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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 140, No. 38

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2024 n ITHACA, NEW YORK

News

Dining

Science

Weather

Senate Speaks

Study Snacks

Deer Disease

Cloudy

From creme sandwiches to sardines, Eirian Huang '26 selects several study snacks to power through the spring semester.

Cornell's Wildlife Health Lab is spreading awareness on the effects of chronic wasting disease in hoofed mammals.

HIGH: 40º LOW: 35 º

Members of the Faculty Senate condemned the new Interim Expressive Activity Policy in a Feb. 14 meeting.

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Local Buildings Will Go Electric

Electify Ithaca's first "Bloc" represents a $1.9 million green investment

By BENJAMIN LEYNSE Sun Contributor

Lisa Burger had a problem. In the spring of 2023, three out of the four fossil fuel-based heating units that sat atop the roof at Lifelong Community Center stopped functioning. However, the process of replacing these units was expensive and time-consuming, luxuries that Lifelong didn’t have Burger, the executive director of Lifelong, knew that the days would soon turn cold and worried that the center, which serves adults 50 years and older, would have to brave Ithaca’s winter months without heat. “We were in a situation where we needed to research this and get something going,” Burger said.

That’s when they reached out to BlocPower, a Brooklyn-based energy solutions company that the City of Ithaca has partnered with to facilitate the “electrification” of its some 6,000 buildings.

BlocPower was able to work with Lifelong, applying on their behalf to a New York State Electric & Gas incentive referred to as a “gas kicker” that gave money to replace gas-powered HVAC appliances with electric ones. While the whole project cost approximately $200,000, LifeLong had to pay only $36,000, according to Burger. Heating was brought back during the winter, and the project is near complete.

Lifelong's story stands among 10 other non-residential buildings to be electrified in the coming months, as announced by the City earlier this month. Together, they make up Ithaca’s first “Bloc” of building electrification projects.

These places of worship, cultural organizations and businesses represent a $1.9 million-dollar investment in green infrastructure, $1.4 million-dollars of which were subsidized through state and federal incentives. This progress represents the first substantive step toward achieving the goals of the “Electrify Ithaca'' program, a primary component of the Ithaca Green New Deal.

Nevertheless, questions over the project’s feasibility, funding and impact on renters continue to trouble conversations over electrification.

How Electrify Ithaca Works Launched in 2022, the Electrify Ithaca program works to leverage existing incentives at the state and federal levels to make electrification affordable for both contractors and consumers. In principle, the project has substantial potential to bring Ithaca closer to its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, as laid out in the IGND. Rebecca Evans, director of sustainability for the City of Ithaca, explained that almost 50 percent of Ithaca’s carbon emissions come from buildings, particularly their thermal loads.

“If we're able to achieve electrification in a majority of buildings — let's not even say all buildings — then that's how we're going to get those huge emissions reductions that we need to see,” Evans said.

To help achieve this abatement, Ithaca turned to BlocPower, which acts as a go-between — applying for funding on behalf of customers, putting together a quote based on the incentives and floating the cost for local contractors while the reimbursement processes.

“The huge savings are going to come from either the Inflation Reduction Act, or EmPower+, which is the new NYSERDA state program … geared towards low-income or disadvantaged communities,” Evans said.

Bill Fry, a member of the Board of Trustees for Ithaca First Baptist Church, expressed optimism regarding the economic breaks that these incentives provide.

“We were motivated by wanting to use less fossil fuels … and the incentives made … [it] financially possible for us to use heat pumps,” Fry said.

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

Benjamin Leynse can be reached at bcl68@cornell.edu.

NINA DAVIS / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

X-ray vision | CHESS's current X-ray source for experiments will soon be replaced by XLEAP.

CHESS X-ray Receives $20 Million Grant

By DALTON MULLINS and JONATHAN BRAND Sun Staff Writers

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced on Feb. 13 that the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source has received a $20 million federal grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will be used to construct a new micro-focusing X-ray facility called X-rays for Life, Environmental, Agricultural and Plant Sciences.

In a press release, Schumer highlighted the importance of the grant in contributing to the advancement in scientific discovery offered by the XLEAP program.

“This $20 million federal investment will supercharge Cornell’s cutting-edge CHESS Lab and bring us to the next frontier of understanding the elemental and microscopic details of organisms,” Schumer said. “Cornell’s new XLEAP facility will be a jump forward in deepening our understanding of the building blocks of life and will advance scientific discovery from fighting climate change to biology.”

Steven Ellis, a program director of the NSF, explained that the grant was awarded for the program’s advancement of scientific inquiries and collaboration with universities outside of Cornell.

“Mid-scale projects are ideal opportunities for increasing diversity by training the next generation of researchers,” Ellis said. The partnership between Cornell and The University of Texas at El Paso, a Hispanic-serving institution, will capitalize on this opportunity by engaging graduate students in the development and testing of new hardware, enhancing the diversity of both the synchrotron-use community and the biological sciences workforce.”

CHESS Staff Scientist Louisa Smeiska will work closely with graduate students from UTEP to develop a new X-ray beamline, which is a specialized path used to guide powerful beams of light. Members of CHESS are no strangers to beamlines. Beneath Cornell’s Robison Alumni Fields lies the Cornell Electron Storage Ring which acts as the current X-ray source for CHESS’s experiments.

However, CHESS’s new, more advanced X-ray beamline will pave the way for new research possibilities.

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

ERIC REILLY AND JULIA NAGEL / SUN NEWS EDITOR AND SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR • SOURCE: CITY OF ITHACA • CREATED WITH DATAWRAPPER

Bloc-one buildings | These 10 local nonprofits, religious spaces, retail shops and other buildings will be fully electrified in the coming months as part of Electrify Ithaca's first "Bloc" of projects, representing a $1.9 million investment in clean energy.

Dalton Mullins and Jonathan Brand can be reached at dmullins@cornellsun.com and jbrand@cornellsun.com.

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024

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News

Faculty Senate Decries Interim Expressive Policy

By MATTHEW KIVIAT Sun Staff Writer

Members of the Faculty Senate brought concerns regarding the Interim Expressive Activity Policy to the table at the senate’s first meeting of the semester on Feb. 14.

The interim policy, which was issued on Jan. 24, created new restrictions on student demonstrations on campus, requiring organizers to register outdoor events with more than 50 people at the Ithaca, Cornell Tech and Agritech campuses or 15 people at Weill Cornell Medicine campus.

The policy only allows for megaphones to be used without prior approval between Noon and 1 p.m. at either Ho Plaza or Day Hall.

The interim policy discussion was led by Prof. Eve De Rosa, psychology, dean of faculty and chair of the University Faculty Committee.

De Rosa began the conversation by emphasizing that the policy is not final, stressing the importance for faculty to voice their opinions. “[This] is our first opportunity to speak about [the policy] and hear directly from faculty,” De Rosa said.

“So that’s what I really hope that today will be. It’s the start of a conversation, so none of these things are set.”

De Rosa explained how she spoke with students to get their direct feedback at the start of the Spring 2024 semester.

“As soon as this semester started, [I] met with students from the [Student Assembly], and they had critiques about [it],” De Rosa said. “I took the feedback from those students to general counsel, and I’m saying this because I do think that the University is being responsive [to student concerns].”

The S.A. criticized the new policy in a Feb. 15 meeting, especially with the lack of transparency from the administration within the review process which did not take into account concerns raised by the executive members of the S.A. Prof. Risa Lieberwitz, industrial and labor relations, condemned how

the interim policy was also implemented without considering the Faculty Senate’s governmental responsibility to vote on the matter. “[The] lack of respect for governance processes is closely tied to the very serious academic freedom and freedom of expression concerns where governance is so important,” Lieberwitz said. “[There] are substantial new restrictions on expressive activity, which directly affect academic freedom and educational policy, which is the purview of the University faculty as delegated to the Faculty Senate.”

Lieberwitz further noted concerns regarding the lack of full Faculty Senate deliberations relating to new University policies. “[There is a] need for full Faculty Senate deliberations, including considering and voting on any amendments to this new policy,” Lieberwitz said. “And [the] final result is that we actually do that — we really take the time and do the sort of evaluation, consideration, amendments and real concern for addressing what is not a part of educational policy at all.”

Article I of the Faculty Senate’s formal handbook states: “The administration must listen to the aspirations and concerns of the faculty, share theirs with the University Faculty Committee and bring the Senate into the wider consultative process by sharing the responsibility of naming faculty to key committee assignments.”

Denise Ramzy, lecturer at the Dyson School of Applied Economics, noted the policy could inhibit students’ free expression.

“In a time when we see current policies and actions happening around the country, in academic institutions, [there are] really chilling policies [and] chilling actions,” Ramzy said.

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

Matthew Kiviat can be reached at mkiviat@cornellsun.com.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024 3

4 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024

News

Volunteer-Run Dryden House Construction Nears Completion

By ANNINA BRADLEY Sun Staff Writer

Second Wind, a Tompkins County nonprofit, plans to finish construction of its four-unit house in the town of Dryden before this summer, providing unhoused women and children with a new residence and a supportive community.

According to Executive Director David Shapiro, Second Wind initially anticipated finishing construction in the summer of 2023, having broken ground in November of 2022. However, due to a lack of volunteers with construction experience and funding to hire professional labor, the project was delayed.

Carleton Perkins ’24, a frequent volunteer at the project after discovering the initiative through Cru Cornell, a Christian ministry on campus, said that winter weather also presented challenges.

“They always need a foreman to help teach all the volunteers what to do,” Perkins said. “[And] when it gets to the winter months, sometimes they don’t want as many volunteers there for safety reasons.”

J.W. Betts, a campus minister and team leader with Cru, has recruited volunteers from Cornell and SUNY Cortland since Second Wind’s founding in 2012.

“I think that we all wish that the construction of the house had gone faster,”

Betts said. “But at the same time … it’s amazing how much has been done with volunteers. We love being a part of it.”

Shapiro spoke highly of the volunteer foremen — experienced construction supervisors — on the construction site. He highlighted Dave Plumeau, a retired engineer from the nearby Cargill Salt Mine, who has played a fundamental role in advancing construction as the Dryden volunteer site leader since October 2022.

“These retired guys that are helping us out [are] just amazing,” Shapiro said.

“They’re doing a real job, [and] they’re doing it out of what’s inside their body and heart and spirit.”

The Dryden House has been largely made possible by the generosity of Tompkins County community members. The house’s lot on West Main Street was donated by the owners of Sumo, a local Japanese restaurant, and its architectural plans were developed

by Jeremy Huelin ’23, free of charge.

“We rely on folks to come and help us out,” Shapiro said. “About 150 donors really helped us raise the lion’s share of the funds that were set aside for this project.”

The project’s grant benefactors include the Community Foundation of Tompkins County, Social Service League and City Federation of Women’s Organizations, among others.

According to Shapiro, Second Wind

has raised more than $415,000 for the Dryden House since 2019. Using part of this awarded money, Second Wind recently hired sheet rockers to apply wallboard to the building’s interior.

As the house nears completion, the non-profit has begun to prioritize professional labor over volunteers. Perkins spoke of formerly volunteering at the construction site each Saturday in past semesters. This spring, he’s considering new ways to contribute.

“We’re starting to shift into a new form of volunteering, [including] bringing cooked meals for the workers,” Perkins said.

Second Wind is currently taking applications for residents through their website.

However, Shapiro said that most incoming residents become established with Second Wind through the non-profit’s staff, who build relationships within Ithaca’s homeless community.

One woman who will soon live and work in the Dryden House formerly lived in the “Jungle,” an Ithaca homeless encampment less than two miles from Cornell’s main campus.

“She’ll be our first resident [and] our support person that works there as well,” Shapiro said. “She’s [hoping] to give back to people like her.”

One of Second Wind’s main goals in constructing the Dryden house is to provide

housing for women and children beyond their Newfield cottages, which house only men. Shapiro mentioned that the Dryden House may also provide mothers who have “lost children along the way” with “a step towards getting reunited with their kids.”

“It’s just exciting to see one day, how [these women’s] lives will be changed for the better, and their children too,” Perkins said.

Shapiro addressed local conversations on the issue of homelessness in the context of Ithaca’s housing landscape.

“There’s no doubt that there is not enough housing in Ithaca and that the housing we have is too expensive for most people,” Shapiro said. “But our project is just a small piece of housing in a community that needs so much more.”

Looking to the future, Second Wind aims to expand their mission which is to “build relationships by walking with homeless and at-risk friends toward restored lives” beyond New York State.

“We’d like to see Second Wind everywhere, because we think people need what we’re offering,” Shapiro said. “What we think people need is relationships, community and for society to care.”

Annina Bradley can be reached at abradley@cornellsun.com.

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The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024 5

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Dining Guide Your source for good food

Snacks: Your Hangry Insurance Policy

By EIRIAN HUANG Sun Staff Writer

I

n college, there are many situations in which I find myself completely and utterly vulnerable. It may be looking for someone in Zeus and not finding them, resulting in me standing around uncomfortably. It might be frantically looking for a seat in an overflowing lecture hall when I’m already late. However, my most vulnerable state by far is when I am snackless.

At any time of day, I usually have at least two snacks in my backpack: one salty and one sweet.

These snacks are the cheapest insurance policy. On a good day, I won’t even need to crack into my arsenal. However, on those days when everything sneaks up, I am more than thankful to have packed several snacks I’ve bought in bulk before the semester started.

My “core four” consists of snacks that I always have in rotation. If you find me around campus, there is a 90 percent chance I will have at least one of these in my backpack, if not more than one. I call them my “core four” and not my favorite four because, to be honest, not all of them are my favorite tasting snacks, but they do provide the fuel I need to get through the day. These “core four” can be found at retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon.

GoGo SqueeZ: Applesauce GoGo SqueeZ applesauce packets are not for kids, despite the advertising. They are for college students. I am very passionate about this. They require no spoons or teeth, are resealable to save for later and come in a plethora of flavors. You can find these at any major grocery store, such as Walmart, and at bulk stores like Costco for a better deal.

Archer: Grass-Fed Beef Sticks These are for the salty girls. The healthy snack industry is overrun by sweets. It’s always granola. It’s always some sort of tiramisu-caramel-dark-chocolate-40-gramsof-protein nouveau protein bar.

Archer Grass Fed Beef Sticks are my favorite snack, period. Each

mini stick has four grams of protein. Amazon, Walmart and Target sell these.

MadeGood: Granola Minis These are not my favorite sweets, but they have convenience and sustenance. They are enough to hold you over for about 45 minutes. Beware: Immediately after this threshold, you will be hangry.

You can also find these at Amazon, Walmart and Target.

That’s It: Fruit Bars These are surprisingly delicious even though they are marketed as a “healthy” snack and they’re fruit (in some way). They are no-nonsense, sweet and come in a variety of flavors like mango, strawberry, and blueberry. Some Cornell cafes have these, such as Green Dragon, aside from the usual Amazon, Walmart and Target. That’s it!

Trader Joe’s Best Snacks With a plethora of snacks, high-quality frozen meals and even items with a heavy cult following, Trader Joe’s offers a wide variety of affordable yet delicious foods.

Only a 15-minute drive or a convenient bus ride on TCAT’s route 30, Trader Joe’s is a reliable option for college students and is a one-stop shop for all things non-perishable.

I am somewhat protective of my favorite Trader Joe’s brand snacks due to their seasonality and the supermarket’s tendency to discontinue popular products. But with the constant variety, most things are worth a try. These supplement my “core four.”

Crunchy Curls There seems to be few who understand the appeal of the Crunchy Curl, an unseasoned snack made of lentils, and I am part of this group. Some may call these “flavorless,” or “bland,” but sometimes you need a snack that doesn’t really have a flavor and can be dug into without dirtying your hands. Crunchy Curls are just that.

Cashew Butter Cashews These are so good! Generously coated in cashew butter, they almost taste chocolatey but are more protein-packed than candy. For those

EIRIAN HUANG / SUN STAFF WRITER.

Scrumptious snacks | From granola minis to canned sardines, there are plenty of options to fuel long study sessions.

who need a sweet treat with them at all times and enjoy the silly idea of eating the same thing in two different forms, these are for you. Trader Joe’s has also offered Almond Butter Almonds in the past.

Elote Corn Chip Dippers Trader Joes has regular corn chip dippers, which essentially are a large Frito, but my favorite are the elote corn ones. Seasoned with a spicy blend of elote-style fixings, they pair great with a dip, but if you’re on the go, are amazing on their own and pack a punch.

Aussie-Style Chocolate Creme Sandwich Cookies These are Trader Joe’s best knockoffs of Tim Tams, an Australian cookie that otherwise has no American equivalent.

These decadent biscuit cookies are slightly wafer-y, extremely chocolatey and truly iconic down under.

Trader Joe’s iteration is very close to the original and will knock any Oreo or Milano. Experts (me) will tell you to put them in the freezer for the ultimate experience.

Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers If you know me, you know I love a good sour gummy. If you are a Trader Joe’s fan, you will likely know about these deliciously tart gummies. I’m sure that they’re not as amazing as what I’ve been seeing on Swedish Candy TikTok, but for what they are, I deeply enjoy chomping into a shark-shaped sour gummy.

Sometimes you hit a low and the food combinations become a little questionable, and that’s totally okay. Not everyone has time to meal-prep. For any tuna lovers, I highly recommend canned sardines as a shelf-stable and satiating protein source. Eaten with a slice of bread, tossed into a salad or (my favorite) with some Ritz crackers and chili oil, a meager can of sardines can become a fulfilling meal.

Chester’s Hot Fries are my go-to 7/11 snack! These are criminally underrated in the snack aisle and, in my opinion, way better than their sibling, Hot Cheetos.

Airy, crispy and addictively spicy, I

fear that Chester cooked with this one, and I am unabashedly licking my fingers each time.

How dare I end an entire article about snacks in college without mentioning ramen! Shin Ramen is the old reliable, but the Nongshim Kimchi Noodle Soup ones from the same brand are my favorite. The noodles have a great chewy mouthfeel, which is hard to come by with instant ramen.

And they aren’t overwhelmingly spicy. These could easily be zhuzhed up with an egg or frozen veggies to make into a meal.

At the end of the day, everyone needs to eat. Amid a chaotic college schedule, it’s easy to ignore your hunger cues and forget to eat full meals. Snacks with sustenance don’t have to be overwhelming.

Make use of your hangry insurance policy.

Eirian Huang is a second-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences. They can be reached at ehh56@cornell.edu.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024

Opinion

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent Since 1880 141st Editorial Board ANGELA BUNAY ’24 Editor in Chief

SHEILA YU ’25

SOFIA RUBINSON ’24

NOAH DO ’24

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Noah Do is a fourth year student in the College of Arts & Sciences. His fortnightly column Noah’s Arc documents his journey through the flood that is college. He can be reached at ndo@cornellsun.com

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My Summer of Korean Disconnect

his past summer, during my hiatus from Noah’s Arc, I traveled to South Korea for the first time by myself. Traveling internationally and experiencing life in a big city solo were such surreal experiences that I still have a hard time believing it was actually me doing those things. If college was the big first step to independence, this trip was confirmation that I had reached some kind of newfound maturity in my three years at Cornell. Now that the trip has had time to marinate, I can better situate it in the grand scheme of my young adulthood. And most importantly, in my Korean identity.

Although many differences reminded me I was on the other side of the globe, like no one holding the door open, fast Wi-Fi everywhere and a myriad of aesthetically pleasing cafes, language stood out as the most profound. It’s difficult to explain the level of my Korean abilities because it’s such a context-dependent assessment, but the best comparison I can give is a Furby toy. Furbys can technically speak English, but only in simple sentences that sound robotic, and their speech can’t be customized for the situation; the Furby will give whatever pre-programmed message it has, regardless of what you asked it in the first place. Similarly, I tend to speak Korean in short, pre-programmed sentences. When I have a conversation in Korean, I understand approximately 30 percent of what is being said to me, and any contextless nonsense I have to say has been short-circuiting my brain for the last half hour.

As much as I put down my Korean abilities, they have improved significantly since the start of college. I grew up speaking only English at home, and was in Korean school as a child long enough to learn the alphabet and some basic words.

My Korean is 95 percent learned from my own studying, which at least gives me confidence that I can improve moving forward if I keep at it.

Still, though, that doesn’t change the fact that my Korean is piss-poor compared to many of my friends’.

It’s common for Asian Americans to glamorize a connection to their heritage, and language is often used as a litmus test for the strength of that connection. We speak about language ability as if it’s a skill that some have invested time into and others haven’t, when in reality, it’s due to factors outside of our control, whether we’re fully fluent or

know nothing. For most Korean Americans, being bilingual isn’t a skill so much as a reflection of how much Korean was demanded of us growing up.

It’s common for Asian Americans to glamorize a connection to their heritage and language is often used as a litmus test...

When I was in Korea, I was struck by how out of place I felt due to differences that had nothing to do with language. The stylish yet same-ish way everyone dressed, the prevalence of cigarette smokers and the unapproachable yet well-mannered aura that surrounded every Korean person all reminded me that I was halfway across the globe from home. Even if my Korean was at a competent level, the cultural gap would have found a way to alienate me. This discovery reassured me that improving my Korean would not magically make me feel more in touch with Korean people or unlock some Korean side of me that previously lay dormant.

Having written all this, though, I can’t deny that I wish I could speak Korean fluently. I’ve gotten over the idea that it will somehow make me more Korean, and that becoming more Korean is even something I want, but there’s still something inside of me that would be ashamed if the Korean language died out from my family because of me.

There are few practical reasons for me to ever have to speak Korean, and there will be even fewer reasons for my children to, but that doesn’t change the fact that I still feel compelled to improve it.

Speaking Korean is not the missing piece in navigating my identity as a Korean American. As I’ve expressed in previous pieces, simplifying my heritage to a slider that runs from Korean to American erases all the nuance of actually being who I am. Being fluent in a language doesn’t legitimize anyone as a member of some cultural group and it’s reductive to link cultural authenticity to decisions made on our behalf. And yet, learning the language calls to me as an opportunity to express something that I can’t quite get out in English.

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)

The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024 7

Puzzle #404

MUTATION

Pizza Rolls

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The Cornell Daily Sun | Thursday, February 22, 2024

Science

SCIENCE

Cornell Wildlife Health Lab Leads Chronic Wasting Communications

By TAYLOR RIJOS Sun Contributor

Researchers at the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab are leading interagency efforts to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease in New York and in the United States.

CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a rare neurodegenerative disease affecting free-ranging cervids, such as elk, deer and moose.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are spread by prions, which cause abnormal folding of proteins in the brain. Abnormally folded proteins are unable to be broken down, resulting in plaques that cause brain cells to die and holes to form in the infected animal’s brain.

Deer infected with CWD may exhibit poor coordination; lowered head and ears; abnormal behaviors and excessive urination, thirst and drooling. At the end-stage of the disease, an infected deer will lose substantial weight, also known as wasting, and die. A deer may not show clinical signs for a year or more, but they can spread the disease before showing symptoms.

According to Prof. Krysten Schuler, public and ecosystem health, director of the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, it remains unclear whether deer are infected through direct contact with an infected deer or through indirect contact with prions spread into the environment from an infected deer’s urine, feces or saliva.

“This is the only prion disease that occurs in free-ranging animals, and free-ranging animals are very difficult to study,” Schuler said.

Since CWD was first detected in wild deer in 1981, CWD has spread to 31 states. Once CWD is established in the environment, the disease can spread quickly and is difficult to contain. To date, New York State is the only state that has eradicated CWD, and surveillance on cervid populations is ongoing.

“You want people to look for the disease at a level that’s appropriate and where they’re most likely to find it because that earliest detection is when we have the best opportunity to do something about it,” Schuler said.

In 2012, NYS implemented a risk-weighted surveillance plan. The plan accounts for risk factors of CWD, including the number of deer, known presence of CWD and possible transmission routes. This surveillance plan has since been implemented in other states.

The Cornell Wildlife Health Lab leads the Surveillance Optimization Project for CWD, which allows wildlife agencies to share and compare surveillance data and to monitor CWD in several states.

“We started doing the surveillance optimization project to get states to work together on a bigger scale using the same methods,” Schuler said.

The project has formed a CWD data warehouse, which stores data for wildlife management agencies and researchers. The warehouse allows for NYS to monitor CWD in neighboring states to prevent re-introduction.

At the local level, New York hunters’ knowledge of CWD risk and NYS hunting regulations can prevent disease reentry. A recent interdisciplinary study conducted by Cornell researchers identified social-psychological factors that may influence CWD risk perception among NYS hunters.

Hunters were shown one of six Facebook messages or were shown no message as a control group. The messages were attributed to the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or the National Deer Association. Messages were either certain or uncertain about CWD risks.

Past hunting behaviors, knowledge of other hunter’s behaviors, knowledge of CWD, environmental values and the perceived credibility of the post’s source influenced the perception of CWD risk among hunters.

The study found that hunters that had less knowledge of CWD, stronger environmental values and less knowledge of other hunters’ dangerous hunting practices were more likely to be influenced by the messages. Among hunters that did not initially view CWD as a threat, social media posts attributed to the Cornell Wildlife

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Diseased deer | Chronic wasting disease affects free-ranging elk, deer and moose.

Health Lab were more effective at changing CWD risk perception in hunters than posts made by the NYSDEC and the NDA. “I’m pleasantly surprised,” Schuler said. “We put a lot of effort into the website to make it as useful for the public as we can. So the fact that people recognize it as a credible source is really important.”

According to Schuler, hunters should adhere to best practices such as wearing gloves when touching an animal and washing hands and utensils after contact with meat. They are advised to not consume any meat from an animal that is infected with CWD, because cooking meat will not kill prions. Schuler emphasized that hunters should be aware of NYS hunting regulations as well as relevant local regulations when hunting out-of-state.

While CWD has yet to appear in humans, studies in animal models have suggested that CWD may have the potential to be transmitted to humans.

According to Schuler, CWD is in the same disease family as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, which has been known to infect humans. Other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, such as scrapie in sheep and goats, are not transmissible to humans.

The Cornell Wildlife Health Lab advises that people should not refrain from hunting.

“What worries me more is what would happen if people think they can get it,” Schuler said. “Even though the risk may be very low, if the perception [of transmissibility] is there, then that could be really devastating for wildlife conservation.”

While CWD should be perceived as a risk, Schuler emphasizes that the disease is “not a doomsday scenario.” The lab continues to help hunters, wildlife management agencies and researchers prevent the spread of CWD. Taylor Rijos can be reached at tlr65@cornell. edu.

Study Gives Insight Into How E-Cig Labels May Affect Smokers ic cigarettes. The media coverage was unintentionally misleading, according to Mathios. Although A recent Cornell study suggests named for all e-cigs, EVALI hosthat warning labels that describe pitalizations were attributed to illehealth harms of chemicals may gally manufactured vapes containencourage quitting for adult e-ciging Tetrahydrocannabinol, which arette users but not necessarily is a compound found in marijuana. for young users. The study conMathios identified a decline tributes to ongoing investigations in e-cigarette demand following

by Cornell researchers on issues the outbreak, indicating a potensurrounding e-cigarettes, public tial increase in hesitancy. Though health and policy. people may consider this decline in Electronic cigarettes — also e-cigarettes positive, Mathios noted known as e-cigs or vapes — differ that many adults could use e-cigafrom traditional cigarettes in that rettes as an alternative to smoking. they do not burn tobacco. E-cigs “For adults, the real cost of deliver aerosol through the heating this misinformation was higher of a liquid that contains nicotine risk perceptions of e-cigarettes that and other chemicals. led to fewer people trying to quit [combustible cigarettes],” Mathios said.

The consequence of higher risk perceptions for adults reveals an ultimatum between deterring young folks from using e-cigs and encouraging adult smokers to switch from combustible cigarettes to e-cigs as a way to quit smoking entirely.

Various sources disagree on which population should be the priority, according to Prof. Jeff Niederdeppe, communication.

CAROLINE TOMPKINS / THE NEW YORK TIMES While the U.S. has tended toward a preventative approach, the U.K. Policy paradox | Encouraging cigarette smokers to switch to e-ciga- has focused on encouraging the rettes conflicts with the goal of discouraging e-cigarette use by young people. adult population to switch.

By BRENDA KIM Sun Contributor

While e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product for middle and high schoolers in 2023, the National Youth Tobacco Survey identified a decrease in the use of e-cigarettes among young people. This decrease followed a peak of e-cigarette use in 2019 that correlated with an outbreak of E-cigarette, or Vaping, Associated Lung Injuries.

According to a previous Cornell study authored by Prof. Alan Mathios, economics, on vaping and e-cigarettes, the 2019 EVALI outbreak led to an increase of perceptions of risk for vaping.

During the EVALI outbreak, the media reported a series of hospitalizations related to electron-

For Niederdeppe, “There is no right answer.”

“If it’s 25 to 30 percent of young people using [e-cigs], that’s a really high proportion,” Niederdeppe said. “If it’s 10 percent, does that change [how we weigh the different populations against one another]?”

Niederdeppe co-authored a new collaborative study on e-cigarette warning labels that offers understanding of how people may respond to different warning messages. The study provides insight for policymakers who want to influence different groups’ e-cigarette use.

Respondents of the study were given one of five warning messages in text. One was based on the current FDA warning, which read “this product contains nicotine.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical.”

The four others included condition-specific warnings in addition to the FDA warning. Conditionspecific warnings ranged from statements on youth brain development to information about the chemical constituents, health harms and chemical equivalence of e-cigs to cigarettes.

The team found that relative to the current FDA warning, the other warning messages were not more effective at deterring use or changing risk perceptions of e-cig-

arettes among youth. However, the study also found that messages including the chemical constituents and corresponding health harms may increase interest in quitting for adult smokers and vapers.

Although these results provided some potential, Niederdeppe cautioned against drawing conclusions too quickly.

“I don’t want to suggest that one study should drive the policy [on warning labels],” Niederdeppe said. “I do think [the recent study] provides valuable information for the FDA in thinking about these issues.”

Niederdeppe and Mathios agree that navigating the paradox for e-cigs in the youth and adult population is complex, especially in light of the EVALI outbreak.

Both researchers are continuing to investigate the competing objectives. Niederdeppe is expanding on the warning message research with further analyses of different subgroups among the youth. Mathios, on the other hand, is part of the Cornell Research on Tobacco Regulation research team, where he continues research on the future policies that may emerge regarding e-cigarettes.

Brenda Kim can be reached at bmk86@cornell.edu.