Red will return to action next weekend with a match against Skidmore College at home. “We are excited for the coming year and look forward to the competition we will face,” Eldredge said. Elani Cohen can be reached at ecohen@cornellsun.com.
Despite being forced into some difficult situations, the women’s boats started their fall season off in fine fashion. In the women’s championship eights, the Cornell boat finished in 11th place in a race that included the United States National Team, Cambridge and Oxford. “The varsity eight had a very promising performance. We nearly collided with several boats and had a very exciting race,” said senior captain Elyce Buell. “Despite this we had a very competitive time compared to the other crews.” The Red finished just two seconds behind Princeton
despite being forced to take wider turns during the sprint. The women’s second boat took part in the women’s championship fours and had a rough outing, finishing 15th of the 17 boats. All three programs will be back in action next weekend when the Red heads to Lake Carnegie for the Princeton Chase. Tucker Maggio-Hucek can be reached at thucek@cornellsun.com.
TINA CHOU / SUN FILE PHOTO
Going the distance | Senior captain Chris Rogers led the men’s lightweight eights boat to a third place finish, behind two Ivy League rivals. Harvard, Princeton and Cornell all came within five seconds of each other in the competitive race.
w w w. c o r n e l l s u n . c o m
The Corne¬ Daily Sun
Sports
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22, 2014
16
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Red Tops University at Buffalo won a lot of close races and had great success all around,” he said. Senior Timothy Satterthwaite also said This past Saturday, the Cornell men and he felt the experience was positive, praising women’s swimming and diving teams the Red for achieving better results against began their 2014-2015 campaign with a Buffalo than ever before. “The team as well as the coaches are scrimmage against the University at Buffalo. Held in the Teagle Hall pool, the extremely happy with how we swam at the scrimmage served as a fundraiser for the buffalo scrimmage,” he said. “We had betBreaststroke 4 Hope organization. The Red ter success against them than we ever had raised $2,600 for the organization and in the past with swimmers posting times started the season off on a positive note that we are used to seeing in late November as opposed to mid October.” with a strong showing in the pool. Overall, the men’s team saw great sucSenior Thomas Hallowell said that he thinks the positive momentum from the cess on the day. After senior co-captain Eric May won the 200 free, scrimmage will carry over into the dual meets com“We are not going to the Red continued to swim well and won eight ing up. back down this consecutive events. Cor“The team had a great nell also benefitted from weekend that will defiseason.” two strong showings by nitely give us momentum Thomas Hallowell new freshmen. Freshman as we enter the competiVincent Declercq and tive season,” he said. Hallowell also said the scrimmage was Brandon Sweezer showed a great deal of valuable in allowing freshmen to get their potential for the Red. According to Hallowell, the squad needs feet wet early on in the season. “This meet was an opportunity for to focus on staying healthy in order to maxfreshmen to have their first swims in col- imize its results. He said the squad is in lege and there were some really strong great shape at the moment and showed that swims. While the meet was not scored, we it is capable of reaching new heights this
By JOHN MCGRORTY Sun Staff Writer
CHRIS PHARE/ SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Home free | Senior co-captain Eric May won the 200 freestyle event to help the Red top the University at Buffalo in the sqaud’s preseason scrimmage.
season through its strong performance against Buffalo. “This year we need to focus on being healthy and taking advantage of the rest periods we have,” he said. “We had a lot of hard practices and heavy lifts, but we are in the best shape we have ever been at the start of the season, and I think that showed on Saturday. People swam fast and demonstrated that we are not going to back down
this season.” Satterthwaite emphasized the importance of strength training in the offseason and said that the squad must get into its groove early rather than waiting for the end of the season to get fired up. “I think the keys to a successful season See SWIMMING AND DIVING page 14
World Series Wildcards Cornell Wins in Fast-Paced Match T WOMEN’S POLO
By ELANI COHEN Sun Staff Writer
The women’s polo team played host to the Maryland Polo Club this past Saturday. Though the contest began with back-and-forth play, the match ended in Cornell’s favor with a final score of 21-10. Sophomore Emma Eldredge said that the squad did not know what to expect in the homeopener and is pleased with the end result. “We had an amazing game this weekend against Maryland. … With it being our first game of the year, we were unsure as to how everything would go,” she said. “We were very pleased with
the results and our playing. The Maryland team was a difficult team, but a great way to begin the year.” The visitors opened the match with a two-pointer just minutes into the first chukker for an early lead. The Red began
“We were very pleased with the results.” Emma Eldredge the match with starters sophomore Emma Eldredge and Juniors Elena Wicker and captain Anna Winslow. Due to an injury, Wicker stepped in for
Devin Cox as a starter. The Maryland Polo Club kept its lead throughout the first chukker until Winslow tied up the score, 3-3. As the second chukker began, the Maryland Polo Club scored a quick three goals to take a 6-3 lead. The Red responded with another four goals and two pony goals before the half, taking a 7-6 lead. Cornell dominated the third chukker, scoring six of the seven goals in the stanza, including an impressive two-pointer by Winslow. The third chukker ended with a score of 15-9 in Cornell’s favor. Continuing its fast-paced play in the final
Strong start | The Cornell women’s polo team defeated the Maryland Polo Club this past Saturday, 21-10, in
names heralded amongst the Major League’s top stars will have the world’s stage to themselves. The Giants arguably feature more recognizable “star-power” in their lineup with names like Buster Posey, who has proven to be the best young catcher in baseball, and Madison Bumgarner, who carried his exceptional regular season performance into the postseason. The Royals, which are one of the smaller market teams in the
Nikita Dubnov
See WOMEN’S POLO page 15
TINA CHOU / SUN FILE PHOTO
its home opener.
wo Fridays ago, I called in to a good friend’s sports radio program at Trinity College to give a prediction of the outcomes of the NLCS and ALCS. I prophesied Royals in five and Giants in six. I always like to root for the underdog. However, after both series ended, it turned out that even I underestimated the underdogs. The Royals swept the Orioles in four games. The Giants had a couple of incredible comebacks to take the series in five games
Nik’s Knacks from the Cardinals. Those victories set up the first World Series since 2002 in which both competitors are wild card teams. Despite the fact that the championship will be played by two of the biggest underdogs coming into the postseason, I am fully confident that this World Series will be one of the most interesting in recent years. From one end, the Royals have not lost a game this postseason. The Giants, however, have proven in their past few appearances to the championship that they can overcome teams that are destined to win with smart play and stellar pitching. Both teams possess plenty of underappreciated clubhouse talent. Players that have not had their full chance to have their
Majors, feature a particularly well-rounded starting rotation headlined by James Shields and a defensive gem-producing outfield led by Alex Gordon. Despite having a couple “stars” in their lineups, both teams are mainly made up of fairly average players that are able to produce on a consistent basis and play great team baseball. It is always interesting to see who will come up with the big hit or strikeout in a big spot to carry the squad with these teams, because it is often not who you would expect. Both teams also have exceptional bullpens that will help to shutdown games. So, if you are a fan of high-scoring ball games, See DUBNOV page 14