11-22-22 entire issue high res

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Basic Needs Holds Pop-up

By Rory Confino-Pinzon Sun Staff Writer

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, the Cornell Basic Needs Coalition, in collaboration with Cornell Progressives and the Office of the Student Advocate, hosted their first pop-up event across Cornell’s campus and Collegetown, to provide essential goods to students in need, such as per sonal hygiene products and household goods.

This event marked an important step in the Coalition’s plan of a “one-stop shop”, an idea they began to work towards this summer.

The pop-ups took place at various locations on campus, including Mann Library, Robert Purcell Community Center, Willard Straight Hall, Noyes Community Recreation Center and the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts.

Sanvi Bhardwaj ’24, a member of the student assem bly who joined the Coalition in August, discussed how the coalition worked to find and prioritize those in financial need.

“We did outreach to specific groups that we knew would have students that would benefit from [the popups],” Bhardwaj said.

In order to identify students in need, the coalition sent out a google form for students to order goods in advance. Kieran Adams ’24, Cornell Progressives’ outreach chair, said there were 25 orders filled through the form. Students who did not register in advance were also able to pick up goods, and according to Bhardwaj, the pop-ups were met with positive feedback from the community.

Cornell Progressives assisted the Coalition by planning workshops, creating promotional graphics and purchasing the goods to be dis tributed. According to Adams, at the beginning of the semester, the Cornell Progressives gener al body members voted on collaborating with

the coalition and addressing basic needs across campus, culminating in the pop-ups.

Amisha Chowdhury ’23, student advocate in the Student Assembly Office of the Student Advocate, expressed how the pop-ups were just one of many ways her office has worked to address the basic needs of students.

“With the rise of basic needs concerns on campus, our office is working with the admin istration to seek long-term solutions while simultaneously engaging in community care efforts to address the direct needs of students,” Chowdhury said.

Although the Basic Needs Coalition had met with members of the University adminis tration over the summer, Bhardwaj expressed her disappointment in the university’s push back and lack of support for their efforts.

“They’re starting to do some things now, which is great, but it really is not at the level and intensity it should be because it truly is a crisis on campus that they are failing to address,” Bhardwaj said.

All of the goods handed out were funded by Cornell Progressives and the Office of the Student Advocate, and not directly by the University administration. Bhardwaj expressed the Coalition’s wish that the University could help directly fund future pop-ups rather than student organizations.

According to a survey conducted by the OSA in collaboration with the First Generation Student Union, 44 percent of respondents are struggling with food insecurity, and 58 percent reported difficulty finding housing assistance from the University. Bhardwaj expressed how she found this unacceptable.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Rory Confno-Pinzon can be reached at rconfno-pinzon@cornellsun.com.

C.U. Supports Prison Education

By Xinyu Joanne Hu Sun Staff Writer

In pursuit of fairer education access for incarcerated individuals, multiple campus and student programs col laborate with faculty and students to support criminal justice.

Jodi Anderson Jr. is an example of how these various efforts can succeed. He is an alumnus of Cornell Prison and Education Program, after enrolling at Cornell in 2016. He transferred to Stanford after two years, and is now starting his own business. Last month, Anderson was invited back on cam pus by Prison Education and Reform Project at Cornell, to share his life path, inspiring more Cornellians to support prison education.

CPEP provides college-level courses for selected prisoners in correctional facilities in upstate New York, where faculty members and students can vol unteer to teach various weekly cours es. After leaving prison, students can obtain college degrees from CPEP’s partner community colleges.

“We have an entrance exam that is advertised in the prison. Depending on the prison, up to maybe 50 students can sit for this entrance exam,” said Keisha Slaughter, associate director of CPEP.

Slaughter explained the process for formerly incarcerated individuals’ col lege admissions.

“Based on their scores, we will try to admit a cohort, usually of about 20,” Slaughter said. “Starting in fall 2023, [incarcerated people] will be eligible for Pell Grants again. So it's possible that the community college partners … might want to have a bigger enrollment in recruitment.”

Incarcerated individuals are feder

Keisha Slaughter

ally restricted from financial aid and CPEP has been running solely on fundraising and private donations.

Prof. Ken McClane, literatures in English, is teaching a class on James Baldwin in the Auburn facility this semester. According to McClane, his students in CPEP are the most engaged and intellectually curious students he has ever had.

Student Voice Concerns About Winter Driving Conditions

By Aimée Eicher Sun Assistant News Editor

As Ithaca saw its first snowfall of the season last week, stu dents with cars on campus expressed safety concerns regarding driving in the winter, such as difficulty with outdoor parking and snow and ice accumulation on roads and their cars.

With Ithaca’s heavy snowfall, below-freezing temperatures and steep hills, many students face difficulties driving around campus and the surrounding area in the winter. Several stu dents cited the hills as a major cause for concern, saying that steep roads become more treacherous to drive when covered in ice and snow.

“My car only has front wheel drive and has already shown struggles on the hills when the roads are wet, so I can only imagine how bad it will be when the roads are icy,” said Emma Bourgeois ’25, who first navigated driving in Ithaca winters during the spring 2022 semester.

Alan Liu ’24, who has had his car on campus for a year, also

“My main concern is damaging my car due to slipping on ice,” Liu said. “Ithaca is very uneven, and there are lots of low points in roads that can have water collect there and freeze over.”

Snow removal is also a point of worry for some students. Ethan Abbate ’24, whose off-campus housing requires him to park on the street, expressed concern that snow banks would accumulate around his car after snowplows had cleared Collegetown roads.

Students mentioned outdoor parking as an inconvenience in the winter, concerned that their cars would be less accessible in cold-weather conditions. Amy Li ’24 lives 15 minutes away from the off-campus lot where she parks her car and said she hopes she will be able to walk there safely this winter.

“My house, we don't have a parking lot, and the street parking is always full,” Li said. “I'm concerned about whether the streets will be plowed, and if the roads will be safe enough to walk to my car.”

Cornell Loses Heavily Columbia defeats Cornell, 45-22, and breaks a potential winning season after a 17- year drought

Trump Announcement Students react to Trump's bid annoucement of running again for 2024 presidential election.

New venture | Incarcerated individuals participate in college-level courses provided by Cornell-led programs to supply prison education.

COURTESY OF CORNELL PRISON EDUCATION PROGRAM

pointed to ice as the main concern, noting the extra challenges of the uneven roads around Ithaca.

“With the rise of basic needs con cerns on campus, our office is working with the adminstration to seek long-term solutions.”

Amisha Chowdhury ’23

“Based on their [entrance exam] scores, we will try to admit a cohort of about 20.”

Snowy | Cornell students with cars prepare for winter as roads become more icy and snowy, worsening driving conditions.

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHER EDITOR

Ithaca Starbucks Workers Strike on Red Cup Day

By SOFIA RUBINSON Sun News Editor

Red Cup Day is one of the busiest days of the year for Starbucks: it is the one day of the year when customers can receive a free, limited-edition reusable cup with the pur chase of any holiday or fall beverage. However, Ithacans trying to get their red cup at the Ithaca Commons location this year were met with something else — a Starbucks worker’s strike.

Joining over a hundred stores across the country, the Ithaca Commons Starbucks workers held a day-long strike on Thursday, calling on Starbucks Corporate to come to the bargaining table as national union efforts continue to grow.

“Starbucks has been refusing to bargain with us in good faith,” said Nadia Vitek ’22, who has been working at Starbucks in Ithaca for over a year, transferring to the Commons location after the closure of the College Avenue

location in June.

“This is where our power is the strongest — withhold ing our labor, and hitting them where it hurts, which is their profit,” Vitek said.

The downtown Ithaca location voted to unionize in April, joining the two other Starbucks locations in the city to make Ithaca the first city to unionize all the fran chise’s stores. However, according to employees, Starbucks Corporate is delaying the negotiation of a contract.

“The thing that really pushed us to actually unionize here in Ithaca was the way that they dealt with COVID,” said Bek Maclean, who has been working at Starbucks since 2016.

“At first they were dealing with it pretty well and shutting down the lobbies and everything, but then they opened everything up, didn’t require masks, didn’t require anything, and they took away our COVID pay, they took away all of the benefits that go with it, even though it is still an ongoing thing,” Maclean said.

Since unionizing, employees claim that Starbucks Corporate has engaged in union busting tactics to discour age workers.

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Profs, Grad Students Ofer Expertise to CPEP Courses

“I remember when we were talking about something in my past course, and this guy looked at me and said, ‘I would have never thought about this before we started to do this…You made my life both have far more choices, and far more complicated,” McClane said.

Prof. Joseph Margulies, government, agreed with McClane, impressed with the quality of the work from his students. Initially, in 2017 and 2018, Margulies taught two classes on the U.S. Constitution and Writing, but he felt the need to improve students’ ability to artic ulate their thoughts. Subsequently, he started teaching a writing class to help develop students’ writing skills.

Some CPEP classes are college-level and have been adapted from past Cornell courses.

Nikhil Sahoo grad is the teaching assistant for the class “Thinking Mathematically” at Five Points Correctional Facility. As a graduate student in Math, he was assigned to teach the class and hold teaching three-hour sections on Thursday nights in the prison’s computer lab.

“People will come in and ask for help with homework stuff, and usually what ends up happening is that we all grab some whiteboard markers and go back through the concepts and then go from doing work examples to working on some of the homework problems that are similar,” Sahoo said. “My students have been really gra cious with me, [they] share with me what their lives are like, [and] help me understand what their needs are and how I can best serve them.”

PREP is a perfect collaboration of students’ efforts in prison education and criminal justice.

Grace Maines ’24, project manager of the Prison

Education Tutoring and Outreach Team at PREP, part nered with College Initiative Upstate to provide tutor ing opportunities for previously incarcerated people. Tutoring was suspended due to COVID and is going to restart next year, Maines’ current undertaking.

“It’s a community of people who are working together to build pathways to and through college for people who are impacted by the justice system, low-income or non-traditional students,” Maines said. “We help to pro vide the resources for college preparation, college enroll ment and community leadership. And then the way that prep comes into play is that we supply tutors every semes ter to help tutor people who are studying through cru.”

PREP includes two other ongoing advocacy projects besides Maines’: Sentencing Advocacy Reform Team and Cornell Divestment. It is currently building Cornell’s Criminal Justice Coalition with other local organizations to integrate the go-to resources and send out newsletters to Cornell students interested in supporting criminal justice.

“I want to set up the infrastructure, so the next gen eration of kids, five generations down … can have an amazing organization that is a platform for them to really do amazing things,” said President of PREP, Emmanuel Daudu ’23. “One of my dreams is to have justice involved [at Cornell].”

Maines has also collaborated with Prison Express, an Ithaca local non-profit organization to bring prisoners’ artworks into Cornell’s exhibition. According to Maines, the most memorable moment was receiving correspon dence from past prisoners she worked with during the PREP project after sending them a congratulatory letter, telling them their art had been chosen.

“People have written to me and … told me that, oh, it makes me feel seen in my life … and I’m not just forgot

Cars Face Winter Trouble

Both Cornell and the City of Ithaca maintain the roads and sidewalks in the winter, which includes spreading salt to prevent ice accumulation and plowing after heavy snowfall.

The document detailing the City’s snowplowing protocol states that there are multiple variables associated with clearing snow, such as temperature and accumula tion of ice and snow, that prevent the City from following a snowplowing schedule. Instead, they prioritize clearing travel lanes on high-volume roads and steep roads, with residential streets being plowed last.

Cornell’s Facilities and Campus Services directs students to contact Customer Service or the Emergency Management and

In addition to Cornell’s salt and snow clearing efforts, some students said that the University could expand parking to improve winter safety. Salma Hazimeh ’24, who lives and parks her car on West Campus, expressed concern that parking restrictions would make her car less accessible this winter.

“Despite having a Cornell parking per mit, it’s impossible to find spots on campus to park. Because of this, I’ve had a lot of trouble storing my car,” Hazimeh said. “Something [Cornell] could do better is to lessen campus parking restrictions and expand parking options, since snowy condi tions might make storing and driving a car more difficult.”

Hazimeh also noted that the costs of receiving tickets for parking in the wrong lot are difficult to bear, especially on top of paying for a student parking pass. Liu agreed that the University should reduce the price for parking.

“The lots should be made more afford able,” Liu said. “A Cornell parking ticket is $35 and the typical spot is around $700 [for the year]. It shouldn’t be the case that a student can take 20 tickets before a spot becomes financially worthwhile.”

ten here in a cell. The artwork that I was doing here was seen by so many people all over the world,” Maines said.

Most interviewed faculty members and students chose to participate in CPEP or PREP because they have fam ilies and friends who are involved in prison or pwwrison education or have been interested in the topic for a long time. The experience is equally as transformative for participants.

Prof. J. R. Keller, human resource studies, brought his students in his class to prison through the help of CPEP. They had a roundtable dialogue with the prisoners who shared their past and life in prison.

“One thing that stood out to me every time I did this was, it’s all seniors. We’d go on a Friday, left here like nine in the morning and everybody knew each other, so the bus was loud. Everybody who’s chatting and talking about their weekend plans,” Prof. Keller said. “And when the bus was right back, usually the whole hour was silent. I think that sort of speaks to the impact that [the prison experience] tended to have on people.”

McClane expressed that since almost anyone can be close to incarceration through their own experience or through their loved ones, supporting prison education is important to create empathy.

“My sense is connection requires empathy, and the highest human attribute is empathy. It’s an act of the imagination.” Prof. McClane said. “If you can imagine a good life for you, yourself, you ought to be able to imag ine a good life for others, and you ought to make certain that they have that opportunity.”

Cornellians React to Trump Bid Ex-president’s announcement gathers mixed responses

By JONATHAN MONG Sun Staff Writer

Former president Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will be running for president again in 2024, in a speech that lasted over an hour.

Speaking from his Mar a Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump attacked the policies of cur rent Pres. Joseph Biden, stoked fears of election fraud and touted his economic successes while in office — sometimes using false statistics to do so. Trump also said he wants to make dealing drugs punishable by death, in a system he claims is modeled on that of China.

The speech comes at a pivotal time for Republicans: In the 2022 midterms, the party is on track to make the fewest gains in the House by an opposition party since 2002 and has lost a seat in the Senate

said. “My biggest worry is that he will cause issues like [he] did in 2020 with his refusal to accept the election’s outcome. I’m hoping the Republican Party will choose a different candidate to really push through the primary, because it’s pretty clear at this point that Trump is a huge threat to democracy.”

Ria Panchal ’25 said she believes that Trump’s Republican nomina tion for president in 2024 would improve Democrats’ chances in the election.

“I think the poor performance of Trump-backed candidates in the midterms really shows how much moderates have moved away from him and how much support he’s losing from his own party,” Panchal said. “I think the GOP would do far worse [with Trump as the nominee] than if they had put out a more pal atable candidate that had Trump’s full endorsement.”

Alan Liu ’24

Control System to report unsafe conditions on campus.

Abbate and Li expressed gratitude for the University’s and the City’s maintenance of roads in the winter.

“I think, because Ithaca is very used to snow, that they’re prepared,” Li said. “Generally, it isn’t icy — the sidewalks aren’t icy, especially the ones I’ve been on, on campus. They plow the main roads, and they’re salted.”

Liu also appreciated the City’s salting roads, though he added that this process can sometimes damage the pavement, increas ing the hazards associated with driving.

“They do a pretty bad job of mitigating damage from potholes caused by salting, and by the time they fix the roads late next fall, snow has already begun to fall and the process repeats without end,” Liu said. “I believe more rapid responses to road dam age would help all drivers.”

Bourgeois also expressed frustration at the lack of parking on campus, adding that the volume of drivers on campus might increase during the winter.

“In the winter time, especially, everyone is trying to drive to class instead of walk when they don’t have access to bus passes,” Bourgeois said. “I’ve noticed a decrease in the amount of ParkMobile sites on campus, as well as increased pricing for the few spots that are available.”

However, Bourgeois appreciates the action that the University and City take to keep roads safe, acknowledging the difficul ties that Ithaca’s climate poses.

“It definitely helps that Cornell and the local area salt and sand the roads and plow rather urgently,” Bourgeois said. “But, it does not solve all the issues with the amount of ice and snow we get, because that’s just Ithaca for you.”

Aimée Eicher can be reached at aeicher@cornellsun.com.

during a Democratic presidency for the first time since 1962.

Cornellians largely disparaged the announcement. Sam Smith ’26 said she hoped for a different candidate to win the Republican primaries.

“I’m disappointed but not sur prised considering he’s mentioned numerous times before that he was going to run in 2024,” Smith

Joshua Marion ’22 said he also believed Trump would be less of a threat to Biden in 2024 than other candidates, but that Trump might acquire the Republican nomination anyway.

“It’s boring and predictable. The elites don’t want him and the base seems to be moving away, but I can see him being the nom inee out of ‘security’ like Biden was for Democrats,” Marion said.

“He’s probably the least dangerous Republican to run against at this point, second only to [Sen. Ted] Cruz [(R-Texas)].”

Cornell Republicans President Avery Bower ’23 said that he, too, was not excited to see Trump run ning for the nomination again and believed his presence would hurt other candidates.

“After the dismal performance of Trump-endorsed Republican can didates in the midterms in what should have been a wave year, it we

Xinyu Joanne Hu can be reached at xhu@cornellsun.com.

“It shouldn’t be the case that a student cant take 20 tickets before a spot becomes financially worthwile. ”

“I think the poor performance of Trumpbacked candidates in the midterms really shows how much moderates have moved away from him and how much support he’s los ing from his own party ”

Ria Panchal ’25

Starbucks workers cited a series of unfair write-ups and firings in recent months. According to Maclean, workers have been written up for not smiling enough and being as little as a minute late to their shift. Just two days ago, Maclean’s sister, who worked for Starbucks for four years and never received prior disciplinary action, was terminated from the South Meadow Starbucks location for neglecting to verify the COVID-19 status of employees.

Employees also cited short staffing issues as compounding onto the union busting tactics.

“The worst thing that we’re dealing with is understaffing,” Vitek said. “It’s really bad and it’s to the point where one or two call outs will shut our store down for the day, and our hours have been super inconsistent.”

The downtown Ithaca Starbucks is only

throughout the strike, dubbed the “Red Cup Rebellion” by Starbucks Workers United.

Also at the rally were supporters from the People’s Organizing Collective Cornell, a student organization that supports cam paigns for workers’ rights, and the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America.

“I see a contract as the main goal [of the strike], but also I hope that this spreads more awareness to people in the community about union busting in general, because I feel like today union busting is more subtle, and it’s not really talked about,” said Kassidy Slaughter ’24, a member of POCC. “I feel like this cause will hopefully show people that you can do something and make real ly significant change where people come together and that getting out and just show ing solidarity is super important and creates a really great effect.”

Other community members came out to demand better working conditions and wages.

Nadia Vitek

open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., a significant reduction in hours from previous standards, according to Vitek. Vitek also stated that the store aims to eventually go back to being open the whole day, but the location does not have the staffing for that currently.

Around 15 Starbucks employees and union supporters attended the strike, chant ing “What’s disgusting? Union busting,” “Who calls the shots? We call the shots” and the holiday-themed: “Jingle bells, power smells, unions all the way, oh what fun it is to strike on this Red Cup Day.” Honks from passing cars in solidarity were heard

“Starbucks workers here, like all workers, are oppressed with horrible working condi tions, low wages and rising cost of living,” said Ian Schlon from the IDSA. “They have been doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is unionizing, and now they’re being punished for it by the company.”

Starbucks workers across the United States hope that the strike will lead to con tract negotiations at a corporate level. Should this happen, workers are hopeful that work ing conditions will improve.

“We planned as a whole nation to do a Red Cup Day strike because it’s the busiest day of the year for a lot of stores, and it is a lot of a solidarity-type thing,” Maclean said.

“We have 111 stores all together striking today, and we just want to send a message that we can shut shit down — and we are.”

Sofa Rubinson can be reached at sru binson@cornellsun.com.

Trump’s Bid “Predictable” For Students

clear that Trump’s sway over the party has had a deleterious effect on Republican per formance,” Bower said. “Trump running, especially while a must-win runoff election in Georgia is ongoing, will continue to drag down Republicans across the coun try.”

Bower prefers other possible candidates, like Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), whom he said showed that they can boost down-ballot candidates and pro vide a strong model for the party going forwards.

“[DeSantis and Zeldin] engaged with pocket-book issues and common sense conservative policies, to great electoral success,” Bower said. “Their model is the

future for the Republican Party. DeSantis is highly anticipated to run for President and, bar any significant changes in the political landscape, I will be supporting him in the 2024 primary.”

Meanwhile, in response to the speech, President Biden tweeted a one-minute video of his predecessor’s failures in office, including footage of the Jan. 6, 2021 attempted insurrection at the Capitol Building, captioning it “Donald Trump failed America.”

Jonathan Mong can be reached at jmong@ cornellsun.com.

Trump announced his plans to run for President during the upcoming presidential elections.

SAUL MARTINEZ / NEW YORK TIMES

TRUMP Continued from page 3

“The worst thing that we’re dealing with is understaffing”

iridescence: Long Live Brockhampton

ERIC HAN SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Content Warning: This article includes men tions of sexual assault and domestic violence.

BROCKHAMPTON is dead. The thir teen-member collective, which took the inter net by storm in 2017 with its SATURATION trilogy, announced an end to its twelve-yearlong run in January. Their final albums, The Family and TM, released on back-to-back nights earlier this month. It feels more per tinent now than ever to examine the band’s last brush with collapse – iridescence, their oft-forgotten refusal to be put in the ground.

The release of iridescence followed the departure of vocalist Ameer Vann from the group in response to allegations of statutory r*pe and domestic abuse. This revelation came at a vulnerable time for BROCKHAMPTON. The band had just come off of their peak from SATURATION III, the final installment of their successful album trilogy, and needed to prove longevity past the eclipse of that era. This task appeared impossible after the scandal; given the pop ularity of Ameer’s verses on the band’s early songs, fans were quick to say that his removal was “the day BROCKHAMPTON died.”

What really brings our attention to that particular moment of their rise is a recent tweet of the iridescence cover art from band leader Kevin Abstract to celebrate the fourth year since the album’s release. The fondness with which he looks back on the album is reminiscent of another tweet from last year, this time more controversial and since delet ed: “Iridescence is our best album but y’all will never understand.” He’s right that iridescence never had its moment in the limelight — it’s the only post-2017 BROCKHAMPTON release that The Sun has yet to review.

In defiance of the public’s widespread doubt and high expectations, “NEW ORLEANS” starts the album with a relent less bang. The song’s production includes an uncomfortable, borderline obnoxious loop of buzzing. Yet the vocals, in their stylis

tic variety, justify the grating production. The chaos lends space for the vocalists to intrude with their distinctive approaches, from the effortless flow of Dom McClennon to the charismatic over-enunciation of Matt Champion. And by displaying their diversity in this way, they make it apparent that Ameer was a redundant cog in a versatile machine.

It’s in the transition to “THUG LIFE” that an essential mechanism of the album becomes clear. The track directly repurposes soundbites from the preceding song but in a newly graceful context with a sweet piano melody. The album’s pendulum swings, track to track, between these two tones — a grimy, furious enthusiasm and the type of nostalgic vulnerability that brings you to tears.

“WEIGHT” is of the album’s sweeter side, swung back from the harshness of “WHERE THE CASH AT.” It’s a standout amongst the first half of the album with a gnarly, fast-paced beat switch from a slow violin melody. The lyrics’ confessions of inward pressure feel appropriate to the pro duction (“Pressure makes me lash back, wish I could get past that). “DISTRICT” carries on the vulnerable tone for a moment, only to harshly dismantle it. Depressing verses (“Praise God, hallelujah! / I’m still depressed) read over an unforgiving beat as if to say, “Life is tough; fuck it, we ball!”

iridescence often preaches doom, the inev itability of hardship and failure, but that’s not to say that it’s a simple prescription of nihilism. Look to the catchy, house-adjacent “HONEY,” an upbeat track that embodies perseverance. Kevin reminds us that fear is out of our control and that we should instead look toward the “million reasons to get rich.”

The production blossoms into a gorgeous R&B song, layering samples upon itself over time. It makes an unpredictable transforma tion into one of the most uplifting, impactful tracks of the album.

From “HONEY” forward, the album refuses to relent in its ingenious production and tear-jerking lyricism. “VIVID,” another standout, unlocks the final piece of irides cence’s thematic puzzle. Dom references the

album’s title for the first time: “got my reflec tion iridescent / Every little moment I step in might shift the planet’s direction.” This is pre cisely the aim of the project – to shift uncom fortably between the band’s propensity to aggravate and soothe. Each track inverses the lingering tone of the previous, turning sweet into sour, then back into sweet. Dom presents this strategy with pride, to say that the collec tive is powerful and brilliant enough to make these dramatic shifts with the smallest of steps. Iridescence, being the property of changing appearance from slight changes in perspective, can describe BROCKHAMPTON’s approach to pressure — this constant swing between vulnerability and zeal.

But almost always, the approach is hope ful. In the beautiful “SAN MARCOS,” a choir repeats insistently, “I want more out of life than this.” It’s a hopeless phrase out of context but sung with heartbreaking opti mism. They don’t mean, “Life is bad as it is, I don’t like it.” It sounds more like, “There is more to have from life, and I will have it.”

iridescence leverages that high by bringing you to tears with its final two tracks, like a one-two punch. “TONYA,” for one, might

be the best of the album. It starts with a nos talgic, suspenseful piano melody and a soulful chorus only to escalate into harder-hitting yet still-vulnerable verses from Kevin, Dom and Merlyn Wood with a swinging beat and some bizarre strings. “FABRIC” raises an anticipa tory beat in the mix over looping sirens, only to let that tension dissipate for a completely distinct snippet with the last words we hear: “These are the best years of our lives.”

BROCKHAMPTON knew that its days were numbered. The band’s fragility in the face of public controversy proved to its mem bers that it could not maintain its longevity. Even the critical success of their most recent album releases, Roadrunner and GINGER, was not enough to keep the band together. But, from iridescence, we know the kind of beauty that pressure can bring out of the artists of BROCKHAMPTON. That is what we should keep in mind as we tune in to The Family, follow their solo careers and reflect on the beautiful discography that the band left for us. Long live BROCKHAMPTON.

Eric Han is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at eh636@cornell.edu.

‘My Mind & Me’: Te Charm of Authenticity

GILLIAN LEE SUN STAFF WRITER

“Let me make a promise. I’ll only tell you my darkest secrets,” Gomez vows in the opening sequence of her docu mentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, released on Apple TV+ on Nov. 4. The documentary, spanning six years from 2016 to 2022, follows Gomez’s raw journey of self-discov ery in her struggles with fame, lupus and above all, mental health. Her film is not a publicity tactic; instead, it is an exploration of Gomez’s complex character. My Mind & Me inspires viewers not by showcasing Gomez as the gold stan dard of fame and fortune, but rather by illuminating how human it is to be entangled in a cycle of hurting and healing.

Thirty-year-old Gomez began acting professionally with a role in Barney at age seven, landed a lead in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place at age 13 and continued on by starring in countless films and developing a flourishing music career. She currently stars in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and even started her own makeup brand, Rare Beauty, in 2020. Yet, filmmaker Alek Keshishian barely features these triumphs of her career in My Mind & Me and instead narrows the narrative around Gomez’s mental health.

Gomez’s struggles have not been a secret — the star has been open with her diagnosis of lupus and bipolar disorder, as well as her struggles with depression and anxiety. In My Mind & Me, after a woman on Gomez’s team tells her there is no shame in not sharing her bipolar diagnosis with the world since “that becomes the narrative,” Gomez swiftly responds, “And I’m sure that means, like, what — certain people or

directors or something might not want to work with me? But then why would I want to work with them anyway?”

Gomez’s open and brave willingness to share her story is staggering. Within the first 10 minutes of the documentary, Gomez breaks down after a dress rehearsal for her 2016 Revival Tour. She tearfully exclaims how she did not sound right, look right or feel right. She expresses what so many of us experience: self-doubt. The communality of this incident is precisely why it is perfect to include in the film. In the dig ital age, so many of us wonder what is right to share online. Do you show the highlights? The breakdowns? Gomez, a woman constantly in the spotlight, shows us that it is okay to be vulnerable, even in a film watched by millions.

Gomez’s relatability sets a precedent for the rest of the film, as Gomez is typically displayed like us “normal” people. The documentary constantly paints Gomez in a natural state — she wears sweats, ties her hair back in a scrunchie and barely ever wears a full face of makeup. This is a stark contrast to the typical image of a female popstar.

Keshishian scarcely features Gomez’s life of fame, besides brief edited clips with flashing news headlines, reporter voiceovers and paparazzi cameras. These snippets remind us of Gomez’s fame, without situating us in it. Instead, the film focuses on Gomez’s interactions with people outside the industry, such as her visits to her Texas hometown. My Mind & Me also interweaves voiceovers of Gomez’s journal entries and childhood home videos throughout the film, which adds a dimension that so many documentaries lack. Gomez is not merely the subject of a film — she is given authorship of her own story.

My Mind & Me prominently features Gomez’s journey towards purpose. This theme bridges connections between Gomez and viewers, since so many of us stumble in our quest for purpose. In the film, Selena’s friend Raquelle tells her she thinks Gomez knows what her calling in life is, but she does “not always choose to walk in it.” Selena constantly stresses her want to make change in the mental health sphere, yet we barely see her take concrete steps. I kept feeling unsettled — I craved for her words to translate into action. Finally, I was partially satisfied with the film’s ending, as it shared how, in 2020, Gomez founded the Rare Impact Fund, which aims to raise $100 million in 10 years to provide mental health services in educational settings. While content with this ending, I would have liked to see more of Gomez’s tangible journey to get there.

I must admit I originally felt the film was imbalanced. The documentary seemed to be a disarray of clips, not cohesively weaved in a moving, clear story for Gomez. Her 2016 Revival tour and Kenya trip appeared to take up a lot of unnecessary space, there is an absence of footage between 2016 to 2019 and so much of her professional life was kept out. Yet, after considering the film as a whole, I have a new understanding and appreciation of My Mind & Me. In one of her journal voice-overs, Selena confesses, “I’m a work in progress. I am enough. I am Selena.”

To continue reading, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Gillian Lee is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at gl386@cornell.edu.

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Letter to the Editor

Re: ‘Students Rally for Free TCAT’

To the Editor:

In the Sun article from Oct. 24, “Students Rally for Free TCAT,” Cornell Vice President of University Relations Joel M. Malina is quoted as saying, “Cornell’s contribu tion goes far beyond those of the City and County in the form of annual fare payments to TCAT, which subsidize the cost of Cornell’s OmniRide bus pass available to employees and students. Of the funds paid to TCAT by the three partners, Cornell provides 70 percent of the total.”

This statement suggests, misleadingly, that Cornell is a generous contributor to the budgets of Ithaca and Tompkins County. As Cornell-affiliated activists with the cam paign for free TCAT, which we call “freeCAT,” we write to correct this impression. In fact, Cornell continues to nickel-and-dime our community while enjoying a taxpayer subsidized campus transportation service.

It would be more accurate to say that Cornell, like the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County, provides a 6 percent share of TCAT’s annual budget, while also serving as the largest customer of TCAT, buying their staff and students rides.

Moreover, to purchase these fares, Cornell is paying a reduced rate — a bulk discount. As a result, riders not affiliated with Cornell — for example, lower-wage workers in Collegetown or at the stores near Route 13 — pay more per ride than Cornell students and staff. By purchasing bulk fares at a discount, Cornell serves its own interests and leaves the community behind.

Finally and most importantly, the equal thirds relationship cited by Malina refers to the original sin of TCAT: we need to go back to its founding to understand the sleight of hand here.

TCAT was formed in 1998 by consolidating three mass transit systems under one umbrella: Ithaca Transit (City of Ithaca), TOMTRAN (Tompkins County) and CU Transit (Cornell). Under the initial agreement, each of the three participants would con tribute a third of the cost.

This arrangement, however, unduly benefited Cornell. In addition to local sources, TCAT receives approximately 50 percent of its funds from New York State and the Federal Government. Since Cornell is a tax-free institution, taxpayers are literally subsi dizing the service that Cornell then purchases at a discount.

The article concludes by noting that “due to its status as a nonprofit institution, Cornell is exempt from property taxes but owns property in the city with an assessed value of about $2.1 billion.” This staggering figure, it notes, is about equal to the “total amount of taxable property in the city combined.” Although property tax rates vary, it’s safe to say that Cornell pays a much lower percentage of their properties’ value than homeowners and local businesses. We submit that this is the root of town-gown tension in Ithaca.

The freeCAT campaign was designed both to help Ithaca meet its climate targets and to establish some equity between Cornell University and the surrounding community. In order to meet these goals, TCAT would have to be expanded significantly. Instead, we have suffered repeated, drastic cutbacks in service over recent years, most recently the sweeping service cuts in August followed by further cuts in October.

We demand accessible transit and fare elimination for all, primarily funded by a larger contribution from Cornell University.

Jane

Glaubman

Ph.D. ’19, Ithaca resident

Brian Kardon, research staff, Ithaca resident Sabrina Leddy grad, freeCAT campaign chair John Monkovic, Cornell Dining staff

Hugo Amador & Yves Darkbloom Caged Birds Always Sing

Hugo Amador (he/him) is a junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Yves Darkbloom (he/him) is a graduate of Cornell Law School. Tey can be reached at haa45@cornell.edu and opin ion@cornellsun.com, respectively. Hugo’s column, Caged Birds Always Sing, runs every other Monday this semester.

Eulogy for a Stocks Lawyer

Yves and I reminisce on how different ly we saw and continue to see this tale: the corporate attorney, graduate from Cornell Law, with an open door to what appeared to be a vivacious life. Only to wake up one day and realize that the Wild West has been domesticated.

The night demons stop howling and a weak sun pushes some of the darkness from the offices. It is morning in the most prestigious law firms of Wall Street, and the capital markets attorneys have begun to file in.

They are all well-dressed and wellgroomed. They take the elevators past the busier and less well-groomed floors and glimpse enviously at the bustle and bill able hours of their litigation and bank ruptcy counterparts. They must continue up to their own floor — the Department of the Superfluous.

The Department of the Superfluous is a quiet floor. Phones are rarely heard, many offices remain empty, and client meetings are nonexistent. The lawyers shuffle out of the elevator and take meandering walks to their offices, stop ping to talk to their secretaries for too long before taking their desk seats. They connect their laptops, turn on monitors, ready desk phones, cell phones, black berries, iPads, tablets — and wait for the onslaught of pings and messages and calls that never arrive.

New attorneys were hired as summer associates during the golden era of 2021. The summer of 2021 — when Plutus turned his golden smile on our markets and rained upon us a glow of endless alerts and billable hours. When any bachelor’s degree holder in Silicon Valley or fraudulent biotech company could draw up liquid gold from the aquifer in exchange for only their translucent shares.

The aquifer runs deep and has chan nels all throughout the country; the rich liquid flows through it endlessly from the faucet of the Fed and dusts even the retailers in gold. And the SPACs — those dirty words headed by celebrities—who could drink the gold just by saying “We’ll pay you later” — and their constitu ents eagerly threw them roses because it would be profitable. And they were right; everything was profitable.

Then in 2022 the aquifer went dry. The waters slackened their tides and then dried up all at once as the faucet of the Fed closed off and began to draw its gifts back up into itself. Where these waters used to flow are the empty, cavernous arteries of our markets — inflated and stagnant. Barren, dry, empty but for the cave dwellers who feed on leftover fat and dead insects — these arteries are the office halls of capital markets attorneys.

These halls are the promenade for our frequent trips to the break rooms and lounges and neighboring offices. We amble about these halls, nearly blind

from darkness, hoping to bump against another attorney so we might strike up a rehearsed conversation on The Market and the Fed and SEC and when things will pick up again — it will surely be in January, where bankers have pushed all their deals to try for a bonus that is a lost cause for 2022.

The hallways occasionally open into clearings—the many lobbies on our floor once used to signify power and taste to our clients. In each lobby of our firm there is a television set to 24/7 coverage of the markets with pundits parroting the conversations we have alone with ourselves at odd hours of the night. We dart quickly by these screens for fear of hearing about more downturns and more capitulation. The only exception is when we all slink from our offices to gather for ominous speeches from our Overlord — the Imperial Fed — to bring us yet another interest rate hike. Not long ago, we began covering our televisions with black sheets.

Lunch hour. The attorneys saunter out with empty briefcases. We have ample time for lunches; sumptuous lunches taken far from the office in quiet estab lishments away from the typical haunts of the financial intelligentsia. But we must take our lunches alone — to take them together would be an admission of the hours we have not worked and our failure as shepherds of the economy. We take head-bent walks after our lunches and return hastily to the office, mutter ing to our coworkers about needing to get back to work on deals that have long since gone dormant.

Back in our offices, the attorneys have taken up strange hobbies. Office shelves are now dotted with high-mainte nance tropical plants and kinetic motion sculptures. The associates have taken to trimming expensive bonsai trees at their desks; the partners have taken to crying under their desks. Many of us look for lornly out of our windows and daydream about those heroes of the Depression who threw themselves from their win dows when everything came down.

Late afternoon turns to evening and the attorneys peek from their offices to see who will break ranks and leave first. Often, we wait beyond dusk so that our litigation and bankruptcy counterparts will not see us as we slink through the office. The building is closing and the darkness from the office begins to push the sun away. And we must go home to recite to our partners the demanding work we’ve done that day.

The attorneys arm themselves with bundles of paper and letter openers and begin their descent to the lobby. They will hold formation as they exit the building to fend off the terrors that lurk between the great edifices of Wall Street. The last weak light of dusk fades and the night demons resume their howling.

Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the num bers 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 wiki pedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

I am going to be small

Mr. Gnu

by Travis Dandro

Mr. Gnu by Travis Dandro

FOOTBALL

Football Loses Shot at Winning Record with Loss

By GRAYSON RUHL Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Football entered this Saturday with an important goal in mind: To break its 17-year stretch without a winning season. Facing off against Columbia in the Empire State Bowl, the team fell short of breaking the drought, losing heavily against the Lions, 45-22.

The Red (5-5, 2-5 Ivy) has employed a run-based, ball control style of football throughout the year. However, with its top three running backs sidelined, its identity was put to the test. Sophomores Eddie Tillman and Robert Tucker III, along with freshman Gannon Carothers, are all current ly injured, leading the running responsibili ties to be shared by freshman AJ Holmes and junior Drew Powell.

Columbia (6-4, 3-4 Ivy) was coming off of an exciting overtime win against Brown. The Lions was seeking its fourth winning season in the last five years.

Cornell got off to a slow start, going three-and-out on its first possession. The same could not be said for Columbia, with its offense churning off the bat.

The Lions charged down the field, with quarterback Caden Bell hitting wide receiv er Marcus Libman for a 53-yard strike over the middle on a 3rd and 9. Putting Columbia just outside the red zone, the team was able to put together a series of positive rushes to push the ball into the end zone.

Looking to respond, a false start against the Red put the team behind the chains. Faced with a third-and-long situation, sophomore quarterback Jameson Wang overthrew junior wide receiver Nicholas Laboy, and it was picked off by the Columbia defense. The ensuing runback gave the Lions an instant redzone oppor tunity.

With a chance to create an early cushion, Columbia took over on offense. Similarly to last week, however, it was the Red’s defense picking up its offense. Two plays

into the drive, sophomore safety Trey Harris forced a fumble, and senior corner back Paul Lewis III fell on it to get Cornell the ball right back.

The Red attempted to capitalize on the turnover, putting together a drive into Columbia territory. Eventually faced with a 4th and 1 situation, a sneak by Wang was stuffed by the Lions’ defensive line, and Cornell turned it over on downs.

Utilizing the Red’s offensive strategy, Columbia began moving the ball on the ground with ease, picking up chunk yard age every play. Cornell’s defense had no answer, and the 13-play, 62-yard drive put the Lions up, 14-0.

Looking for any sort of offense, the Red began driving from its own 22. Mixing the

rush and the pass, Cornell worked the ball down the field methodically.

A 23 yard rush by Holmes put the Red in Columbia territory. Facing a 3rd and 12 from the Columbia 14 with just over a minute remaining in the half, Wang found senior wide receiver Thomas Glover at the front corner of the end zone. Glover went up the ladder to beat his man, and the Red narrowed the Columbia lead to seven at the half.

Coming out of the locker room, the Lions’ offense kicked it into gear. Seemingly unchecked while marching down the field, Bell found receiver Bryson Canty for 31 yards before running back Ryan Young rushed it up the gut for a two-yard score to put Columbia back up by 14.

SOCCER

The Red was unable to get its run game going on its opening possession of the sec ond half, and punted back to Columbia. The Lions had an opportunity to put some series distance in the game.

The Red’s defense struggled to stop Columbia’s run game, and two crucial defensive penalties on third downs kept the drive alive. Working with a goal-to-go opportunity, it was Young again pounding it into the endzone for his second score of the day.

To continue reading this article, please visit www.cornellsun.com.

Ruhl can be reached at gruhl@cornellsun.com.

Men’s Soccer Advances In NCAA Tournament

By RUTH ABRAHAM Sun Assistant Sports Editor

Men’s soccer made history on Sunday afternoon by winning its first NCAA Tournament game since 1977. With a tense finish, No. 14 Cornell outlasted Maryland, 2-1.

Coming off an incredible year, it was the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2012. While scoreless in the first half, it was all dominated by the Red. Cornell led 6-1 in shots and controlled possession for more than 25 minutes in the first half. Niklas Neumann of Maryland made all of his saves of the night just within the first.

Everything changed in the last 10 minutes of regulation. Sophomore forward Danny Lokko found the back of the net with seven minutes remaining to give the Red a 1-0 lead. Not even three minutes later, Lokko struck again, doubling the Cornell lead.

A comfortable 2-0 lead was shak en in the final three minutes when Maryland’s Albi Ndrenika scored. The goal rejuvenated the Terrapins, who kept offensive pressure in the final minutes. The attempted come

back was cut short as a no-call in the box went Cornell’s way and the clock ran out.

Up next, Cornell will face No. 3 Syracuse on Sunday at SU Soccer Stadium. The Orange beat Penn on Sunday in double overtime to set up a rematch against the Red. Back in October, a newly-ranked Red upset the nationally-ranked Syracuse to hand them only the second loss of the season, after a loss against Virginia.

After they faced the Orange last month, junior forward Matthew Goncalves told the Sun that despite being the underdogs, the Red was confident it could secure a win.

“I think the entire team kind of had full confidence in what we could do and in our play styles and we weren’t intimidated at all going into the Syracuse game. We knew it was going to be a big game, but we kind of had trust in our system and that our system would take place and everything would come out alright,” said Goncalves.

Loss in the Big Apple | Football was outmatched against Columbia in the Empire State Bowl on Nov. 19, 2022.

JASON WU / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Grayson

JASON WU / SUN ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Ruth Abraham can be reached at rabraham@cornellsun.com.

Late strike | Danny Lokko scored two goals to send Cornell to the third round.