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Vol. 139, No. 33

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2023 n ITHACA, NEW YORK

News

Dining

Science

Weather

Information Overload

Yellow Deli Eats

Shooting Star

Sunny

Computer and information science students face challenges enrolling in necessary courses. | Page 3

Jimmy Cawley '25 reviews dishes from newly-opened cafe Yellow Deli.

Green comet C/2022 E3 will be visible to the naked eye under clear skies this week.

| Page 4

HIGH: 35º LOW: 16º

| Page 8

Beck ’90 Wins Entrepreneur of the Year Award

By CAMDEN WEHRLE Sun Staff Writer

Entrepreneurship at Cornell recently announced Barry Beck ’90 as the recipient of the 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year award, which University President Martha Pollack will present to him at the annual Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration on April 14.

Beck, who studied in the School of Industrial Labor Relations, has founded several companies, such as Tower Systems, a chain management

store company, and dental technology platform Evenly.

Most notably, he co-founded cosmetic and wellness brand Bluemercury with his wife, Marla Beck, in 1999.

Entrepreneurship at Cornell has honored alumni annually since 1984. According to Debra Moesch, assistant director of Entrepreneurship at Cornell, a committee composed of faculty and alumni generally evaluates between 20 to 40 nominees yearly. Past winners have included Sanford Weill ’55, the former CEO of Citigroup, and Niraj Shah

’95 and Steve Conine ’95, the founders of Wayfair.

Moesch also stated that criteria for selection includes successfully running or beginning a business, contributing to business in a way that inspires others, using business skills to enrich humanity and displaying integrity.

“Barry has an overall desire to empower students to start businesses at an early age. He’s very passionate,” Moesch said.

Beck currently sponsors the Marla and Barry Beck Entrepreneurship Fellows Program, which provides

$5,000 awards for Cornell students to work on entrepreneurial projects over the summer.

Beck was unable to be reached for comment but shared his accomplishment on LinkedIn. Outside of the Entrepreneur of the Year award, EaC provides a variety of support to Cornell students and alumni.

The program works with students from all colleges — not just business students.

See BUSINESS page 3

COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Makeup mogul | Barry Beck ’90 co-founded beauty brand Bluemercury with his wife.

Ithaca Hosts Cornellians for Break

COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Interdisciplinary investigation | Prof. Chiara Formichi researches the role of Islam in Asian culture.

By AIMÉE EICHER Sun Assistant News Editor

Throughout her time in academia, Prof. Chiara Formichi, Asian Studies, has researched the relationship between Asian cultures and Islam, primarily focusing on Indonesia.

Formichi began studying the topic as an undergraduate student, earning a B.A. in Islamic Studies from Sapienza University of Rome. Though she said she partly entered the field by chance, her ties to Indonesia made studying the role of Islam in the country an obvious choice. Formichi has visited Indonesia in the past, and as a Malay speaker, she mostly uses sources that are written in the Indonesian language.

Carrying with her knowledge from her undergraduate years, Formichi went on to earn an M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in History of Southeast Asia from the University of London.

“I explored the role of Islam in the nationalist movement that opposed Dutch colonialism and ways in which Islam remained prominent politically after the establishment of an independent, post-colonial nation-state,” Formichi said.

See RESEARCH page 3

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Brain freeze | Although many students travel home for winter break, some students opted to spend the vacation in Ithaca.

By MARY SOTIRYADIS Sun Staff Writer

Winter break offers students time to relax and recuperate ahead of the spring semester. While most students left Ithaca in December — either to go home or elsewhere — a few opted to stay over break.

Kristan Nail ’23 recently moved to Ithaca permanently after transferring to Cornell her junior year. She is one of many students that stayed in Ithaca over the break. Despite having to endure the cold weather, she said she enjoyed spending time in a quieter Ithaca.

“I see a lot of people every day during the semester and usually have a lot of extracurriculars that take up my time,” Nail said. “While

I'm here, I get to experience Cornell and Ithaca without all the chaos and see this place as the place I live and not just the place I go to school at.”

Nail noted that while she sometimes found it difficult to fill her free days, she used her abundance of time and energy to pick up new skills and hobbies. She took a winter class, learned how to cook healthier meals, began a fitness challenge and cat-sat for her friend.

“It was a very relaxing break, and I'm glad I got to spend some time by myself to work on myself and recover from how stressful and populated Cornell usually is,” Nail said.

Ally Bauer ’24 spent winter break exploring Ithaca with her friends. She said

that she and her roommates went on nature walks for fun, including at the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve, where she had never been before.

Bauer also noted that she went to The Gallery, a donut shop downtown, for the first time.

For some, such as Wanru Zang grad, going home was not an option.

Originally from China, Zang said that the journey home was too far to make.

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

Mary Sotiryadis can be reached at msotiryadis@cornellsun.com.

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Professor Explores Influence of Islam On Asian Cultures

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023

Daybook

Daybook

Thursday, February 2, 2023

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS

Today Violence against Women in Multi-Violence Contexts: Militarization and Organized Criminal Groups’ Territorial Control 11:25 a.m. - 12:40 p.m., Virtual Event Research Opportunities at the Cornell Federal Statistical Research Data Center 3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m., Mann Library B30B

Finding a Computer Science Internship Outside of Big Tech 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m., Virtual Event Kevin Duong at the Political Theory Workshop “Fixing Heads in Harlem, 1946-1958” 4:45 p.m. - 6:15 p.m., A.D. White House 110 Pre-Law: What You Need to Know 5 p.m. - 6 p.m., Ives Hall 115 Town Hall: Black at Cornell 6 p.m. - 9 p.m., Africana Center Multi-purpose Room

Tomorrow

David Radulescu: An Alternative Career in Electrical Engineering: Patent Law Noon, Phillips Hall 233 Futurity, Not Only Grievance: How Can We Use Community Accountability to Repair, Renew, and Redo?

12:25 p.m., Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium Anne Laver, Organ: Cornell University Music 8 p.m., Anabel Taylor Hall Chapel

Anupama Rao Caste, Outcaste, Anticaste:

Reflections on Worldmaking

Friday, February 10, 2023 4:45 PM Guerlac Room, A.D. White House

COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Presenting politics | University of Virginia professor of politics Kevin Duong Ph.D. ’16 will present his

The Public is Invited

This University Lecture is sponsored by the Cornell Department of History and the University Lectures Committee.

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paper “Fixing Heads in Harlem, 1946-1958.” The paper will be sent via email to participants, who will come prepared to discuss it.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023 3

News

Enrollment Influx Causes Stress Entrepreneurship at

By CARLIN REYEN Sun Staff Writer

For majors such as information science and computer science, enrollment has nearly doubled in the past five years, creating additional anxiety for students during the add/drop period.

While the number of enrolled students from Fall 2019 to Fall 2022 changed from 15,043 to 15,735, the degrees conferred in the Computer and Information Sciences major nearly doubled from 682 to 1,250 between 2017 and 2022.

“With how big the information science major has become, I expected more class options, less time conflicts and for them to fill up less quickly,” said James Kelly ’25. “I don’t mind the larger classes if it means that people are able to take the class that they need.”

However, at the same time, enrollment in other majors has largely remained unchanged. In particular, architecture and related programs, English, biomedical science and mathematics have maintained relatively stagnant enrollment.

Business, management and marketing majors have also experienced a drastic increase in enrollment from 1,382 to 1,724. However, no other major appears to have increased at rates as rapid as the computer and information sciences majors.

In fall 2022, Information Science 2040: Networks had 552 enrolled students while Information Science 1300: Introductory Programming for the Web had 286 students. Information Science 1260: Choices and Consequences in Computing had a total of 690 students enrolled in spring 2022. These three courses serve as core courses in the information science major, requiring all students in the major to compete for select spots in each course.

“In general, information science is a really attrac-

tive major and opens a lot of doors,” said Emma Warden ’25, an information science major. “But it makes it near impossible to enroll in the classes and to be in the major.”

Since enrollment opens by grade, oftentimes younger students experience difficulty enrolling in courses they desire.

“There was one class that I really wanted to take and that my advisor recommended to me, but it filled up before pre-enrollment even opened for sophomores,” Kelly said. “This class was a prereq-

“I don’t mind the larger classes if it means that people are able to take the class that they need.”

James Kelly ’25 uisite for another class I wanted to take so I was a little frustrated.”

This semester, Warden struggled to find room in required courses that satisfy her requirements in the information science major. In Information Science 3450: Human-Computer Interaction Design, Warden described the professor being unable to move due to the swarm of students seated on the floor around her.

“Kids were sitting on the floor and all down the halls. There were two times as many people as could fit in the classroom,” Warden said.

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

Carlin Reyen can be reached at creyen@cornellsun.com.

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Running out of room | While computer science and information science classes increasingly appeal to non-majors, students in the majors have struggled to enroll in the classes they want and need.

Cornell Announces 2023 Award Winner BUSINESS

Continued from page 1

“The key thing about this office is that it is completely university wide,” said program director Zachary Shulman ’87 J.D. ’90. “We serve students from across the campus — grad, undergrad, any school or college.”

Shulman added that the most successful student businesses are usually composed of students from across the University studying a diverse range of majors.

Moesch, who has worked with EaC for 34 years, noted that the program has grown extensively over time.

“When I started with our program, it was only in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,” Moesch said.

“Gradually we brought the other colleges and schools on board to make it truly university-wide — it’s just grown massively.”

Students are eligible to apply for EaC’s summer internship program, which places them with small companies nationwide. In addition, student businesses can compete for the annual Business of the Year award, which offers a $5,000 cash prize.

“We tell students the best time to start a business is while they’re a student,” Shulman said. “If it fails, they’re still students, so there’s really no downside risk,” he continued, adding that he encourages students to balance their business with their schoolwork.

Entrepreneurship at Cornell also offers the eLab program. According to Shulman, students apply during the fall semester and, if selected, take a half-credit course. The following spring, they take a three-credit course where they attend boot camps and receive mentor assistance to develop and launch a business. This year, participating students will showcase demos of their work on April 13, the first day of the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration.

“The program really ensures that entrepreneurship gets spread throughout the campus.”

Zachary Shulman ’87 J.D. On the alumni side of the program, the Cayuga Forum was launched last year, connecting alumni in groups where they can discuss their work, business and personal interests.

Shulman said that the program is looking to continue to grow and create new products and services in the future as well.

“Cornell has a rich history of entrepreneurship,” Shulman said. “The program really ensures that entrepreneurship gets spread throughout the campus.”

Camden Wehrle can be reached at cwehrle@cornellsun.com.

Asian Studies Prof. Examines Role of Islam Across Asia RESEARCH

Continued from page 1

“So, this is what I really focused on for my Ph.D. work, and it kind of stayed with me. One of the big questions that I keep working on is, ‘what is the role of religion in the state and in society? Where do minorities fit in?’”

After completing her Ph.D., Formichi spent several years in Singapore and Hong Kong before landing at Cornell. She continued her exploration of Islam and Asian cultures, finding her home within the Asian Studies department and religious studies program.

Formichi said that although the University does not house an official religious studies department, faculty in the program hail from different departments across campus, fostering an interdisciplinary environment.

Formichi published her most recent book, “Islam and Asia: A History,” in April 2020. In her text, she explored the influence of people from Asia in shaping Islam, as well as the role of the religion across the continent.

“Instead of thinking about Islam as a Middle Eastern religion, I thought more broadly about the geography and the space of Asia — which really goes from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean — [and about] how people and ideas moved and how ideas and practices were shaped [through these exchanges],” Formichi said.

Through her research, Formichi delves into the less-

er-known influences of Asian cultures on Islam. For instance, she highlighted the quintessential blue porcelain dishes of Song Dynasty China; Muslim merchants originally brought the blue pigment to China, where Chinese artisans used it to make plates for the Middle Eastern market.

“You have the Ming Dynasty, where, for the whole period, the highest, most prized porcelain items were blue and white,” Formichi said. “But nobody thinks about that as a reflection of Muslim influence on Chinese culture. These are the kinds of things that I find really fascinating.”

As her last book debuted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Formichi had to navigate pandemic restrictions as she embarked on her following research project. She took a sabbatical in the fall of 2019 to explore archives housed in the Netherlands, before moving to Singapore in January 2020 with hopes of working in Indonesia and Australia.

Three years later, Formichi said she still has not been able to access the archives she had originally planned to visit, mainly due to existing public health and travel restrictions. Still, she expressed gratitude for the wealth of resources in Indonesian studies and the work she has done so far.

Formichi’s current project explores the role of everyday activities of care work in late-colonial and early post-independence Indonesia, which declared its inde-

pendence in 1945. “‘Domestic work’ was not necessarily a space of marginalization or disciplining of women, but it also took shape as a space that encouraged women to reflect on their own role as a crucial contribution to the establishment of the nation-state and express that awareness in the public sphere through print publication,” Formichi wrote in an email to The Sun. In addition to exploring some of the topics she finds most fascinating, Formichi named teaching as one of the most rewarding aspects of her field of study.

“My classes are always very diverse in terms of the students that come in… I have math students, engineering students, history students — it’s kind of the whole spectrum of the Cornell student body, and it’s great to be able to teach something different,” Formichi said. “That’s the rewarding part: The teaching.”

Formichi encouraged students interested in research in similar fields to explore Cornell’s diverse array of academic resources.

“The humanities is not really about new discoveries.

It’s more [about] different ways of looking at something,” Formichi said. “Think differently about the sources you work with and spend time exposing yourself to as many different things as possible.”

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

4 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023

Dining Guide

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Dining Guide

Your source for good food

The Yellow Deli

A Cornell Sun Food Review

By Jimmy Cawley Sun Staff Writer

A

fter visiting the Yellow Deli a few months ago, I received an influx of fascination about this new restaurant taking on Ithaca. Nonetheless, my last visit to the Yellow Deli was before it officially opened, and I was left wondering how successful this restaurant would be once it opened and got into the swing of things. On a cloudy Sunday morning, one of those days where the clouds just kept threatening to break, I went down to the Yellow Deli to give the food a proper review.

The Twelve Tribes have had establishments in Ithaca for nearly two decades. The predecessor of the Yellow Deli was a café called the Maté Factor. The Twelve Tribes and their establishments have been boycotted by many around the country after it was exposed that their leader, Eugene Spriggs, had beliefs rooted in homophobia and racism. The Maté Factor was shut down in 2018 due to violations of child labor laws. Allegations, history and politics aside, the purpose of my visit to the Yellow Deli was to give their food a sincere, open-minded review.

I arrived right as the deli opened, at noon on a Sunday. There was another party of diners waiting outside but overall the atmosphere was quiet. I walked in and was greeted by an extremely cheerful hostess who seated us in the corner close to the door.

Above our table was the quote “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” referencing Amos 5:24, and also a phrase included in Reverend Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The music playing throughout the restaurant created an ambiance that was slightly off-putting. To my best guess, the music was some form of Gaelic or Celtic folk.

While I am sure it was intended to be cheerful and welcoming, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a utopian commune as the sounds of flutes and violins fluttered into my ears.

After being seated we were handed beautiful, handwritten menus that had been laminated to preserve the work of art that they are. There was an abundance of choices to choose from including a plethora of sandwiches, a fruit salad and chili. The thing that stuck out to me the most was how cheap everything at the deli

was. Sandwiches with chips and a pickle started at $8.50 with add-ons ranging from $0.25 to $1.50. It was about $1-$2 cheaper than Shortstop Deli, which is just down the street.

I ordered a lemon lime yerba mate, which the waitress claimed was their specialty, and a turkey sandwich with gluten free bread. As a person with celiac disease, I was quite impressed with the Yellow Deli carrying gluten free bread — something that many cafes on Cornell’s campus do not have. As we placed our orders, I spoke to our waitress, Simchah Williams, and another worker, Marcel Campbell, about how the Yellow Deli operates. I was primarily interested in how their food was so cheap.

In response to this inquiry, Campbell said “We try to buy local but this isn’t always possible — we grow a lot of our own things ourselves, including the spelt flour. If we run out we try to buy locally.”

This explained why they could list very affordable

“We made this deli for Ithaca. It is for the people that live here.”

had an unmissable yerba mate flair that lingered on my taste buds. The quality of the yerba mate made sense though, as the previous Twelve Tribes establishment was the Mate Factory, which closed in 2016 in part due to violations of child labor laws.

After quenching my thirst, I eagerly moved on to my personalized turkey sandwich. The presentation was nothing special, with the sandwich encircled by kettle chips and a singular pickle. I took a bite of the sandwich and the melted cheese combined with the fresh turkey created a juicy, piquant taste. The gluten free bread was passable, not like I can complain, and the turkey and all the vegetables included were fresh and appetizing, creating a fine sandwich overall. It was obvious the chips came straight out of a Cape Cod Kettle Chips bag, but the sandwich made up for it.

Overall, the food and drink combined to create a filling meal, for about $13. The service we received was standard yet kind. Our waitress, Simchah, was warm and attentive.

Settling the tab was a no-frill process — I simply walked up to a booth at the front of the restaurant and handed over my card. As I made my way out the door, I noticed that the man who had been sitting next to us was waving me over. He asked if we were journalists and stated he wanted to share his experience at the Yellow Deli.

He identified himself merely by his first name, Patrick.

“I’ve been going to this place for many years, and I’ve seen them treat everyone the same, whether it is the mayor of Ithaca or a homeless person. I drive two hours every Sunday to spend my day here.”

The “many years” Patrick referenced likely referred to the Mate Factory. Although this very well could have been a Twelve Tribes member from another city, it was intriguing to hear from another customer’s perspective — one who can’t stop going to the Yellow Deli.

It’s clear that the Yellow Deli wants Ithacans and Cornellians to give them a chance. The Twelve Tribes market their deli as a safe space for anyone, and they try their best to create a warm and welcoming environment.

Regardless of what the Twelve Tribes stand for, they know how to make food, and only time will tell if that’s good enough.

prices for their food. Most of the workers at the Yellow Deli are members of the Twelve Tribes religious organization, and as I read the low prices, I hoped that the Yellow Deli was making enough money to pay their workers fair wages.

I also wanted to know about what the space represented to them. Everything about the restaurant was so intentional — the music, the lighting, the friendly smiles from all the workers, what did it mean to them?

“We made this deli for Ithaca. It is for the people that live here. We want this to be a safe-haven for anyone who is seeking refuge.”

As we concluded our conversation with the two workers, our food and drink was served, overall coming out quite quickly. I first tried the yerba mate. As I sipped Jimmy Cawley is a sophomore in the College of Arts and the lime-flavored drink through a reusable straw, I was Sciences. He can be reached at jcawley@cornellsun.com. met with an explosion of tanginess. The tart lime drink

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Yellow deli, green thumb | Charles Stow works at the coffee bar at the Yellow Deli, an establishment that prides themselves on their fresh, homegrown ingredients.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023 5

Opinion

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 140th Editorial Board VEE CIPPERMAN ’23 Editor in Chief

SERENA HUANG ’24

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Emma Plowe With Gratitude

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Emma Plowe is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at eplowe@cornellsun. com. With Gratitude runs every other Tuesday this semester.

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SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR OR GUEST COLUMN Want to give your take on a campus issue?

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Continue the conversation by sending a letter to the editor or guest column to associate-editor@cornellsun.com.

Letters should be no longer than 250 words in length.

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Please include graduating year if applicable.

All voices welcome.

An Introvert’s Guide to Belonging As a senior, I am unfazed by the early semester excitement. Soon, the culture at our school will shift, and we will once again feel the debilitating collective tides of stress, anxiety and depression. I’m writing this piece to get ahead of the storm, to catch you in your tracks and tell you: Hi, you matter, regardless of your grades, career and social status.

As I watch swarms of sorority girls process around North Campus and frat guys lumber around in awkward pairs across West Campus, I can’t help but feel sorry for them. Chances are, they won’t find what they’re looking for. The feeling of belonging, acceptance and oneness with others must start with a deep knowledge and love for oneself. But hey, if you’re a super self-aware first-year rushing Greek life, good for you.

I was not always a cynical scholar, stashing myself away in A.D. White Library and drinking nothing but black tea to keep my heart pumping. Yes, I was once a partygoer, a something-smoker and a bit of a snob. When I came back from my gap year after the height of the pandemic, however, I found that I could not stand parties.

Even groups of people over three individuals (myself included) overwhelmed me.

If you’re feeling left out from all the attractive fun of party culture (like someone spiking your drink!) I am here to inform you that life outside of group conformity is sweet and satisfying.

The following information is a guide for becoming a deeply interconnected recluse, or, just a guide to living with more freedom. I don’t care who you are — this is for you. If you follow these invitations, you will absolutely make a few close friends.

Invitation 1: Be friends with yourself.

Whatever hangups you have about who

The feeling of belonging, acceptance and oneness with others must start with a deep knowledge and love for oneself. you are, whether you matter, what you offer to this world — deal with them. If it’s with your mom, a therapist, your dog or your one friend (we all have that one friend), it’s time to work through your shit.

There is no possible way that you will form deep and meaningful connections with other people, platonic or romantic, before you form a meaningful relationship with yourself. This step is a lifelong process, however, and all that matters now is that you take steps to self-examine and self love.

Take pride in whatever it is that you do.

Getting anything done in this odd world is a victory.

Invitation 2: Take pride in your environment. Your personal space is an extension of your body. How do you treat your room, your possessions? What is your relationship to food, water, coffee?

How do you find joy and delight in the space around you? Are you able to take time to simply appreciate the beauty and abundance of our collective environment, too? Sitting in appreciation for everything accessible to you will simply make you more content and attract good energy.

Sitting in appreciation for everything accessible to you will simply make you more content and attract good energy.

Invitation 3: Don’t be afraid of your feelings. When you commit to taking an introspective route in life, really big feelings are sure to come up, and hard.

Many of us have experienced trauma, from painful life-altering events to general life circumstances which make us feel different from the rest of the crowd. While it’s best to discuss these with a professional, a great first step is writing, drawing, or expressing yourself surrounding your emotions or memories. You do not need to fear the process of feeling, and can go as slow as you feel comfortable.

Invitation 4: Reach out to new friends even if it’s awkward. Yeah, it sucks not having a friend group or disliking your current friend group. Ask for your classmate’s phone number, join a club, go on a coffee date with someone in your PE class — even email the writer of an article you liked or had questions about in The Cornell Daily Sun! No one is going to hand you a friendship, unfortunately.

Invitation 5: Understand that community takes time, and can often look different than what you expect. Your best friend might have graduated, or goes to a different university. That does not mean that they are somehow less connected to you.

Long distance friendship is hard, but try to remember that love does not disappear. If you’re feeling alone right now, try to think of the individuals who support you when you’re in need and remember that they are your community, too. Community does not appear out of the blue. It takes time and love to come together.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023

Opinion

ChatGPT: The Machine That Thinks For You

Gabriel Levin Almost Fit to Print Gabriel Levin (he/him) is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at gpl48@cornell.edu. Almost Fit to Print runs every other Monday this semester.

We are living in a digital world, and there is no escape. Like the bionic limbs of science fiction, cellphones feel like extensions of the hands that hold them. Earbuds and headphones, virtual reality headsets and Google Glasses may as well be the cyborg exoskeleton.

We are no longer people but the disembodied eyes and ears of the Metaverse witnessing the speedy expansion of the Internet Age, which will one day render all humanity obsolete with automation. This is a worry of mine and a goal for the computer scientist who believes that technology can optimize all aspects of life.

The latest so-called advancement in artificial intelligence could be particularly devastating — ChatGPT is a computer program that, in seconds, can produce a convincing essay. The chatbot works unprecedentedly well: it has already written a speech given on the House floor by a congressman, completed a TV interview, and will soon replace laid-off Buzzfeed journalists in an attempt to cut costs.

I remember scoffing year after year at the notion that a computer could ever write a best-selling book, no less a passable essay. I always figured that the minimum qualification for a writer is that they themself must be capable of thought and feeling. But I was wrong because the market strictly prefers assembly-line mechanization

to the authentic creative process.

Since the Industrial Revolution, Americans have bought into that fallacy, assuming the role of purposeless consumers. The slogan of a recent advertising campaign by Coca-Cola sums it up best: “Because I Can.” Not because I need, nor because I think, but because I can.

The late comedian Bill Hicks, known for his irreverent broadsides against corporatism, warned that we are living in the United States of Advertising, not the United States of America. Cross-site tracking and targeted advertising on the Web have turned the digital ecosphere into a dystopian, for-profit surveillance state — in some countries, a vicious arm of autocracy.

In China, for example, censorship of the Tiananmen Square massacre is now automated, and those who write about the event online are referred to authorities by invisible yet all-seeing machine learning algorithms.

The computer is now thinking for us–and limiting our understanding of the world and the history that has molded it. For that reason, I will never use ChatGPT to write my essays.

In academia, the essay is as popular as it is because writing one sharpens the critical thinking skills crucial to surviving in a society threatened by disinformation

I always figured that the minimum qualification for a writer is that they themself must be capable of thought and feeling. and complacency. I warn my peers not to let artificial intelligence think for them lest they will not be able to think for themselves.

I dreamed of a world without so many machines and woke up into one where wars are fought online and with remote-controlled drones; where it is often impossible to get through to a person when calling an automated customer service line for assistance; and where grocery stores are starting to operate without

cashiers.

Recently, a chatbot company promised $1,000,000 to any appellate lawyer who would be willing to allow its artificial intelligence to argue a case before the

The computer is now thinking for us — and limiting our understanding of the world and the history that has molded it. For that reason, I will never use ChatGPT to write my essays.

Supreme Court in their place. Where do we draw the line?

To be clear, I am not a Luddite. After I graduate, I do not intend on moving off-the-grid and trading my various gadgets for a cabin in the woods. I embrace technological advancement, but only to an extent. Computers have their place, and so do people. Where technology infringes on human creativity rather than assisting it, I object to it, especially if it stifles learning.

Only in the 21st century would students pay a premium to go to college just to use ChatGPT to skirt deadlines instead of making good on their investment and actually learning.

My advice to Cornellians is to write your own essays because laziness simply cannot cut it. In a world without conviction, young people need to think for themselves and take accountability, especially in the classroom. We are not passive users, viewers and followers as the Silicon Valley technocrats label us.

We are free-spirited innovators with limitless creative potential, and no machine is more visionary than we are when we dare to dream. ChatGPT is, at best, the newest development in short-sighted consumerism and, at worst, a weapon to corrupt freethinking that we all must steer clear of.

Class in Session I must confess I spent the first two classes thoroughly unenthused, mimicking my disinterested peers head down in my computer. It was by no fault of the professor, either. You could have had an a-list celebrity teaching international trade but regardless, demand and supply curves will still be boring. In class three, though, something happened that gave me pause. It was simple, yet it was inspiring all the same.

You could have had an a-list celebrity teaching international Brenner Beard is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached hbb57@cornell. edu. Agree to Disagree runs every other Tuesday trade but regardless, this semester. demand and supply Picture your run-of-the-mill introductory course in any major at Cornell. It curves will still be could be engineering, it could be business or it may be a different major but the boring. scene looks the same. An old lecture hall, Brenner Beard Agree to Disagree

a sea of faces and hundreds of laptops open without a single ear tuned into what the professor has to say.

Many of you have experienced this almost like it’s a rite of passage of sorts for beleaguered underclassmen. In three years, I’ve been lucky to avoid this fate for the most part. This semester, however, the intro course death by powerpoint has found me at last. Its name: Economics 2300

From about a row back and two seats to the left of me, a kid asked a question.

A hand goes up and words come out.

We’ve all been asking questions in this manner since grade school. You must remember, however, we’re not talking about your third grade math class. This is an hour and fifteen minute snoozefest replete with graphs, symbols and about 300+ people as equally uninterested as

economics is boring.

Despite the inertia against engagement in this economics class, one brave soul fought back. They raised their hand, asked a question and demanded to understand the material rather than going the easy route.

As for the rest of us, we all craned our necks and turned to gaze at this brave soul, on the hot seat in front of so many peers. Truth be told, even the professor seemed shocked. It wasn’t every day that he heard a voice other than his own in lecture.

I heard someone near me say something along the lines of “I wish they’d just be quiet.” My classmates were perturbed by this obvious interruption of protocol.

I was inspired. Here was someone making the most of their education. Intro class be damned, they were going to have their questions answered. I think, in this example, there’s a lesson for all of us: We could all stand to make like my classmate and take a little bit of ownership over our education.

There are over 4,000 classes offered to us students at Cornell. There are classes on wines, bee-keeping, political violence and every ancient civilization imaginable.

Why on earth do we always seem to confine ourselves to classes that we wouldn’t even be interested enough to raise our hands and brave a question.

Sure, in the case of my relationship with ECON 2300, the answer to my question is easy. It’s a requirement of my minor. In many cases, that answer is enough for why we take the classes

that we do. After all, there needs to be a degree at the end of that four year tunnel.

Cornell doesn’t give a fifth year discount.

At the same time though, the cost of a degree could also be measured in time

Here was someone making the most of their education.

— 120 credit hours in total. Most majors take up about 40-60 hours. That leaves many students with 60-80 credit hours of academic freedom in their schedule.

Time and space that you could squeeze in a class on bee-keeping, or philosophy or whatever your interests are. 4,000 classes and the odds are at least one of them will make you want to ask a question.

So, from now on, I’ll face my classes akin to that nameless classmate — shameless, curious, and in tune with what they have to offer. I’m going to be proactive, search out classes I like and ask questions when I want to. We should all do that.

Of course there will be classes you don’t like that you still have to take. Even then, though, do yourself the courtesy of putting your phone down — you’ll never know what you may find interesting if you pay attention.

Four years for an education is four years you wouldn’t want to waste buried in your laptop in the midst of a class you couldn’t care less about.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023 7

Comics and Puzzles

Sundoku Fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1-9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of the three “directions,” hence the “single numbers” implied by the puzzle’s name.

(Rules from wikipedia.org/wiki/ Sudoku)

Puzzle 1011001

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8 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 2, 2023

Science

SCIENCE Green Comet Visible This Week, Says Astronomy Prof.

By TENZIN KUNSANG Sun Science Editor

On Feb. 4, green comet C/2022 E3 will become visible to the naked eye under clear skies.

Comets like C/2022 E3 are assigned a numerical and alphabetical value through a series of standardizations.

C/2022 E3 translates to the third of its type comet, neither periodic or dead, that was founded in the first half of March 2022.

The first alphabet C signifies its status as neither a periodical comet, recurring in appearance every so often, nor a dead comet, breaking up into pieces. The first set of numbers signifies the year in which it was discovered.

The next alphabet E signifies the time of year it was founded. Since there are 52 weeks a year and 26 alphabets, every two week period is categorized by a different letter.

The last number represents the order in which this comet type of comet was discovered.

This comet originates farther away from Earth than other comets and only comes around a handful of times, unlike periodic comets that pass by more frequently.

“These comets come from orbits way beyond the orbits of Neptune in a region that’s referred to as the Oort cloud,” said Prof. Philip Nicholson, astronomy.

“Every now and then one of these things gets a little gravitational tug or perturbation from a passing star or a large molecular cloud, for example, a gas cloud that the sun travels near and that perturbs the orbit enough that the comet comes into the inner solar system and that’s when we see it…when the tail develops.”

The green coloration of C/2022 E3, distinguishing it from previous comets, is attributed to C molecules — two carbon atoms bonded together — as well as cyanagin, a combination of carbon and nitrogen atoms.

Although C and cyanagin are not uncommon to find in most comets, they are normally not the primary substance to make up comets. Because C/2022 E3 is primarily made of these two molecules, they emit a greater than average amount of green coloration when excited.

However, the brightness of the coloration depends on its proximity to the Sun and Earth. “Generally speaking, [comets] get brighter as

COURTESY OF MIGUEL CLARO (@MIGUEL_CLARO)

Glowing green | The comet, dubbed, “C/2022 E3,” will soon zip by the Earth for the first time in 50,000 years. they get closer to the Sun because they get warmer then and more stuff evaporates but individual comets deviate in that way,” Prof.

Nicholson said. “There’s also a tradeoff: it’s fading intrinsically because it’s moving further away from the Sun [as it moves closer to the Earth].”

Nicholson also noted that

the full moon, set to rise on Feb. 5, will decrease the quality of viewing for spectators because the extra brightness will make the comet harder to see.

Therefore, the optimal time to view C/2022 E3 is in the few hours before sunrise for the next couple of nights since the comet will be clos-

est to the Earth on Feb. 1.

In addition to regular opening hours on Friday nights, the Fuertes Observatory will be open on Wed., Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. for viewing of the green comet C/2022 E3.

Tenzin Kunsang can be reached at tkunsang@cornellsun.com

Cornell Adirondack Fishery Program Receives State Grant

By OGDEN OLIVAS Sun Contributor

A longstanding private partnership between land stewards and Cornell University’s Adirondack Fishery Research Program has received additional backing from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, building upon a 70-year

research partnership in the Adirondack region.

The Cornell-affiliated program, headed by Prof. Cliff Kraft, natural resources and the environment, and Prof. Peter McIntyre, ecology and evolutionary biology, is optimistic that implementing an evolutionary approach to portfolios in fish stocking — the practice of raising fish for release into

an ecosystem — can enhance fishing opportunities while also alleviating the pressure on management in response to climate change.

The Cornell team studies fish populations in relation to environmental changes in the Adirondack basin. The new initiative builds on undergraduate thesis work by Nick Hudson ’20, which demon-

COURTESY OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY / DAN JOSEPHSON

Gone fishing | Cliff Kraft ’75 and Jason Robinson M.S. ’08, haul fishing lines to collect samples in the Adirondack Basin.

strated that widely stocked strains of brook trout differ in their tolerance for warm water, something they are traditionally opposed to.

“In the summer and fall, many lakes become ‘stratified,’ which means that a separation forms between the warmer surface waters and the colder bottom waters due to differences in water density, temperature and oxygenation,” McIntyre said. “Trout end up being excluded from both the surface and bottom layers, therefore compressing their habitable zones. We call this an oxythermal squeeze.”

The capacity for fish to respond adaptively and persist despite ‘oxythermal squeezing’ is precisely what the CornellDEC project is looking to address.

The new project, Climate Adaptive Stocking, seeks to utilize an evolutionary perspective by prioritizing strains of endemic trout that can thrive despite increasingly challenging climate conditions. The Cornell team is conducting stocking experiments on twelve private lakes, as well as two public lakes selected with DEC partners. The overall goal is to maximize self-sustaining populations that can support fishing opportunities, ideally using ‘heritage’ strains

of trout that are native to the Adirondacks.

“Enhancing the climate resilience of these fish populations will serve the interests of anglers, hatchery managers and taxpayers all at once,” McIntyre said. In addition to fulfilling multiple shareholder needs, the project addresses a range of sustainability goals, including maintenance of native biodiversity, population resiliency and stabilizing water quality.

The diversity within the brook trout species provides ample opportunities for biologists to select strains that may respond optimally to increasing climate pressures, according to McIntyre.

The NYS DEC is providing financial backing as well as access to three ‘heritage’ strains of brook trout originally sourced from Adirondack lakes. “[C]limate resilience is rarely considered. That’s why our partnership with DEC is so important,” McIntyre said.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to recommend a portfolio of strains that we expect to perform well across a range of future lake environments.”

Oliver Olivas can be reached at oho4@cornell.edu.