4-25-23 entire issue hi res

Corne¬ Daily

Homeless Encampments Located a Mile From Campus

By JIWOOK JUNG Sun City Editor

Commonly referred to as the “Jungle” by local residents, it is difficult to take more than 10 steps before spotting orange needle caps in Ithaca’s hub for homeless encampments. Graffiti, stolen items and a confederate flag haunt the region as many Ithaca residents who find work in the area voiced serious safety concerns.

“[The first responders] had to pull the dead body out of the river,” said Budd Dickson, who works at Ithaca Agway, located less than 100 feet from one of the many encampments. “The guy overdosed and rolled himself down the river last year.”

Less than two miles away from Cornell’s

main campus, where the median family income of a student is $151,600 and more than 10 percent of its student body comes from America’s wealthiest one percent, homeless encampments stretch along a tucked-away rail track. The encampments extend for many blocks, reaching the backdoors of popular stores including Wegmans, Walmart and Lowe’s.

According to Mike Boynton, who works at Walmart, there are frequent sounds of explosions coming from the encampments. Boynton stated that along with several other stores in the area, Walmart is a frequent victim of property theft, including prevalent stealing of shopping carts.

“[The sound] is from cooking meth[amphetamine],” Boynton said. “It happens frequently in the summertime.”

Clyde Lederman '26 Vies for Ithaca Common Council Seat

By ISKANDER KHAN Sun Contributor

Still acclimating to college life, there are many priorities that might be top-of-mind for a Cornell first-year student. Running for elected office is not usually one of them.

However, this is exactly what Clyde Lederman ’26, a first-year student in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, is pursuing. Lederman had just finished his first semester at the

University when he launched his campaign for Ithaca Common Council alderperson.

Lederman — who is running as a Democrat — has his eyes on a twoyear seat representing Ithaca’s fifth ward, first announcing his plans last December. On campus, Lederman is involved with the Cornell Prison Education Program and is the clerk for the Office of the Assemblies.

“I decided to run [for a seat on Ithaca Common Council] because students in Ithaca deserve an alderperson who will fight for affordable housing and quality public transportation,” Lederman wrote in a December Facebook post announcing his candidacy.

The fifth ward represents North Campus and the Cornell Heights area, along with much of University Hill. If elected, Lederman would become the youngest member of the Common Council at just 19 years old.

Lederman officially launched his

According to George McGonigal, first ward alderperson of Ithaca, the city’s homeless population is rapidly increasing, with there now being roughly 60 homeless people in the city.

“People are getting robbed,” McGonigal said. “Wegmans loses food, shopping carts and people are harassed when going to their cars, particularly in the evening.”

The “Jungle” has existed since as early as 1926, according to various officials in the Tompkins County government. Today, tension arises in discussing how much the city and the county should help the unhoused population, as some residents fear that the current policies — including providing showers and bathrooms — are functioning as enablers of homeless presence in Ithaca.

Mary Salton Describes Journey as a Youth in Nazi Europe

By CARLIN REYEN Sun Staff Writer

Walking along the Arts Quad the week of April 17 to April 21, a thousand small white flags peppered the grass. Upon closer inspection, these flags are an installation in remembrance of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which occurred from the evening of April 17 to the evening of April 18.

As part of the memorial, Cornell Hillel brought about a poignant and memorable event on Wednesday, as Mary Salton, who was born in Vienna in 1929 and escaped Nazi Austria as a child, visited to share her experience with a packed auditorium in Phillips Hall 101.

The event featured an interview video between Salton and Howard Urlich, a former professor and administrator at Ithaca College, who facilitated Salton’s retelling of her childhood memories during the Second World War. After the video, Salton answered questions from Cornell community members about her experiences.

Salton lost a grandfather and several aunts, uncles and cousins during the war, the large majority of whom were killed in concentration camps. Only one of her mother’s four siblings survived the Holocaust. Salton said she does not refer to herself as a Holocaust survivor due to the fact that she herself was not imprisoned in a concentration camp.

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

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

Opposite worlds | The "Jungle" sports a confederate flag, located on City of Ithaca land.

Te "Jungle" has generated tension over Tompkins County's role in aiding the homeless population

Stealing surge | Local businesses report being regular victims of property theft.

Drug debris | Substance abuse is a prominent issue in the "Jungle."

Fresh ideas | Clyde Lederman '26 launched his campaign for Ithaca Common Council alderperson after his first semester at Cornell.

Lives lost | Cornell Hillel displayed 1,000 flags, with each flag representing 6,000 Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust.

Daybook

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

A LISTING OF FREE CAMPUS EVENTS Today

Waiting for the People: The Idea of Democracy in Indian Anticolonial Thought

11:25 a.m. - 12:40 p.m., Virtual Event

An Introduction to Intuitive Eating

3 p.m. - 4 p.m., Virtual Event

Jewish Histories of the Modern Middle East: “The Shamama Case: Contesting Citizenship Across the Modern Mediterranean”

5 p.m., 110 White Hall

Wells Chandler: Artist Talk

5:15 p.m., Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium, Milstein Hall

Visas After Graduation

5:30 p.m., Virtual Event

Data and Analytics Speaker Series with Harrison Waldon

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., Virtual Event

Aristotle Kolefas ’23 Senior Piano Recital

7:30 p.m., Barnes Hall

Simon Levin

James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the director of the Center for BioComplexity at Princeton University

• COVID-19 & Challenges to the Classical Theory of Epidemics

Tuesday, May 2, 4-5pm, 223 Plant Science Building

• Ecosystems & the Biosphere as Complex Adaptive Systems: Scaling, Collective Phenomena & Governance

Wednesday, May 3, 12-1pm, 226 Weill Hall

• Systemic Risk & Opportunity: Alternative Realities in Social & Ecological Systems

Thursday, May 4, 4-5pm, A106 Corson Mudd Hall

MESSENGER LECTURES

The Public is Invited

Robin Coste Lewis

Thursday, April 27, 2023, 5 PM Philip E. Lewis Lecture Hall

Goldwin Smith Hall G76

’24

Professor Shares Experiences as Undocumented Immigrant

By STUTI GUPTA Sun Contributor

The pathway to academia can be difficult for many. But becoming a professor can be more arduous when also dealing with the struggles of being an undocumented immigrant in the United States. This is the reality for Prof. Monica Cornejo, communication, who is one of the first undocumented tenure-track faculty members at Cornell.

Cornejo first immigrated to the United States from Mexico when she was six-years-old. She is currently an undocumented immigrant and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient.

An undocumented immigrant refers to any person who resides in a country without legal documentation. DACA is a program started by former President Barack Obama in 2012 that is now discontinued. It offers protection from deportation, and is valid for two years before it can be renewed. However, it is not deemed an official pathway to citizenship.

Before starting at Cornell, Cornejo completed her undergraduate studies at Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State University in psychology, and then received her Ph.D. in communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara. At UCSB, she was one of three undocumented Ph.D. graduate students. Today, she is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication.

Cornejo spoke to The Sun about the struggles of being viewed as more than her status as an undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient.

“I would say that one of the struggles [of being an undocumented immigrant] is being in a room and [not] being treated as an individual that is more than just a status. What I mean by that is, yes, I am undocumented, and yes, I am an immigrant,” Cornejo said. “That is a very important part of my identity, but there is more to my identity. I am an academic. I am a researcher. I am a partner and I am a daughter.”

Cornejo’s status as an undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient has inspired her work as a professor.

“When we talk about academia, we have this very exclusive ivory tower, where only certain people get to be brought in and [contribute to the] broader movement to support oppressed and marginalized communities,” Cornejo said. “Being part of that marginalized community has pushed me in that direction to want to make change.”

Cornejo said she feels that academia has offered a safer space for undocumented immigrants such as herself compared to other industries.

“Here in academia,” Cornejo said, “there are people who actively support [us] and there are avenues for [us] to complain.”

Despite this, Cornejo said her status has also impeded her work as a professor.

“Regardless of the amount of time that I’ve been here, and with no criminal record [and] all of these degrees that would otherwise mean social acceptance of a person — not to say that should be the only reason you should accept someone,” Cornejo said, “[these indicators of social acceptance] are often not what is seen when we discuss immigrants, and undocumented immigrants particularly.”

During her time as a student and now as a professor, Cornejo cannot travel internationally for any conferences or apply for certain opportunities, fellowships or federal jobs because of her status.

There are many barriers that exist specifically for undocumented students in academia as well. According to Cornejo, many immigrants are considered international students, which requires them to pay the higher international student tuition rates. Moreover, following the discontinuation of DACA in October 2022, students are unable to apply for internships and jobs in the United States because they no longer have work authorization. Current recipients of DACA may remain in the program and receive protection under the program, however, new applications are not being processed.

Currently, the University has resources in place to support undocumented faculty and students, such as the Building Relationships to Aid Growth and Empowerment program and Cornell University Impact Fellowship. In addition to formalized resources, several faculty members are currently conducting research on immigrants and undocumented communities, Cornejo said. Currently, Cornejo is researching and interviewing undergraduate students about stressors and support systems in universities.

Still, Cornejo believes that the University could have a stronger stance on aiding undocumented students.

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

Te “Jungle” Evokes Controversy

“I am a life-long liberal, democrat and social justice [advocate]. I am as bleeding heart as you can get,” said local resident Gregory Perreault. “This is a big time problem for businesses and individuals around here. Ithaca is trying to make an effort on it. I think they are airing a little bit too carefully on the side of civil liberties and compassion because there is a definite subset of the homeless population that is criminal.”

Liddy Bargar, director of Housing Initiatives at the Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County, disagrees that the city and county’s policies and services enable homelessness.

“Enabling is when you deny a full-grown adult the ability to do something that they are otherwise capable of doing,” Bargar said. “But if the person does not have the actual tools, ability or access to the resource to do

Professionals Discuss Climate Change and Indigenous Solutions

By CHRISTOPHER WALKER Sun Contributor

Four mid-career environmental professionals from Brazil, Laos, Tanzania and Zimbabwe convened virtually on Tuesday, April 18 to discuss the global dimensions of climate change as part of Verdant Views, a Cornell Botanic Gardens webinar series.

The purpose of the webinar, titled Global Climate Stories, was to emphasize that climate change occurs on an international scale and sees a diverse array of responses. The webinar also sought to acknowledge that climate change disproportionately affects people in developing nations that are less responsible for global warming, according to Kevin Moss, the student and public engagement coordinator for the Cornell Botanic Gardens and host of Verdant Views.

Moderated by Carlos Magno De Medeiros Morais, the webinar featured three speakers — Fanuel Joseph Massawe, Chindavone Sanlath and Edith Mugehu. All four participants are members of the highly selective Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, which provides a global cohort of mid-career professionals an international enrichment opportunity in leadership and public service.

in rural Brazil.

The participants work in a wide range of fields indicative of the varying ways in which climate change must be tackled. As an environmental and social consultant at Earth Systems Mekong, Sanlath works to promote circular practices that reduce waste by reusing, repairing and recycling used products rather than disposing of them in place of new ones. Whereas in Tanzania, Massawe serves as the leader for his nonprofit, Saving Africa’s Nature, which utilizes a community-based approach to foster harmonious environmental practices among communities.

“You have to recognize some of the push and pull factors that make communities destroy the environment,” Massawe said. “Mostly it goes down to the issue of livelihood. So our programs mostly focus on education, empowerment and conservation.”

The webinar’s participants emphasized the necessity for global understanding in addressing climate change and stressed the importance of recognizing the varying economic, social and political states of nations. Climate solutions that may be feasible in developed nations may not be realistic in Brazil, Laos, Zimbabwe or Tanzania.

the thing and another person provides that resource, I do not consider that enabling.”

According to McGonigal, substance abuse is a prominent theme in several encampment sites, and this makes the problem much more delicate and complex.

“People of the ‘Jungle’ are also my constituents. They live in the city. The ‘Jungle’ has been around before I came to Ithaca 40 years ago,” McGonigal said.

“I think what is driving a lot of the theft is drug addiction. Because people who are not normally thieves — if they are addicted to drugs — they need to get those drugs and they need money to get those drugs. The drug makes people do things that they normally would not.”

The city of Ithaca and Tompkins County has been working collaboratively to devise long-term solutions and provide temporary measures to ensure community safety and reduce homelessness.

According to McGonigal,

Ithaca has been allocating its resources to build showers and toilets to strategically incentivize unhoused people to relocate to safer and more controlled areas of the encampment sites. HSCTC recently proposed a 48-page plan to tackle homelessness in Ithaca, which included its commitment to building 100 single units of permanent supportive housing, low-barrier shelter, a cash for trash program and professional development opportunities.

Instead of approaching homelessness in a more traditional “staircase” model — which offers housing at the last step after unhoused people become clean from substance and find employment — HSCTC Housing Specialist Simone Gatson believes that housing must come first.

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

While climate change is often referred to as a problem for the future, many people are presently subjected to its devastating effects — especially in the Global South, which refers to a group of developing nations in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. In Laos, yearly flooding reduces crop yields, threatening the livelihood of a nation where 71 percent of the population engages in some form of agriculture. Similarly, in Zimbabwe, changing seasons and frequent droughts trouble local farmers. Mugehu, whose work in Zimbabwe uses biotechnology and plant breeding techniques on seeds to improve crop yields, has seen firsthand the struggles of Zimbabwean farmers.

“My grandmother would grow crops like corn, millet [and] sorghum, and keep chickens and goats. And I knew that our income was wholly dependent on that small-scale farming enterprise,” Mugehu said.

“I witnessed firsthand the effect of a lack of efficient seed systems, lack of access to seed — the effect of the environment on the farming enterprise.”

Morais shared a similar story about how the inequality he witnessed in a family of smallscale farmers motivates his work in Brazil today. As the coordinator of social mobilization at the Sabiá Agroecological Development Center, Morais uses communication tools to provide a voice for traditional communities and peoples living

In Tanzania, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline has accrued global scrutiny from developing countries due to its negative environmental impact. However, Massawe argued that the environmental impact of the pipeline will be necessary in the long run to foster a self-sufficient nation.

Mugehu similarly noted the difference in agriculture practices in the United States and Zimbabwe.

“When I have conversations with American farmers or American researchers who want to help small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe, I think the context is different because [in America], the problems that farmers face — they are slightly different because farming here is highly mechanized,” Mugehu said.

Through the event, Moss hoped to educate listeners on the state of climate change in developing countries.

“[Global Climate Stories] aimed to raise awareness… that there is a lot of work being done in [developing] countries all around the world to respond to climate change and there’s a lot of positive actions really being taken in the face of some very difficult challenges,” Moss said.

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

“One of the struggles is being in a room and [not] being treated as an individual that is more than just a status.”

Prof. Monica Cornejo

Stuti Gupta can be reached at sg2265@cornell.edu.

Christopher Walker can be reached at ccw88@cornell.edu. Jiwook Jung can be reached at jjung@cornellsun.com.

ILR Freshman Runs for Ithaca Common Council

campaign on Sunday, Jan. 8, with a fundraiser in his hometown of Nyack, New York. He was joined by former Congressman Mondaire Jones, also a Nyack native, who Lederman had volunteered for in 2020.

Lederman credited his upbringing for his early interest in politics and labor relations.

“I’ve always had a political orientation. That comes from my family and how I grew up,” Lederman said. “My mother, she’s a fourth-generation union member.”

This political awareness was

only made more acute by disputes Lederman witnessed growing up in Rockland County — from disputes involving the East Ramapo Central School District to zoning issues in the community.

Lederman said he first thought about running for Common Council following disputes over TCAT funding last December.

“I remember in particular when Cornell turned down the funding increase [for TCAT], which was something like $75,000,” Lederman said. “And to me, that was a real wake-up call.”

Lederman is referring to the University’s denial of an 8 percent increase in funding to TCAT, for which the University cited a lack of

“any specific justification for such a large increase.”

Lederman also highlighted issues with the TCAT system, from delays to service cuts, which he noted make it difficult for many Ithaca residents to get to work.

“[TCAT] is not sustainable,” Lederman said. “I think it’s about increasing funding so that we can reduce headways in the routes so buses run more frequently.”

In addition to TCAT funding, Lederman said he is also focused on housing and the “Make Cornell Pay” campaign as key issues.

Lederman said Ithaca’s housing shortage has had detrimental impacts on permanent residents.

“[From 2010 to 2021, Ithaca’s

population] grew in raw numbers, which is an increase in students. [But] we actually lost a lot of permanent residents. And that’s really damaging,” Lederman said. “People shouldn’t have to leave where they live their whole lives because it’s become just too expensive.”

Lederman has proposed accessory dwelling units to improve Ithaca’s low one percent rental vacancy rate.

“[Accessory dwelling units] are the opportunity to create zoning permissions that would allow anyone to turn [a space] like a garage, basement or attic into an additional unit,” Lederman said. “They’ve done this in California and it’s

been really successful in increasing the housing stock.”

Lederman acknowledges that ADUs are not a perfect solution, instead calling for a constellation of policies to increase the housing stock.

But the University’s role also came up in the discussion over Ithaca’s housing supply, with Lederman believing the University has an obligation to provide adequate housing options.

As for the ‘Make Cornell Pay’ Campaign, the University’s contribution to the City of Ithaca has been bound by an agreement in place through 2024, meaning negotiations would be on the table within Lederman’s term. The agreement, approved in 2003, has the University contributing about $1.575 million in this final year — a majority of which goes towards the Ithaca Fire Department.

Student voters are of particular interest in the fifth ward, as redrawn wards have left the ward with a 90 to 95 percent student population. However, student voting remains a hurdle, especially with the Democratic primary taking place on Tuesday, June 27 — when most Cornellians are not on campus.

“Not a lot of students are registered to vote here, [so] a big part of my campaign is getting people registered,” Lederman said. “In the past, you’ve seen candidates elected with one-half of one percent of the total population casting a ballot for that candidate. And to me, that’s a problem — that’s not really democratic.”

To Lederman, the short-term nature of the student population does not discount their importance in local affairs.

“Students are a transient population with permanent interests. So students now, students five years ago, still cared about the bus, they still care about the price of housing,” Lederman said. “I think if we took adults, and they lived in any city for two to three years in a row, we wouldn’t say, ‘You don’t deserve to vote, you shouldn’t care.’ That’s not really fair, and that’s not a reasonable approach.”

However, as a 19-year-old that has only lived in Ithaca for about nine months, Lederman acknowledges concerns over his potential inexperience. But he emphasizes his own lived experience in Ithaca and his many conversations with residents.

“I think my interest in improving the community is genuine. I know what it means to wait in the Commons and there’s not a bus for an hour,” Lederman said. “And that affects the lives of so many different folks.”

Lederman described that he has made a concerted effort to talk to the residents of the ward he hopes to represent.

“I’ve knocked on, if I had to guess, 80 percent of the doors in Cornell Heights, in particular,” Lederman said. “[I’m] continuing to reach out to all the residents because I think folks who make sure they talk to everyone are the ones who are sort of best able to navigate the nuanced and challenging issues we have.”

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

Iskander Khan can be reached at ik275@cornell.edu.

Did You Fall in Love or Limerence?

Apart from enjoying the content, an incredible feature of movies and books is being able to learn from the characters’ experiences and reflect on your own by applying any knowledge you’ve gained to analyze what interests you the most. In this article, I want to discuss the term “limerence” to help you understand whether you’re going through limerence, thinking that you fell in love, by using the movie Ruby Sparks as an example.

The main character Calvin is a famous writer who struggles with social anxiety. He has a peculiar dog, and he can’t get used to its behavior. His only friend is his brother, and besides attending book presentations, he occasionally visits his therapist.

On one of his monotonous days, Calvin falls asleep and imagines a girl that fulfills all of his dreams. She even accepts his dog the way it is. After waking up, he becomes invested in writing again. During a therapy session, he confesses to his psychologist that he dreamed of a perfect girl, and he can’t help but write about her. He says he writes as much as possible to stay with her longer.

Later, Calvin shows his drafts of the story with the dream girl to his brother, who in response explains that, while he loves his wife, she has both pleasant and annoying personality traits because she’s

human. Calvin’s brother finishes by saying that the girl in the story doesn’t feel like a real person. Shortly thereafter, this imaginary girl named Ruby Sparks comes alive and appears in Calvin’s house, immediately assuming the role of his girlfriend. This may sound like another bubbly story about true love. However, further analysis of the film can help us understand a concept called limerence. Limerence is an obsessive, intrusive thought pattern in which a person idealizes someone, disconnects from reality, has compulsive fantasies and seeks hidden meaning in every person’s actions.

The crucial problem with limerence is that it devalues both the dreamer and their chosen person. Usually, through idealization, the dreamer puts their love on a pedestal and makes it unreachable. They choose not to work on a relationship, but rather bring that person with them into an imaginary world — to create and live through shared experiences there without having to encounter any uncomfortable situations that the real world might present. By doing so, the dreamer falls into a “what’s in the future” state, always trying to predict reactions and outcomes, instead of being present in the given moment with their real-life partner.

First, the dreamer discredits themselves, and as a consequence, discredits the other person by idolizing them. The dreamer boxes the object of their desire into certain expectations, and refuses to let them

express themself as they are. Instead of taking time to build a relationship and discovering another person, the dreamer tries to fill in the gaps on their own, not realizing that their fantasies might end up being totally wrong.

Many scenes indicate Calvin’s limerence, like when he doesn’t allow Ruby to work because he can provide everything she needs, framing Ruby into his perception of the perfect girlfriend. He restricts Ruby to create some distance in the relationship, even physically, not meeting the needs of a partner. Instead of enjoying leisure time with his family and Ruby, he sleeps in the tree house, wanting to leave, showing how time spent in reality is burdensome. Finally, he blames her for not fitting into the “you are my girlfriend” framework when attending a party (again, expectations).

You may ask, is it actually limerence?

Two other major scenes help us understand Calvin’s character and struggle. After some time living together and navigating conflicts, Calvin learns about his ability to rewrite anything about Ruby’s character. He uses this power and soon realizes that it gets only worse. This scene is a direct representation of the disconnect between reality and the real person — Calvin doesn’t want to take action in the present and put the effort into building relationships. Instead, he chooses to erase the unfavorable traits of Ruby, because facing unpolished life means accepting things as they truly are,

which often has a bitter taste.

The second major scene happens at the same party mentioned above, where Calvin meets his ex-girlfriend Lila. Before this scene, we were introduced only to Calvin’s perspective on their breakup. According to Calvin, they broke up because she was cold and selfish, loved only his fame and left him right after his father died. In the scene where Lila tries to establish a connection, we discover from her words that Calvin created an imaginary idea of Lila, and he wasn’t interested in getting to know her as a person. Everything that wasn’t in line with the perfect version of Lila made him angry. From her perspective, the relationship ended because, after his father’s death, he blocked himself from the relationship and didn’t communicate with Lila. This escapism is repeated later with Ruby.

Limerence can happen to any of us. Unreasonably high expectations, running from communication when something goes wrong and not being interested in discovering the other person’s world may seem like some extreme examples. However, if you find yourself in a situation where your relationship doesn’t go any further, it may be better to reexamine your own actions to make sure you weren’t influenced by this corrosive state of mind.

NIKA MAKOVIAK SUN STAFF WRITER

Nika Makoviak is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at vm345@ cornell.edu.

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Independent

Since

Aaron Friedman

Honest AF

Aaron Friedman is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at afriedman@cornellsun.com. Honest AF runs every other Tuesday this semester.

Dublin Dispatch

“He left his friends at a quarter to ten… turned to the left at the City Markets and walked on into Grafton Street. The crowd of girls and young men had thinned and on his way up the street he heard many groups and couples bidding one another good-night” writes acclaimed Irish author James Joyce in Dubliners.

As I reflected upon my own travels over the recess to Dublin, I wondered whether Joyce had secretly accompanied our group. This particular excerpt from his 1914 account mirrors our incredible trip to Dublin in 2023, over a century later.

Joyce’s “undramatic” recollection of 20th-century Dublin spurred a dramatic career as one of the world’s most famous and talented English-language novelists. Cornell’s Rare and Manuscript Division happens to own a “significant” portion “of the private papers of James Joyce, focusing on his life and works before 1920” according to the collection’s description.

Though unlike the Dublin Joyce once resided in, the city I visited enjoys economic prosperity, the current absence of a functioning governing coalition in neighboring Northern Ireland and other remaining vestiges of last century’s distress threaten to reanimate elements of the island’s difficult past.

Even still, my experience in Ireland endorsed the view that a productive life is one that seeks betterment at the expense of historical remorse, a belief Joyce shared at one time. As a student of history at Cornell, as much as I think lessons from the past should inform the future, my travels have proven to me that life is best lived by the spur of the moment.

As we stood at the edge of the towering Cliffs of Moher on Ireland’s western coast, we waited for a break in the wind and took tiny steps to sit on a rock jutting right above the seven-hundred-foot drop. We ventured along the cliffs, taking in the stunning views of the Irish coastline and watching as seabirds soared above the crashing waves.

When we hailed an Uber to take us to the Airport from the river Liffey, the driver, a gruff but friendly man with a thick Irish brogue, struck up a conversation with us as we drove through the city.

He revealed that he had been a fighter in the Irish Republican Army during the Troubles, a period of intense conflict between Irish fighters and British authorities. My friends and I were initially taken aback by his nonchalant admission of such behavior. As he detailed his story, we could sense conflicting themes of both regretful disappointment and steadfast passion in his words.

He spoke of the struggles he had faced as a young man, fighting for a purpose he had genuinely believed to be noble. He described the bond he had formed with his fellow soldiers and the sacrifices they had made for their country, ending in criminal convictions and time served in British prisons. And yet, despite the hardships, he also spoke of the hope he

had for the future, the success of the Republic of Ireland and its EU-oriented economy in the century following its independence and his pride for his children.

I listened intently as he shared his story. He felt indebted to the Good Friday settlement ending the Troubles and affording him a release from prison decades earlier. In his novel Ulysses, Joyce writes: “history is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake,” referencing the need to forge ahead in the shadow of a troubling past. The man’s past, first-hand participation in violent resistance and his current hope for peace and economic stability reminds me of Joyce’s quintessential commentary about overcoming the sins of history in order to live a fruitful personal life.

As the man’s story indicates, reconciling personal ideologies and convictions often at odds with one another is essential and also immensely difficult.

On the third day, we journeyed to the Guinness Storehouse at St. James Gate, a landmark overshadowing the city in its own right. The building’s sleek glass facade marked quite a large departure from the city of Joyce’s depiction. Nonetheless, the bottled product of the original roasted barley is still carted off into the city for the enjoyment of the many “public-house” patrons like those described in Dubliners. We made our way through the museum, learning about the history of the iconic Irish beverage. The rich, creamy scent complemented the panoramic cityscape bookending the tour on the seventh floor.

As students at Cornell, one of the most beautiful university campuses in America, we were excited to compare Trinity College with our own. The campus boasted an impressive location in the heart of the bustling city, with lush lengths of ivy adorning the campus housing and elegant architecture at every turn.

While I now treasure quoting from Joyce, I was originally attracted by Ireland’s vibrant culture, breathtaking landscapes and oversized presence in American society. As I returned to Washington, I awaited the opportunity to return to a city that has left such an indelible impression with its carefree attitude amidst the backdrop of a sophisticated, solemn history.

As the man's story indicates, reconciling personal ideologies and convictions often at odds with one another is essential

Men’s Lacrosse Beats Brown, 16-9

Te Red clinched a top two seed in the Ivy Tournament with the win

By GRAYSON RUHL Sun Sports Editor

With May lacrosse just around the corner, No. 6 men’s lacrosse traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to take on Brown. Junior attacker CJ Kirst led the offense with six goals, and the defense shut the Bears out in the final 21 minutes of play to cruise to a 16-9 win. The Red’s fourth conference victory is enough to clinch a spot in the Ivy Tournament.

The Red (10-2, 4-1 Ivy) started off fast, getting a goal on its opening possession. Freshman face-off specialist Jack Cascadden won the battle at the x, and junior midfielder Hugh Kelleher cashed in on a bounce shot.

The Bears (5-7, 1-4 Ivy) responded with two goals to take an early lead. Brown’s first came off a forced turnover on the ride — an issue for Cornell in the first half. The team converted just six of its nine clear attempts, far below its usual standard of 91 percent.

The teams traded goals midway through the first quarter. Kirst, who scored zero goals against Army last week, got his first of the day on a top shelf shot to tie it at two. The Bears responded on the following possession, winning the ensuing face-off before Matteo Corsi scored a top shelf goal of his own.

Brown’s lead lasted just over a minute before the Red stormed back with four unanswered goals. The first three came from Kirst, who had a natural

hat trick and four total goals by the end of the first quarter. With just over a minute remaining in the quarter, senior attacker Billy Coyle got a five-hole shot to go off a question mark move, and Cornell quickly had a 6-3 lead.

Needing to cut into the Red’s momentum, the Bears forced another turnover on the ride. With enough time for one possession, Brown transitioned quickly, getting an open look and score with 15 seconds left. Cornell ended the opening quarter leading, 6-4.

Turnovers were an issue for Brown throughout the game, as the Bears committed 14 in the first half. One of these came on the team’s opening possession of the second quarter, setting up the Red’s transition offense. Freshman long stick midfielder Brendan Staub got out in front of the Bears’ defense, and got an open look in the hole, burying the pole goal.

Cornell tacked on two quick goals a minute later. After moving the ball around the box, senior attacker Spencer Wirtheim took a feed pass from senior attacker Michael Long and got a bounce shot to go.

The Bears won the ground ball from the following face-off, but committed a turnover in its defensive end. Kirst took over possession for the Red, and with no Brown defenders picking him up, fired a one-hopper from 15 yards out into the back of the net.

After more than four minutes without scoring, the Bears began to cut into Cornell’s lead, getting a feed pass from x to a cutting Marcus Wertheim,

who got an easy shot to go from just outside the crease. A minute later, after a timeout and a couple of missed shots, Corsi drove down the left side of the box and beat senior goalkeeper Chayse Ierlan to the near 90.

The Red finished the half strong, scoring two to take a five goal lead into the locker room. First Kirst found Long, who went top shelf for his first of the day. A minute later, Coyle took a feed from Wirtheim and scored on a quick stick shot in the hole. The Red led 11-6 at halftime.

Much as it did in the first two quarters, the Red scored in the opening minute of the third. After good ball movement around the box, Long came open on the left side of the hole and scored low to increase the Red’s lead to six.

Refusing to quit, the Brown offense began to heat up in the third quarter. The Bears scored three unanswered, the first coming a minute after Long’s goal. Brown’s Jack Kelly got a nice feed inside to Devon McLane for a quick stick finish from just outside the crease.

After five minutes of scoreless play, the Bears caught the Red late on its defensive rotations, getting an open look to go from 15 yards out. After the first penalty of the game was committed by freshman midfielder Charlie Box, Brown scored a man-up goal. Cornell’s six goal lead had quickly shrunk to three.

Looking to shut down the Brown comeback, the Red was able to score once more in the quarter. With less than a minute left, a blocked Cor-

nell shot attempt was recovered by Kirst. The junior found a cutting Coyle on a feed pass, who got the running shot to go. The Red took a 13-9 lead into the final 15.

With an Ivy bid in its sights, Cornell anchored down on defense, pitching a shutout in the fourth quarter. The Red extended its lead to five with 12 minutes left in the game, as senior midfielder JJ Lombardi took a pass across the box from Kirst, stepped through traffic and went top shelf.

The nail in the coffin came with just under five minutes remaining. Senior attacker Brian Piatelli rotated from behind the net, beat his defender and finished on a bounce shot to extend the Red’s lead to six.

With the Bears pulling its goalie, Kirst completed the sock trick with an empty netter with just over a minute remaining. Cornell ran out the rest of the clock, beating the Bears, 16-9.

For the second week in a row, the Red found a way to win despite losing the face-off battle. Cornell’s defense continued to shine, forcing 10 turnovers among 20 total giveaways by the Bears.

The Red finishes the regular season at home next Saturday, April 29 against No. 20 Princeton. With the Tigers beating Harvard today, the game next weekend will decide the regular season Ivy champion. The game is set to start at noon and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Men’s Lacrosse

Grayson Ruhl can be reached at gruhl@cornellsun.com.

Kirst continues to roll | Junior attacker CJ Kirst scored six goals in the Red’s win over Brown. He leads D1 lacrosse with 55 goals this season.

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR