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2021 Album Picks

Psychology of COVID-19

Mostly Cloudy

Ithaca’s homeless shelters and food providers are preparing to serve those in need this winter. | Page 3

The Sun’s Arts and Culture staff reviews the top albums of 2021. | Page 4

Prof. Laura Niemi explains how psychology impacts students’ health decisions about COVID-19. | Page 8

HIGH: 37º LOW: 29º

FGSS Program Celebrates 50 Years Cornell Sophomore Anniversary events to feature prominent feminist, LGBTQ+ scholars

By VEE CIPPERMAN

Roberta Sklar and Sondra Segal.

Sun News Editor The next two centered artists in the 1990s and the present.

Fifty years after the Ivy League’s This weekend, FGSS hosted an first women’s studies program was alumni event at the Cornell Club established at Cornell, the femiin New York City, which included nist, gender and sexuality studies the launch of Millennial Feminism program is celebrating its anniat Work: Bridging Theory and versary with a multidisciplinary Practice, a collection of 17 essays by event series. Centering collaboramillennial feminists and including tion, the program has partnered Cornell alumni, edited by Juffer. with alumni, students and proAccording to Juffer, the purfessors in several departments to pose of the event was to concommemorate their progress and nect with alumni in a centralized organize for their future. group, following successful FGSS The FGSS procareer events for curgram anniversary rent majors hosted on “It was important for us from different generations, coincides with the Zoom last year.

30-year anniversary Next semester, the to think critically and reflect on what kinds of of the LGBT studanniversary celebrachoices were made in the past.” ies program, foundtions will continue ed in 1994. A yearwith a book launch Ximena Sanchez ’23 long series of events for Trans Historical: running through Gender Plurality May 2022, including a roster of studies over time.

Before the Modern by Prof. Masha feminist and queer speakers across “It was important for us, at dif- Raskolnikov, literatures in English, departments, is honoring the anni- ferent levels, from different genera- and events on immigration, refuversary, alongside other events such tions, to think critically and reflect gees and detention through a femias a theater history series and alum- on what kinds of choices were made nist lens. Warner will teach LGBT ni events in New York City. in the past,” said panelist and cur- 2290: Introduction to Lesbian, According to Prof. Sara rent FGSS minor Ximena Sanchez Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Warner, performing and media ’23. “How did we get here?”

Studies, where students will create arts and director of LGBT studies, Warner hosted a three-part documentary theater pieces based FGSS and LGBT faculty wanted event series this September through on Cornell archive research. to celebrate the two anniversa- eCornell on feminist theater. The “We’re going to orient the ries simultaneously to examine the first event featured activists work- class around the anniversary and overlaps and distinctions between ing in the 1960s, including It’s take a deep dive into the Cornell the two fields.

All Right to Be Woman Theatre archives,” Warner said.

“We are a program that focus- founder Sue Perlgut and Women’s es on gender and sexuality,” said Experimental Theatre founders See ANNIVERSARY page 3 Prof. Jane Juffer, literatures in English and director of the FGSS program. “Those are two intertwined but distinct elements.”

This semester, both the FGSS and LGBT studies programs have hosted a variety of events exploring feminist and queer issues from different angles. The September event “Trans-Generational” united queer scholars of different academic levels, from current undergraduates to president of Amherst College Biddy Martin, to discuss changing definitions of gender

Winter blues

Pronounced Dead

Atluri ’24 remembered as brilliant scientist

By MADELINE ROSENBERG and ANIL OZA Sun Managing Editor and Sun Assistant Managing Editor

On Monday, Tara Atluri ’24 was pronounced dead at Cayuga Medical Center after being found unresponsive in her apartment off campus that morning.

Atluri was a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who had a “deep love for plants and nature,” CALS Dean Benjamin Houlton wrote to the CALS community, and Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life, later wrote in a University statement Monday evening.

“Tara was described by her faculty as a brilliant scientist adept at solving the most challenging problems in innovative ways,” Lombardi wrote.

Before coming to Cornell as a student in the fall of 2020, she had already participated in summer internships with the University Herbarium twice, according to Houlton’s email.

Upon joining Cornell as a CALS undergraduate, where she was studying biological sciences, she started independent research in the Gandolfo and Specht Labs, working on 3D constructions of inflorescence branching, the email read.

This is the first death of a student reported during the fall 2021 semester, after four student deaths in the spring.

The University will host a support meeting for the Cornell community on Wednesday Dec. 8 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in the International Lounge (414) in Willard Straight Hall.

Students in need of professional mental health support can call Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 607-255-5155 and employees can call the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) at 607-255-2673. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all CAPS and FSAP services are currently being delivered via telehealth. Whenever these services are closed, calls are answered

by Cornell Health’s on-call mental health provider. The Ithacabased Crisisline is also available at 607-272-1616. A wide range of supportive resources is also available at caringcommunity. cornell.edu.

Madeline Rosenberg can be reached at mrosenberg@cornellsun.

Anil Oza can be reached at aoza@cornellsun.com.

Student Assembly Passes New Student Activities Fee

By ELI PALLRAND Sun Staff Writer

KATRIEN DE WAARD / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Long winter ahead | Winter weather has arrived on campus as students walk to classes under overcast skies.

In its last meeting of the semester, the Student Assembly met for more than four hours in three separate back-to-back meetings as it ended its byline funding cycle with a lengthy debate over raising the student activities fee.

The student activities fee is a mandatory fee that all students pay to fund student organizations. The fee amount is decided by the Student Assembly at the end of its two-year byline funding cycle, and approved by the University president. Currently, the annual student activities fee is

$309 per student per year. Byline funded organizations each get a fraction of the student activity fee, which they use to fund their projects or subsidiary campus organizations.

The byline funding cycle had already become controversial within the assembly multiple times this semester. The S.A. heard multiple appeals by byline organizations against the funding decisions given to them by the appropriations committee, cut an organization from byline funding altogether and replaced its vice president of finance midway through the funding cycle.

See S.A. page 3

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, December 7, 2021

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More Than Movement: Choreographing Identities on Global Stages 9:40 - 10:55 a.m., A.D. White House

Advanced Soil Health Course From a Global Perspective 8 - 11:30 a.m., Virtual Event

The Recruitment and Appointment of Supreme Court Judges in Europe: A Comparative Perspective 11 a.m. - Noon, Virtual Event Behavioral Economics Workshop: Kelly Shue 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., 141 Sage Hall Econometrics Workshop: Liyang Sun 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., \ 217 Ives Hall Twenty Years of War: Coalitions of War and Anti-War 3 p.m., Virtual Event Portuguese Conversation Hour 3 - 4 p.m., G25 Stimson Hall Thinking of a Career in Academic Publishing?

4:30 - 6 p.m., Virtual Event Festival of Medieval Readings 5 p.m., Big Red Barn Sharing Mary 6 - 7:30 p.m., G-14 Anabel Taylor Hall Design Your Succession Plan Series 6:30 - 8 p.m., Virtual Event Bjerken Piano Studio Recital 8 p.m., Barnes Hall

Course Design Institute for Faculty and Instructors 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., ILR Conference Center City and Regional Planning Graduate Information Session 10 a.m., Virtual Event Employee Assembly Communications, Outreach And Recognition Committee Meeting 11 a.m. - Noon, Virtual Event No Sleep, No Social Life, No Self-Care: The Cost of Caregiving and How You Can Lighten the Load Noon - 1 p.m., Virtual Event Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Course Noon - 5 p.m., Virtual Event Spray Safe, Spray Well: An Introduction to Integrated Pest Management for Vegetable Growers Noon - 1 p.m., Virtual Event No Purchase Necessary: Low to No Cost Plug Load Management Strategies 1 - 2 p.m., Virtual Event Future Directions in the Study of Migration and Racial Justice: A Postdoctoral Symposium 4 - 5:30 p.m., G-08 Uris Hall Former Speaker Newt Gingrich: An Historic Perspective 7 - 8 p.m., Virtual Event

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News

FGSS, LGBT Studies Celebrate As Temperatures Drop, Ithaca Charities Provide Programs’ Activist Origins ANNIVERSARY

of faculty, we do offer comprehensive health care, which very few universities do.”

Going forward, Juffer and Warner emphasized A major purpose of the anniversary celebrations, the importance of multidisciplinary work for both according to Juffer, is to celebrate the evolution of programs. Warner noted that FGSS, LBGT studies FGSS and LGBT studies over time. and PMA all study representation and media, espeFGSS, originally called “Female Studies,” offered cially where they relate to feminist and queer rights. its first class in 1970 titled “The Evolution of the She said that they also explore justice and privilege Female Personality: History and in overlapping ways.

Prospects.” According to Juffer, Ghosh highlighted the impor“It’s really important to tance of expanding faculty diverit followed academic activism in the 60s and 70s to make room celebrate queer joy and sity within the FGSS departfor marginalized groups withment. She explained how profestrans joy. We’ve made a sors with multiple appointments in the University. Prof. Durba Ghosh, history, and former direchelp to integrate new ideas and lot of gains. ” tor of the FGSS program, noted disciplines into courses offered by that student activism prompted the FGSS department, highlightProf. Sarah Warner the establishment of the proing two new assistant professors gram at Cornell.

Prof. Tao Leigh Goffe, FGSS and Over time, Juffer stated, FGSS has changed Africana studies, and Prof. Juno Salazar Parreñas, its title to highlight gender-based activism. The FGSS and science and technology studies. program was established in 1972 as the Program in Ghosh added that senior majors are encourWomen’s Studies. In 2002, the program name was aged to complete capstone projects incorporating changed to Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies knowledge from different disciplines, as many to reflect its inclusion of LGBT course offerings. FGSS students are either double majors or purIt has grown to include six joint-appointed pro- suing an FGSS minor. Sanchez, an engineering fessors in literatures in English, Africana studies, student, said she appreciates the perspective that anthropology and science and technologies studies. her FGSS minor offers her.

Approximately eight majors and 20 minors graduJuffer said expanding to other colleges through ate from FGSS each year. cross-listed courses could help FGSS progress from The LGBT program, according to Warner, a program to a department, which would expand similarly grew out of student activism and has con- funding opportunities and allow FGSS to give protinued to expand since its founding in 1994. The fessors tenure. Over the next year or two, she said, LGBT Resource Center was founded the same year. FGSS will be looking for an environmental studies “It grew out of the desire for people, in the wake and a transgender studies faculty member to be of AIDS activism and everything that was going on appointed within FGSS. in the 1990s, to think more critically about sexualGhosh and Sanchez both shared their hope for ity studies,” Warner said.

FGSS to also expand transgender studies courseWarner noted that LGBT activism became work. Sanchez stressed the importance of offering significant on Cornell’s campus in 1968 when stu- more specific classes on trans issues, rather than dents formed the second homophile movement in including them as a side note. the country, following Columbia.

“I’ve been at Cornell for 15 years,” Ghosh said.

Since the “The biggest growing population of students are LGBT program’s nonbinary or trans. Those students are rightly “[Transgender and nonbinary] founding, Warner pressing us for more curricular offerings that speak Cornell has to them.” students are rightly pressing said, made strides for As the anniversary continues, Warner noted that us for more curricular offer- LGBTQ+ com- the anniversary is both an opportunity for celebramunity mem- tion and constructive examination. ings that speak to them.” bers. The Loving “It’s really important to celebrate queer joy Prof Durba Ghosh House, a living and trans joy,” Warner said. “We’ve made a lot of project that began gains nationally and internationally, but we are in the 1990s, definitely at a moment when people are trying to opened in 2019. According to Warner, Cornell roll back those rights for women, for queers and Health provides considerable resources for trans- for transgender people. We have to remain ever gender students compared to other universities in vigilant.” the U.S. Surita Basu ’23 contributed reporting.

“I think Cornell can be really proud of some of the policies and practices it has around transgender Vee Cipperman can be reached at study,” she said. “Even if we lack a critical mass vcipperman@cornellsun.com.

Continued from page 1

S.A. Passes Student Activity Fee S.A.

Continued from page 1

Vice President of Finance Valeria Valencia ’23 presented the new student activity fee — $310, a $1 increase from the last byline cycle.

S.A. bylaws prevent the assembly from adopting appropriations committee recommendations at the same meeting where they are introduced. To follow this rule and still finalize the fee, the student activities fee proposal was reintroduced at a second meeting that night.

But contentious debate ensued.

Ultimately, the S.A. ended up meeting for another two hours, called a third meeting, dropped to less than two-thirds of total members in attendance and passed its byline funding just before 9 p.m. by the exact number of votes required.

Some representatives, includ-

ing Undesignated At-Large Representative Lucas Smith ’22, thought that discussion was needed before a vote on byline funding could pass.

“I think it would’ve been a really, really bad precedent for the assembly to have had no discussion, even if we had very little that we tangibly wanted to say,” Smith said.

Other representatives, like College of Arts and Sciences Representative Everest Yan ’22, said he felt more strongly about the process that creates the proposed student activities fee.

“Throughout this semester in our meetings we kind of passed along the byline reports noting that we might cut later, and raising a lot of allocations but [with] promises that we would lower the fee eventually,” Yan said. “Where did we go wrong? Where did we fail our constituents?”

Other members later argued

that arguments for cutting organizations’ funding were unfair because COVID-19 exposed organizations to significant pressures.

“There has been a general trend of people wanting to cut organizations funding,” said Arts and Sciences Representative Claudia León ’23. “I feel like it should have been approached with a lot more compassion because we’re coming out of a pandemic.”

Undesignated At-Large Representative Benjamin Luckow ’24 defended the proposed student activities fee as actually saving students money because, given inflation rates, $310 is a roughly $20 discount from what a fee of $309 meant to students two years ago.

To continue reading this story, please visit cornellsun.com.

Eli Pallrand can be reached at epallrand@cornellsun.com.

Aid to Those in Need

By MIA GLASS Sun Staff Writer

Ithaca’s homeless shelters and food providers anticipate a rise in demand as the harsh winter and pandemic-induced supply shortages approach. Organizations such as St. John’s Community Services, the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County, and Loaves and Fishes are hard at work to provide shelter, food and other assistance to those in need.

St. John’s Community Services has been operating a homeless shelter in Ithaca since 2018. They work closely with the Tompkins County Department of Social Services and the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County to sign the people up and approve them for shelter.

This formal approval system for obtaining shelter at St. John’s Community Services is only required during the warmer months. Once the weather hits below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, including wind chill, New York State has a Code Blue policy that mandates shelters to accept all those in need.

In Ithaca, where temperatures are often below freezing, this effect has been prominent.

The number of shelter-seekers go from an average of 70 to 80 per night in the summer months to nearly double that amount in the winter.

“We in Tompkins County do a really good job at Code Blue policy and do meet that need

for people,” said Liddy Bargar, director of housing initiatives at Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County.

St. John’s Community Services only has 20 beds in their shelter, but also uses hotels in Tompkins County to shelter people. For the Code Blue participants during the winter, they also offer extra places to stay in local churches, such as the First Baptist Church of West Danby

“We in Tompkins County do a really good job at Code Blue policy.”

Liddy Bargar and St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

“Knowing that we provide a safe, warm place for people to get out of the elements, particularly in the winter, is very rewarding,” said Roy Murdough ’87 and New York State director of St. John’s Community Services.

St. John’s Community Services and the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County also provide services for people in the outdoor homeless encampment located in southwest Ithaca, or what is known as “the Jungle.”

To continue reading this story, please visit cornellsun.com.

Mia Glass can be reached at mglass@cornellsun.com.

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A&C

4 | The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Tuesday, December 7, 2021

&

Arts & Culture’s 2021 Album Picks ARTS & CULTURE STAFF

MONTERO by Lil Nas X I had high hopes for Lil Nas X’s debut album, and I have to say, it did not disappoint. Not only does he deliver some classic dance-able songs like “MONTERO (CALL ME BY

Out” and “Find Myself,” help audiences really connect with the despair and slivers of hope that a lot of people have felt in the past two years.

— Tom Sandford ’24 Donda by Kanye West After the mess that was his 2019 Jesus Is King release, Kanye bounced

YOUR NAME),” but he showcases a variety of genres with his more introspective tracks like “SUN GOES DOWN,” exploring themes of identity and struggling under pressure. I was impressed with Lil Nas X’s range, all displaying a depth of emotions fit for any mood. He also has some unique features on the album, such as Elton John and Miley Cyrus. Lil Nas X really shines on MONTERO, moving listeners from dancing to crying, leaving me replaying it for months.

— Emma Leynse ’23

back hard with Donda, a sprawling album that channels his new religious themes in a much more interesting manner than his previous work. From the epic “Heaven and Hell” to the introspective “Jesus Lord,” Kanye delivers something for everyone on this project, while giving it strong emotional weight with its connection to his mother. He’s shown he can still be a heavy hitter in the modern rap game, and I’m excited to see where he goes next.

— Nihar Hegde ’24

See What’s On the Inside by Asking Alexandria The seventh studio album from the British rock group, Asking Alexandria, See What’s on the Inside was a contemplative look at the changing identities of a world that has been locked inside for almost a year. This is their first album with their new label and is a reminder of what made them so popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Notable singles include “Alone Again,” which grapples with similar themes as their 2017 hit “Alone in a Room.” Other hits include “Faded

Let It Be: 50th Anniversary Edition by The Beatles Released in tandem with the Peter Jackson-helmed documentary The Beatles: Get Back, Let It Be: 50th Anniversary Edition contains a remixed version of the Beatles’ final released album, overseen by producer (and son of original Beatles producer George Martin) Giles Martin along with songs and sequences from the album sessions in January 1969. Early versions of songs such as “Get Back” and “Don’t Let Me Down” appear along with early versions of Beatles

solo songs, including “All Things Must Pass” and “Gimme Some Truth.” Complementing the renewed interpretation of the tone and atmosphere of those sessions, the remixed album rings out with a crispness and vitality which cast a new and well-deserved light on what has traditionally been seen as an album marred by discord and acrimony.

— John Colie ’23

Daddy’s Home by St. Vincent Daddy’s Home, the sixth studio album from St. Vincent, is an homage to 1970s New York and a meditation on her father’s imprisonment. After 2017’s Masseduction, Annie Clark and her co-producer Jack Antonoff have turned away from glam rock to a more psychedelic and blues sound.

The groove in “Down” and “Daddy’s Home” teems with blistering discontent and anger. In the latter, Clark explores the idea of reparenting, a process of fulfilling the needs not met in one’s own childhood and then becoming her own “daddy”. More subdued tracks like “…At the Holiday Party” and “Live in the Dream” are sonic gold mines, glistening with exquisite production, sitars, lap steels and

stirring background vocals. Clark’s sublime guitar skills continue to be a revelation, and Daddy’s Home only further solidifies her status as a modern rock legend.

— Violet Gooding ’25 Call Me if You Get Lost by Tyler, the Creator I didn’t expect anything from this album because I always know that Tyler likes to switch up his style. However, I really liked that he didn’t try to make another IGOR, and he went back to his rap roots. Songs like “SIR BAUDELAIRE” and “LUMBERJACK” have these heavy boom-bap rap sounds that are reminiscent of 90s New York rappers like the Gravediggaz and Nas. In contrast “WUSYANAME” has a pop feel to it with a surprise feature from NBA Youngboy. “HOT WIND BLOWS” has a beautiful sample that makes you feel like you’re on a vacation in

Greece.

“RISE” has a great message about being oneself a n d proving people wrong with your success. The album has deeply inspired me, and although I wouldn’t say it’s his best album, it’s a high contender.

— Adesuwa Carlton ’24 Obviously by Lake Street Dive The latest effort from this genre-defying band from Boston finds them at their collaborative prime. Produced and engineered by Mike Elizondo,

ELIZA SALAMON SUN ARTS STAFF

Dance is inherently about connection, moving, breathing and feeling the physical weight of one’s fellow dancers. In the almost two years since the pandemic began, dancers and choreographers have had to continuously adapt to new restrictions and guidelines. Students in dance courses in Cornell’s Performance and Media Arts (PMA) department have experienced the whole gamut of these changes, adjusting to hybrid dance classes over Zoom, virtual concerts and performing in masks.

So with a sigh of relief and return to a new normal, PMA held its first live student dance performance in the Schwartz Center from Dec. 2-4. This Mini Locally Grown Dance exhibition featured four works which will

ARTS & CULTURE

Obviously is a sonic thrill ride. While the band is able to maintain their signature blend of 60s soul, vintage rock and R&B, their sound is cleaner on this record, though their songwriting is just as adventurous. With the addition of new keyboardist Akie Bermiss, the group is able to strike a new pristine balance as collaborators, with bassist Bridget Kearney, drummer Mike Calabrese and guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson eagerly creating a classic landscape for Rachael Price’s jazzy vocals. While upbeat highlights “Hypotheticals” and “Same Old News” will likely garner the admiration of many listeners unfamiliar with the band, slower moments like “Nobody’s Stopping You Now” and “Anymore” are those in which their musicianship capabilities truly shine.

In this album, the band has created a cohesive record that presents a listen unlike anything else out this year.

— P. J. Brown ’25 The Incompatible by Okay Kaya A hybrid release of covers and new songs, the newest album by indie Swedish siren singer and actor Okay Kaya is absolutely enthralling. The

cover versions slow down her art pop hits “Psych Ward” and “Dance Like U” among others. Her raw voice and twisted poetry will gore your heart from your chest. In her new single “Book of Love,” Okay Kaya gives a waterfall of soothing melodies. The book of love is filled with “things we’re way too adult to know.” If you’re sad and sexy, you’ll listen to this album.

— E. D. Plowe ’23

be featured again in their fully-realized capacity at the end of the spring semester in the annual Locally Grown Dance show.

Mini Locally Grown Dance promised to “surprise and, in some ways, comfort both the performers and the audience.” Having not attended an in-person dance performance since pre-pandemic, I certainly found comfort and exhilaration in seeing bodies move on stage just a few feet away. The intimate setting of the Class of ’56 Dance Theatre, where the audience is seated on risers directly above the stage, was the perfect way to return to dance.

To see the sharp lines and muscles of the dancers and hear their breathing as the lights dim is to experience a snapshot of time existing solely for the dancers and audience.

To read the rest of this story, please visit cornellsun.com.

Eliza Salamon is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at ecs287@cornell.edu.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, December 7, 2021 5

Opinion

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Letter From the Editor

For Now, A Break for Us All AS THE SEMESTER COMES TO A CLOSE, The Cornell Daily Sun looks toward a brief hiatus through winter break to provide our editors, writers and staff a well-earned pause.

This semester has been unpredictable, difficult and draining, and I’ve watched this staff face every challenge with open arms and steady hands, telling the stories of the changes and current lives here on campus. They’ve worked through the usual stressors that come with working on a paper with the added insurmountable hurdles of the present moment.

So first, I say a humble thank you to my dearest co-workers and friends.

I am so proud of what we’ve done together and am grateful for the work you have put into this paper. It can be hard to recognize our impact, but I hope that this break allows you a second to look back.

Come January, our pages — both virtual and in print — will be in the hands of the 140th editorial compets, a group of candidates for our 35 or so leadership positions. During these first weeks of the semester, they’ll train in the work of the nation’s oldest continuously independent college daily and figure out how to keep our beloved newspaper running. It’s no easy feat, but I can’t wait to see what they’ll achieve and where they’ll take The Sun. Thank you, readers, as always for your support. I hope you also take this break to find a bit of light, laughter and reprieve — we certainly all deserve it.

— K.S.

Sports Board Alyson Wong ’23 Monica Kim ’23 Cooper Stepke ’23

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Science Board Milena Bimpong ’22 Anirudh Sharma ’23

Jessica Dai ’23 Kobi Rassnick ’24

Meher Bhatia ’24 William Cox ’24

Photography Board Michael Suguitan grad Zoe Yang grad Yisu Zheng ’21

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JAY BRANEGAN / FORMER SUN ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Writers’ weekend workshop | Presenters and participants of the October Journalism Workshop Weekend pose in the Sun Building’s Alumni Hall.

Dining Board Margaret Chan ’22 Meridien Mach ’22 Olivia Smith ’22

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EDITED VERSION OF SUN BUILDING DRAWING BY KATELYNN LE

Anya English ’24 Vanessa Chan ’24 Chris Kim ’24

Katherine Chang ’25

139 West State Street | This is the historic building where the 139th Editorial Board has restored print publication to thrice weekly throughout the fall semester.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Opinion

Talking Bodies

KATELYNN LE / SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Niko Nguyen Fault Line Niko Nguyen is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He can be reached at nnguyen@cornellsun.com. Fault Line runs every other Friday this semester.

A

perfect version of me lies out there somewhere. His limbs are more outstretched than mine, landing his shiny head of hair at the 6’ mark. Where a shallow valley gapes between my eyes, a well-defined nose bridge juts out from his face. And he sorta looks like me, if only I could slap muscles onto my shoulders, pinch off the baby fat from my jawline and tighten my posture into a vertical pole.

But, of course, there’s a kicker: This guy lives deep in the trenches of my imagination. He’s not me, nor even an attainable picture of what I could look like. He’s taller, defined, chiseled. Softer where my features are too jagged, sharper where my features aren’t. And though I know I can’t edit my body the way that you can tweak a Bitmoji, I find my brain constantly using him as some fuzzy baseline for comparison every time I glance into a mirror.

These days, impossible what-if’s over my appearance infest my thoughts like ants swarming a picnic basket. They dig themselves into my head all day long. As I’m getting dressed in the morning. Before I step into lecture halls packed with classmates. Whenever I catch my reflection in

the Four Seasons window on my walk up to campus.

And as I’ve spent more and more time mulling over my physical appearance these past few years, I’ve started to notice the toll that comes with owning and navigating a physical body in a college space.

I came to Cornell with an understanding and an acceptance that I’d struggle with Imposter Syndrome. To be thrust into an academic environment that breeds future senators and CEO’s? To have my intellect probed, weighed, dissected alongside my peers? Academic anxiety was a burden that I expected to carry into Cornell.

Less expected, though, were the ways in which I’d feel my body, my physical self, become a central subject of insecurity.

My firstMy week of college, headfirst the freshman first week ofI dove college, I doveinto headfirst into party experience. treks to sober Collegetown, the freshman partyI remember experience.sober I remember treks to annex-hopping down Eddy Street, clumsy backclumsy up to Collegetown, annex-hopping down Eddyhikes Street, North Campus. remember my first sip of Keystone, hikes back up toINorth Campus.

I remember my first the sip bass of Mo Bamba, lapping my firstlapping dizzying of KeystMne, the bass of moupBamba, up O-Week my first experience.

And somewhere the way, I also remember dizzying O-Week experience.along And somewhere along the way, learning the importance a good “ratio.”of a good “ratio.”

I also remember learningofthe importance A classic term in the Cornell handbook: A good ratio means having a friend group with a higher proportion of girls to guys. It’s key to breeching shitty annex parties. It means counting off your friends by gender before approaching a door, calculating and configuring the best formula for entry. And to some degree, it also demands us to start viewing ourselves as bodies. Bodies on a binary. Bodies in relation to Every timetime I went out to the theother otherbodies bodiesaround aroundus.us.

Every I went freshman year, year, I stumbled into Collegetown with anwith accepout freshman I stumbled into Collegetown an tance that, for thethat, night, would flatten acceptance formy thesocial night,identity my social identity into a would single, faceless flatten label. into a“Boy.” single, faceless label. “Boy.” It lesson in my curriculum, learning I twas wasa striking a striking lesson in college my college cur- riculum, to see myself a physical detached from my interiorilearning to seeasmyself as a body physical body detached from my ty.

But that’s just whatjust college to us. interiority.

But that’s whatdoes college doesThe to social us. Thesystems social here washhere us over messaging we’re not systems washwith us over with that messaging thatmuch we’remore not than be bodies objectified commodified. muchbodies more to than to beand obectified and commodified.

And we don’t have to look far to see where to point the blame. With a third of Cornell students in fraternities and sororities, and a college nightlife that heavily revolves around frat parties, Cornell’s social environment is one that follows the compass of Greek life. Which, evidently, is a system that

sews bodily objectification right into its social fabric.

We’ve all heard the stories. Frat brothers referring to girls as “throats.” The hookup tallies and the body count lists ranked by weight. And, it’s no secret that higher social access is granted to those who fit within the beauty standards in the Greek-life vacuum — a set of rigid parameters for what Cornell considers to be attractive. At this point, the blondification and bronzification of the sorority girl are long-running jokes. But, again, isn’t this just a product of a system that pushes individuals, particularly women, to aspire for narrow benchmarks of beauty? And what happens to those who don’t align with the cookie-cutter mold, who might lie outside of the expected skin color, sexuality, body size? When white heterosexuality governs beauty standards, minorities are left to consider whether their bodies even belong in the social hierarchy. Whether their bodies are desired. Whether their bodies are tokens or liabilities.

It took me a while to consciously realize how my college years have shifted my attention toward my physical presentation. But, over the years, it’s wedged a gaping dissonance between my mind and my body. I’ve always believed that I have a pretty strong grasp on who I am: I’m a raging optimist, I enjoy crosswords and I prefer tequila over vodka (a recent revelation).

But, again, to the rest of the world’s eyes, we are worth how we appear. I’m Asian, I have black hair and I often wear green — this is how the world perceives me, not for my interiority. And no matter how hard we may try to tweak our appearances, our physical images don’t belong to us.

They belong to the system that shuffles us around as objects and commodities. The system that appraises us, judges our social value, then doles out rewards only if we pass litmus tests of beauty.

Maybe the tides will turn after Cornell, when we graduate from the frat parties and the sloppy college nights. But so long as our bodies stand in for our social worth, I’ll be left doing as I’ve been trained to do. Standing in front of a mirror, picking apart my flaws and praying for corrections, aspiring for some physical validation from a system that sees me as nothing more than just another body in a sea of thousands others.

Any Person, Any Study… Except for PMA

Andrew Lorenzen When We’re Sixty Four Andrew V. Lorenzen is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at alorenzen@cornellsun.com.

When We’re Sixty Four runs every other Wednesday this semester.

I

almost didn’t apply to Cornell. This school has changed my life — providing me with the greatest opportunities, the dearest friends and best experiences of my life thus far. But, I did not originally want to go here. It was not on my list of colleges four years ago. I knew that it had a good reputation. I had one cousin who went here and loved it, but my aspirations were to enter the world of film and theater. I wanted to write plays, screenplays and fiction. And I knew from my research that the Cornell administration’s history of supporting such artistic pursuits was abysmal.

There was a strange dichotomy — Cornell had one of the greatest track records when it came to producing creative luminaries in film and theater, yet the administration had one of the worst track records for supporting undergraduates in those fields. Cornell’s alumni list is a veritable who’s who of industry leaders. There’s Howard Hawks (’17) — one of the greatest film directors of all time (Scarface, The Big Sleep, Gentlemen

Prefer Blondes). There’s Paula Vogel (’76, ‘16)— the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of How I Learned to Drive.

There’s Sam Gold (’00) — Tony Award winning director of Fun Home. There’s Thelma Schoonmaker (’61) — the three time Academy Award winning film editor of Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Departed. Even Superman graduated from Cornell! Christopher Reeve (’74) cut his teeth on Cornell stages.

But, when a high school applicant researches Cornell’s Performing and Media Arts Department, they first find Cornell’s history of gutting their funding. The major itself — encompassing film, theater and dance — was created after the Cornell administration slashed the department’s budget by a million dollars. Cornell took the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance and cut its budget so severely that it could not survive anymore. When I researched Cornell in high school, that is what I found. And that is why I initially didn’t see myself applying.

Yet on the literal last possible day, I decided to throw together an application. I wrote my supplemental essay in screenplay format and submitted it just before the deadline, expecting little to come from it. But what came of it was the past four years of my life. And those four years of my life have been shaped indelibly for the better by the unbelievable talent, support and guidance of all those within the Performing and Media Arts Department. PMA’s faculty are preposterously brilliant and supportive of student work. They go above and beyond to nurture artistic endeavors at a school that tends to cast such endeavors aside. And the students who walk the halls of the Schwartz Center each and every day take the legacy of all those aforementioned alumni and run with it. The Performing and Media Arts

Department represents the best of this University, and I am proud to be one small part of it.

That’s why it breaks my heart that over ten years after the budget cuts that created this department were instituted, the Cornell administration still does not take its commitment to performing arts seriously. Sitting on PMA’s Programming & Curriculum Committee, I see firsthand the fraught budgetary decisions that the department must make as a result of its insufficient funding.

The yearly budget for PMA productions is 50 thousand dollars — a number that is less than the funding levels of some student organizations. The average play production tends to run around 10 thousand dollars. This year, the department has five incredibly talented student filmmakers making thesis films, most of which need a budget of five thousand dollars at least. Supporting thesis projects alone can take up half of that budget. Students and faculty are perpetually ready to step forward and create outstanding work, but the specter of limited funding lingers over everything.

You can’t fund every project, but the first thought when staging a PMA production should not consistently be “How on Earth will we get the money?!”

The funding woes trickle down to every area of the department. As PMA tries to bring in more BIPOC guest artists, there is no funding to pay for their travel and housing. While Ithaca has a lovely arts scene, few BIPOC working artists in these fields can afford to pause their careers and move to Ithaca for a semester while paying two rents. And if they choose to commute to classes, they still will not receive funding to cover their expenses. It makes Cornell a less attractive destination and stifles efforts to bring in diverse voices to the department.

And that is all without mentioning how insufficient funding and continued cuts hurt staff retention. When the pandemic started, Cornell understandably faced the need to economize across the University.

Yet, where was the first place they immediately looked to cut? The dance program, laying off two dance instructors. In a moment where it would be harder than ever for dancers to be able to continue to produce work, Cornell responded by getting rid of their professors.

The end-result of this dynamic is a Catch-22. The Performing and Media Arts Department struggles to maintain a high profile on campus amidst insufficient funding, leading to fewer majors and greater ease for the administration to cut their funding further. All the while, students who are deeply passionate about the department continue to work with faculty who continue to go above and beyond to support them while receiving scarce resources to do so. This happens while elsewhere in the University, brand new colleges are sprouting up. Yet, the department that leads all performing arts at a school with a proud history of producing luminaries in that field consistently is underfunded.

It’s unacceptable.

If the Cornell administration still believes in any person, any study, it should provide the performing arts with the funding it deserves. It should see not only Cornell’s proud history in these fields but also the ancillary benefits of honing the personal and creative skills of students across countless majors who dabble in acting, writing, dance and other artistic pursuits, enhancing their performance in their primary studies.

Cornell should, simply put, value the Performing and Media Arts department for all it provides to this University. And to do that, it has to put its money where its mouth is.

Holiday Comics (Starring Pogo and Mr. Gnu)

Pogo

The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, December 7, 2021 7

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8 The Cornell Daily Sun | Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Science

SCIENCE The Psychology of Students’ COVID Decisions TILDA WILSON / SUN GRAPHIC DESIGNER

COVID dilemma | Students had to approach social situations as moral decisions as they navigated their in-person semester.

By MILENA BIMPONG Sun Senior Staff Writer

In the past year and a half, many students have changed their behavior around travel, events and other activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic — with a previous academic year that included COVID-19 testing, indoor masking and Zoom fatigue.

The Sun spoke to Prof. Laura Niemi, psychology, about the moral dilemmas that young people, particularly college students, face while making public health decisions during the pandemic.

According to Niemi, being aware that certain activities are risky but still wanting to participate is one moral dilemma for many people. Traveling is one example of this, especially since many students left Ithaca for fall break and Thanksgiving break this semester.

“People are managing their tight, close relationships as well as they can without feeling like they’re harming other people that they don’t know,” Niemi said.

Niemi added that a dilemma for college students is balancing the quality of their college experience with the shared effort of protecting others by reducing the spread of COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic, Cornell students have cited a lack of in-person socialization as a strain on mental health.

“It feels like we have to make a trade-off,” Niemi said.

“You see students grappling with this, trying to figure out ‘How much does my behavior have to change?’”

According to Niemi, socializing with others plays a major role in decision making because building connections with peers is very important to adolescents.

Victoria Varlack ’22 said she and her roommates balance socializing with public health precautions by spending most of their time in a small circle.

Despite taking the necessary precautions, Varlack said that being a college student during the pandemic has been tough. She was a sophomore when the pandemic began and did not anticipate it lasting through the rest of her Cornell career.

“At the end of sophomore year, I kind of had hoped that the pandemic would end within a few months,” Varlack said.

Niemi explained how moral judgment plays a role in college students’ social nature.

“I think that people can feel ashamed, embarrassed or even compelled to lie when they’re diagnosed [with COVID-19],” Niemi said. “I think it’s a moral issue how we treat it and how we talk about it with students.”

However, Varlack said pointing fingers at those engaging in irresponsible behaviors likely isn’t an effective way to get individuals to change these behaviors. Experts also support the idea that public shaming is ineffective.

“I think it’s important to hold other people accountable, but I do think most of the time, this incites defensiveness from the person who’s doing something that might be wrong, and I don’t think that’s productive,” Varlack said.

The COVID-19 vaccine, which became available to the public this year, has also played a role in students’ behaviors. Last spring, Varlack said there was a significant shift in student behaviors, when people became much more comfortable with going back to “normal.” For example, large outdoor gatherings towards the end of last semester were quite frequent.

Moral judgments about behaviors during the COVID19 pandemic can also be attributed to politics. COVID19 has become a politically polarizing issue in the United States, especially due to mask mandates and vaccine debates.

Niemi found that differences in moral values, along with demographic factors such as political orientation, gender, education and income level, had a stronger influ-

ence on attitudes on people who contracted COVID-19 than on attitudes on people who have contracted other illnesses.

“That suggests that COVID-19 is a little unusual right now, where it’s not just our moral values that are informing how we behave and react to COVID-19 protection advice, but it’s also politics,” Niemi said.

With the University having an official Thanksgiving break for the first time since fall 2019, many students made plans to leave campus. However, for those who aim to be cautious about the pandemic, leaving campus wasn’t as simple as it was two years ago.

Erin Fox ’23 looked forward to going to her friend’s house in Buffalo, New York, this Thanksgiving but planned to take safety measures to minimize COVID-19 risk.

“I will pretty much exclusively be seeing her family during Thanksgiving,” Fox said before the break. “I’m going to get tested before and after I go, and I’ll probably wear a mask around my roommate until my test comes back negative.”

Fox said that while the vaccine and booster shots have given her a sense of normalcy, she still finds it important to still be careful, especially during winter break.

“Once I’m home [in San Diego for winter break], I will be seeing my friends and that’s probably it. I’m probably not going to be going to big venues,” Fox said. “I know some people are going to different countries over winter break, but personally, I’m not quite there yet.”

When it comes to taking COVID-19 safety measures while still enjoying the holidays, Fox said that transparency about vaccination status among family and friends is something that she finds important.

Despite the challenges of navigating our college experiences during a pandemic, students have been able to adapt.

“I’m happy that we’re able to adjust the way that we have been doing college so we can actually have in-person classes,” Varlack said. ”It’s definitely a big adjustment in trying to get the expectations in my mind to catch up with reality.”

Milena Bimpong can be reached at mbimpong@cornellsun.com.

Cornell Awarded National Grant to Diversify Faculty

By GRACE MAINES Sun Contributor

After a competitive application process, Cornell is one of seven institutions awarded $16 million as part of the inaugural Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation Grant by the National Institutes of Health. Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Prof.

Avery August, microbiology and immunology, received the grant to hire and support faculty who diversify biomedical and health researchers at Cornell.

The FIRST grant aims to build self-reinforcing scientific communities that are committed to diversity and inclusive excellence. A self-reinforcing community is similar to a positive feedback loop, as the grant intends to generate positive effects that will ideally create more forward movement for years.

August explained that the NIH intends for universities to use the grant to bring in diverse new faculty, start their research labs and develop faculty networks among those new and returning.

“The awarding of this grant to Cornell is extremely significant … grant reviewers, and the NIH, recognized our leading work around the issue of faculty diversity,” August said.

August plans for Cornell’s FIRST grant to build off of the University’s previous work and focus on the interdisciplinary hiring of faculty across six

colleges and 20 departments. One of the the hiring of new faculty. According project’s key goals is to hire and retain 10 to August, Cornell will establish an new assistant researchers across the next extensive mentoring and support netfive years. This will increase the number work among both the new hires and the of historically underrepresented faculty pre-existing faculty in departments where across the biological, biomedical and they are being appointed.

To sustain these initiatives, the awardhealth sciences departments, as outlined ed grant is over $16 million — a striking in the proposal submitted by August.

“Our analysis of faculty hiring over amount for a University with a roughthe last 10 or so years ly $10 billion suggests that we are able endowment this to retain faculty of color year. at similar rates as for August said majority faculty,” August just 5 percent said. of the endowStill, the overall numment is typiber of faculty of color at cally allotted Cornell remains noticefor educationably low. According to al activities. a National Center for External fundEducation Statistics suring from grants such as FIRST vey, as of Nov. 1, 2020, are therefore Cornell had 1,059 tennecessary to ured professors for the PROF. AUGUST support initia2020-2021 school year.

Just 228 were faculty of tives such as color, which includes Hispanic/Latino, increasing the number of underrepreAmerican Indian or Alaska Native, sented faculty.

Asian, Black or African American, Native Cornell is the only member of the Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, two Ivy League to receive the NIH grant. or more races and unknown race and The other awardees in the initial cohort ethnicity. are Drexel University, Florida State “If even one of those faculty members University, Icahn School of Medicine at is not retained, it’s a much more notice- Mount Sinai, San Diego State University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham able and significant loss,” August said.

However, the grant will not end with and Tuskegee University. The NIH plans

to fund 12 awards total within the next three years.

“There are certainly disparities in NIH funding by institutions, where better resourced institutions tend to be more successful in competing for NIH funding,” August said.

Cornell’s established structures and funds to support faculty make Cornell more appealing to the NIH, as it is more likely to be able to use these resources to successfully sustain diversity initiatives, even after funding runs out, according to August.

To hold Cornell accountable for making progress and accomplishing its goals, August said the NIH will oversee the grantees by conducting rigorous evaluations of the program activities.

The NIH FIRST program will fund a Coordination and Evaluation Center, which uses data metrics to analyze the effects of new faculty on institutional culture at all awarded institutions.

Each awardee will be responsible for collecting qualitative and quantitative data to share with the Coordination and Evaluation Center which will develop the final FIRST Data Sharing Plan.

The lessons uncovered by the seven institutions will then be compiled and assessed at the NIH center to share the findings with the biomedical research community at large.

Grace Maines can be reached at gkm44@cornell.edu.