5-2-2023 entire issue hi res

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Various poetry groups share how they celebrated National Poetry Month.

Ithaca Groups Campaign Against Sexual Violence

By ELIZABETH GARDNER Sun Staff Writer

Editor’s Note: This article contains a discussion of sexual assault. Every 73 seconds, one person in the United States experiences sexual assault. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, sexual assault is more prevalent on college campuses than any other crime.

Across campus and in the city of Ithaca, organizations held events and demonstrations to bring awareness to sexual assault and education about sexual violence during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

On Friday, April 28, the Cornell chapter of Callisto, a non-profit organization that builds technology to combat sexual assault, set up an exhibit of 3,367 red flags on the Arts Quad, representing the 13 percent of students who reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force, threats of physical force or incapacitation since entering Cornell in a 2019 campus survey.

“I looked to my left to see a family touring and a dad with his two daughters looking at the sign alongside me. [They were] in complete horror.”

“[When I realized] that [the flags] were for sexual assault victims, I was shocked,” said Manraj Singh ’26. “I looked to my left to see a family touring and a dad with his two daughters looking at the sign alongside me. [They were] in complete horror.”

Callisto is a service that aims to end serial sexual assault by providing victims the opportunity to enter their perpetrator’s social media accounts into a database confidentially. If another person enters the same social media handle, they are “matched” and connected with a third-party attorney who will explain their legal options moving forward.

Cornell Announces Changes to Housing Selection Process

By AIMÉE EICHER Sun Assistant Managing Editor

Housing and Residential Life announced forthcoming changes to the on-campus housing selection process — including room selection for upperclassmen in the fall, more upperclassmen beds and an option to live in the same room for more than a year — in an email to students today.

Previously, rising upperclassmen could participate in continued occupancy in the spring, allowing them to continue living in the same residence hall. Rising juniors and seniors also had the opportunity to participate in General Room Selection, though they selected rooms after the rising sophomores, providing fewer housing options.

To inform the new changes, HRL collected feedback from students through focus groups and surveys throughout the 2022-2023 academic year. According to HRL’s website, stu-

Meet the Student Trustee Candidates

Voting began on May 1 and will end on May 4

By ALLYSON KATZ Sun Contributor

dents expressed wishing to live on campus, though they said the on-campus housing selection process began too late and did not offer enough options.

“Upper-level students will now be able to make better-informed decisions, with all options available at the same time,” the HRL website stated.

“In addition, with more students taking advantage of on-campus housing, we hope to alleviate some of the strain on the local housing market.”

Starting in the 2023-2024 academic year, the room selection process for rising juniors and seniors will begin in the fall, allowing students a first choice in selecting upperclassmen housing.

According to the email, room selection will take place in September and October, though specific dates will be announced over the summer.

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

Five student candidates for the undergraduate trustee position on the Board of Trustees discussed their platforms and qualifications in a Wednesday, April 26 forum moderated by Sun editor-in-chief Angela Bunay ’24.

Each year, the Office of Assemblies holds an election for a student position on the Board of Trustees, the highest governing board at Cornell. Undergraduate and graduate students are each represented by one seat, held by a student for two years, elected in alternating years. This year, the

undergraduate position is open, which means both the candidates and the electorate will consist entirely of undergraduate students.

The student who wins the position will hold a two-year term running from July 1 of this year to July 30, 2025, where they will participate in committees and hold full voting power alongside the other Trustees. According to the 2023 Student Trustee Election website, Cornell is among the few institutions in the U.S. to allow their students to hold such a powerful position.

The Board of Trustees, headed by President Martha Pollack, serves as the most

influential governing body at Cornell — serving as the executive decision makers on all aspects of the University’s functioning, according to Cornell’s bylaws. The Board of Trustees is made of 64 members that include alumni, students, faculty, Cornell workers, business people, agriculturalists and the eldest descendant of Ezra Cornell — among others. With terms spanning from two years to lifelong appointment, Trustees on the board approve the annual budget and financial plans and make the final call on all major University decisions.

Manraj Singh ’26 See TRUSTEES page 11

John 'Baby J' Mulaney Max Fattal '25 reviews comedian John Mulaney's new special, 'Baby J."

3,367 | Each red flag represents one of 3,367 Cornell students who reported being the victim of sexual violence in a 2019 survey.

Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium

Join Me on My Journey: Walking With Gorillas

6 p.m., LH4 College of Veterinary Medicine

International Graduation Reception

6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., G10 Biotechnology Building

Preparing for Finals

7p.m., Tatkon Center for New Students

Piano Studio Recital: Cornell University Music

7:30 p.m., Barnes Hall

Tomorrow

Asian American Studies Program and Asian and Asian American Center BeComing Lunch Series With Justin Lowe

Noon - 1 p.m., 429 Rockefeller Hall

Dairy Farming in Latin America: A Story of Growth, Sustainability and Food Security

12:25 p.m. - 1:15 p.m., 201 Stocking Hall

Inequality Discussion Group With Jacqueline Ho

12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m., 360 Uris Hall

Machines Like Us With Ron Brachman

4 p.m. - 5 p.m., G01 Bill and Melinda Gates Hall

P. Gabrielle Foreman Book Talk and Reception

4 p.m. - 5 p.m., Hoyt Fuller Room, Africana Studies and Research Center

Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies Programs End of Year Celebration

4:30 p.m., A.D. White House

Ottoman Sultanate Women in English Literary Imagination, 1660-1700

4:30 p.m., 258 Goldwin Smith Hall

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 7 p.m., Willard Straight Theatre

Cornell Drops Vaccine Mandate University removes all COVID-19 vaccination requirements

By GABRIEL MUÑOZ Sun Assistant News Editor

The University will be eliminating all COVID-19 vaccination requirements as of May 20 for current and incoming students, faculty and staff, Provost Mike Kotlikoff wrote in a campus-wide email on Friday, April 28. This step indicates a potential end to Cornell’s COVID-19 policies, which have shaped the lives of students and staff for more than three years.

Cornellians Celebrate National Poetry Month With Campus Events

By ALLYSON KATZ Sun Contributor

Inspired by the success of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, National Poetry Month was founded in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets in order to increase teaching, readership and engagement — 27 years later, Cornell students and faculty are finding their own ways to celebrate.

The Department of Literatures in English hosted its semesterly Zalaznick Reading series this spring, inviting poets such as Ross Gay and Victoria Chang to campus. The Romance Studies department hosted a similar event — Sweet Poetry, a poetry reading dedicated to student poems written in other languages.

Student clubs and organizations also engaged in poetry programming, with writing sessions at Marginalia, an undergraduate poetry organization, and Mango Poetry, as well as cultural events like Asian Diasporas Poetry Coffeehouse.

Mango Poetry is a South Asian poetry collective for undergraduate students across the diaspora, founded by Kareena Dash ’23.

In establishing this organization, Dash hoped to bridge gaps between Asian American Pacific Islander diaspora students who often feel disconnected from their own cultures and who also may not be fluent in their family’s traditional languages.

“I founded Mango Poetry as a space for AAPI students to work on writing and also to promote the involvement of Asian diaspora students in writing and the arts, because that’s not something [that’s] very visible for us,” Dash said.

On April 16, Mango Poetry and the MulMul collective — a multilingual literary collective founded to center the voices of non-Anglophone students who speak Urdu and other native tongues — host-

ed Mushaira, a poetry social.

Mushaira is the traditional Urdu poetic symposium in which poets gather to recite works they wrote, historically in Urdu, and socialize. It has been practiced amongst Urdu speakers across South Asia and for hundreds of years.

At the event, Dash explained how her organization aims to create space and bridge gaps for South Asians at Cornell.

“Sometimes I feel so out of place, and I wish to express myself... and be immersed in arts and culture but I don’t know how,” Dash said. “The spaces that exist in the South Asian countries where we would have gotten that stratification, they don’t exist here, and so we are the ones responsible for starting those.”

Dash added that poetry can be a powerful tool for bridging cultural gaps and expressing one’s emotions.

“[Poetry] is a form of expression, personal expression, and it’s also an art,” Dash said. “And there [are] different levels of balance between the two and between the subjectivity of expression. … That’s why [poetry is] so powerful — it can express ideas that simple, straightforward language or prose cannot.”

Shehryar Qazi ’24, an international student from Pakistan and member of Mulmul Collective explained his struggle with finding literary spaces where he felt seen. Qazi recounted an experience speaking at a Pakistani night earlier this year that drove him to help run the collective alongside founder Pareesay Afzal ’24.

“Last semester there was huge, huge, flooding and absolute rampage, particularly [in the] Southern Provinces [of Pakistan],” Qazi said. “Some of the Pakistani grad students held an open mic night at Green Dragon… [which I think is], mostly, a very white space. The brown people there had to assimilate or be legible through some type of white [relatability].”

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

ak2264@cornell.edu.

“Cornell is aligned with peer universities and employers in lifting this requirement,” the email said. “Analysis by the Cornell COVID-19 modeling team found that mandating vaccination for the fall 2023 semester would not result in a substantial reduction in the spread of infection.”

The email cited high existing vaccination rates on campus, recovery from previous infection and rapidly evolving variants as further justification for eliminating the vaccination requirement. Recently, Columbia University, Princeton University and Dartmouth College announced they were waiving their COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

The announcement comes after a series of efforts from the University to ease COVID19 restrictions as cases have decreased. The safety protocols were relaxed already for the 2022-2023 academic year, eliminating some PCR test locations on campus and the masking requirement for students.

Data from the CDC indicate that Tompkins County is a low risk area for COVID-19 infections, with 16 cases reported the week of April 26. The CDC still recommends vaccinations to prevent future infections.

Antigen tests and masks will still be available for students, faculty and staff. The University still encourages vaccination and personal action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus.

“We urge all students and employees to follow CDC guidelines and stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccination,” the email said. “Vaccination was an important element of our strategy to keep our campuses safe during the height of the pandemic and continues to provide protection against severe disease.”

BOOM Showcase Returns to Dufeld

By CHRISTOPHER WALKER Sun Contributor

Following a three-year, COVID-19-induced hiatus, Bits On Our Mind — an annual showcase of technological projects created by Cornell students — returned to Duffield Hall on April 27 for its 25th anniversary, with students exhibiting projects such as multiplayer games, an algorithm that quantifies xenophobia and a map of New York City’s trees made using remote sensing technology.

The showcase provides project teams with the opportunity to receive public feedback, network with industry professionals and win monetary awards and trophies distributed by representatives from BOOM’s sponsor companies and faculty at the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.

This year’s BOOM attendees included Cornell students and faculty, local Ithaca residents and Code Red Robotics, a high school robotics club local to Ithaca. People of all ages were invited to attend the event — though Danica Rickards, the Cornell Bowers CIS program coordinator and BOOM committee chair, emphasized the importance of youth engagement with science, technology, engineering and math.

“Cornell Bowers CIS wants to help young people from all backgrounds learn about opportunities in tech, so that they will have the chance to pursue satisfying and much-needed careers in the STEM fields, if they so choose,” Rickards said.

The presented projects run the gamut of technological capabilities. Some students presented video games designed for players’ enjoyment — such

as Cosmic Swing, Eudaemon and No Screws Attached. Other projects were physical products that BOOM attendees could interact with — like Spectrumsheet, which allows its users to compose their own music using paint markers that correspond to music notes, and the Bookkeeper, an inconspicuous device disguised as a stack of books, in which users can store distracting devices.

“The Bookkeeper… looks like an ordinary stack of books, but the top book is real and the rest are fake,” said Bookkeeper creator Joshua Blair grad. “When you pull off the top book, the platform rises up, giving you LEDs, and the bottom book is actually a secret compartment [that stores your distracting devices]. So basically this keeps track of how long you’ve been reading and then once you hit [your reading goal time] you can put the book back… pop it open [and] grab your [distractions].”

Many BOOM presenters expressed the desire to remedy problems faced by the Cornell community — such as Rica Craig ’23, the creator of Ithaca Hunt. Designed with first-year

students as the target users, Ithaca Hunt is an app that seeks to help new Cornell students acclimate to Ithaca by connecting them to other students and local businesses and events.

“The project was for Information Science 3450: Human-Computer Interaction Design, where we had to design a solution surrounding a user problem we identified earlier in the semester,” Craig said. “So, we decided that the target audience will be first-year students who want to explore outside of campus but didn’t know how to do so.”

Similarly, the team behind Resell, an app that allows students to list and sell used items, hopes to provide solutions to on-campus sustainability. The app helps users reuse existing goods and alleviate the waste that comes with discarding clothing during move-out.

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

Christopher Walker can be reached at ccw88@cornell.edu. Tech talent | At BOOM, students displayed their technology projects and discussed them with Cornellians and visitors.

Idenity in verse | Cornell students and faculty explored and embraced their identities through poetry during National Poetry Month in April.

ISABELLE JUNG / SUN GRAPHIC DESIGNER

“We urge all students and employees to follow CDC guidelines and stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccination.”

Provost

Mike Kotlikoff

Gabriel Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@cornellsun.com.

“[Poetry] is a form of expression, personal expression, and it’s also an art.”

Kareena

Dash ’23

Ithaca Carshare to Pause Operations on May 19

By JONATHAN MONG Sun News Editor

Ithaca Carshare, a nonprofit organization that provides 30 cars for 24/7 use to its 1,500 subscribers, announced today in a press release that it will cease all operations from May 19 until at least June 30 due to issues acquiring insurance to replace its previous underwriters, who left the market in March.

New York state law requires risk retention groups to be domiciled in the state in order to provide auto insurance.

“A RRG that is not char-

tered and not licensed as an insurer in New York does not constitute an ‘authorized insurer’ under the Insurance Law,” the state’s Department of Financial Services website said.

According to the press release, no other insurance company in New York is willing to underwrite Ithaca Carshare.

“There is one insurance company, a [risk retention group] domiciled in Vermont, who is willing to write auto insurance for Ithaca Carshare, but they are prohibited by NYS insurance regulators,” the press release said. “No other private or commercial

insurance company is willing to write our auto insurance, despite a 15-year history with excellent loss runs.”

Ithaca’s representatives in Albany, State Sen. Lea Webb and Assembly member Anna Kelles have introduced the identical Senate Bill 5959 and Assembly Bill 5718 to allow Ithaca Carshare to continue operations, but the bills are currently in committee and have not been voted upon. The current legislative session ends on June 8.

BING BONG IT’S SUN TIME

Red light | The Ithaca Carshare’s inability to obtain an insurance policy for its vehicles will cause it to pause all operations beginning on May 19.

JULIA NAGEL / SUN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

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

Local Orgs Observe Nat’l Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Advocacy Center hosts protest event

Continued from page 1

Considering reports of sexual assault and drugging incidents last semester, some students expressed the need to bring attention to the issue of sexual violence on Cornell’s campus.

“It is more important than ever to raise awareness for sexual assault because [of how] prevalent [it is] on campus,” said Caroline Kelman ’25.

The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County hosted an event called “Take Back the Night” on Friday, March 28, which included three marches and a rally at Ithaca Commons to protest sexual violence and domestic abuse.

“Take Back the Night” has been held annually in Ithaca and occurs in solidarity with other “Take Back the Night” events around the world.

At the rally, attendees has the opportunity to publicly share their experiences with sexual assault and how it has impacted their lives.

“You have the right to be safe,” read a poster from the Advocacy Center at the event, expressing the overall supportive environment that organizers attempted to create for the community.

Additionally, an array of Cornell organizations held events to advocate against sexual assault.

Sorority Alpha Chi Omega held “Denim Day” on Wednesday, April 26, where members wore denim in solidarity with victims whose stories were not believed. They also held a bake sale to raise money to donate to the Advocacy Center.

“Denim Day started with a court case in Italy in the early 90s,” Kelman said. “In this case, a girl came to the court stating that she was raped, but the court decid-

ed that it was not rape because she was wearing tight jeans and so she would have had to help the rapist take off the jeans. They said that in that case, it would have been consensual.”

People in Italy began protesting this decision in the 90s by wearing jeans outside the Italian Supreme Court. These protests received national media attention, and jump-started the international tradition of wearing jeans on “Denim Day” to symbolize the protest against sexual assault and victim blaming.

There are also resources available at Cornell Health that work to prevent sexual violence and support those who have experienced it. The Sexual Harassment and Assault — Response and Education office offers information on Cornell’s support services, reporting options, education and advocacy.

“At Cornell Health, we have a dedicated office that works to develop evidence-based and theory-informed strategies to prevent sexual violence in our community,” wrote Laura Weiss, victim advocate and program director of the SHARE Office, in an email to The Sun.

Members of the Cornell Community may consult with the Victim Advocate by calling 607-255-1212, and with Cornell Health by calling 607-255-5155.

Employees may call the Faculty Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) at 607-255-2673. An Ithacabased Crisisline is available at 607-272-1616. The Tompkins County-based Advocacy Center is available at 607-277-5000. For additional resources, visit health. cornell.edu/services/victim-advocacy.

Elizabeth Gardner can be reached at egardner@cornellsun.com.

John Mulaney is Funny, Still

FATTAL ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR

I can’t say I often find myself fully invested in celebrity gossip, and I certainly can’t say I enjoy it, but for whatever reason the tragicomic exploits of John Mulaney over the past three or so years have completely gripped my consciousness to an inappropriate extent. Perhaps it was a pandemic environment that minimized my exposure to the high school drama that had previously satiated my need for gossip, or perhaps it was the fact that I really liked John Mulaney, found him funny, and (owing to his role as a stand-up comedian) felt more personal affinity for him than I did any actor or director mired in similar controversy. For those who haven’t been following, Mulaney checked himself into rehab right in the middle of the pandemic, announced he was leaving his wife (relevant because of his comedic persona as a self-styled “wife guy”) and got into a relationship with Olivia Munn with whom he now has a son. Only the first detail is relevant to his latest special, “Baby J,” which was released on Netflix last week, but all of them feel kind of important for a comedian whose decade of earned goodwill had been completely recontextualized before he set foot on the Boston stage where the special was performed.

“Baby J” is a special of the moment, more specifically John Mulaney’s moment. In it, he meticulously and non-sequentially details his trials of addiction, his experience with rehab and his more recent recovery process. It’s easy to read the special in the same lineage of the serious comedy specials that have begun to populate streaming over the past couple of years, including Jerrod Carmichael’s “Rothanial” (where the comedian discussing coming out as gay) and Bo Burnam’s “Inside” (involving a unique and powerful depiction of its auteur’s depres-

sion). That said, “Baby J” may just be the most effective and most interesting of these specials yet, containing some of Mulaney’s funniest moments without sacrificing too much of the topic’s brutal honesty.

John Mulaney is, to a significant extent, just innately funny. That is to say that his comedic effectiveness relies less so on the specific jokes and punchlines (which more-than-occasionally don’t even land) and more on the process of storytelling. This process, so persona-based, risks collapsing in on itself when the stories reflect an individual who is so undeniably unlikeable. Forget the widespread assumption that he’s cheated on his wife, Mulaney provides the ammunition in just this special to indict him in the popular consciousness. Yet, despite such a visceral unpleasantness that diverges from the likable (if meek, or occasionally obnoxious) version of himself from previous specials, Mulaney still manages to keep the audience on his side.

Addiction is terrifying, and Mulaney doesn’t shy away from speaking to his darkest moments, but he manages to extract so much comedy out of some of the most objectively painful moments that the special almost provokes an odd feeling. On the one hand, it’s hard not to break out into hysterical laughter: The material is wonderful. On the other, in the overwhelming comedy there feels lost a kernel of pathos, not gone but clearly disguised. In moments, Mulaney opts for the legitimate gut punch, but for the most part, he offers belly aches in a different manner. Compared to some of those aforementioned specials which feel almost like an on-stage therapy session, one almost gets the sense that Mulaney’s coping mechanism is altogether different, and that his comedic impulses override the open-bearing on a few occasions.

The special takes some of its material

from some previously released Mulaney content, including an interview with Seth Meyers released over a year ago now. Though the stories are the same, this is clearly a set that has been more thoroughly workshopped, and, seemingly, one that feels more viable as a night-in night-out performance. Regardless, the special still expresses an intense theme of desperation, giving an honest and occasionally brutal voice that will likely resonate with countless people, including broader audiences than just those who have dealt with addiction.

In the end, Mulaney indirectly touches on all those things we might have heard about the now slightly infamous comedian. Speaking to the media cycle in terms of his own participation while suffering from addiction, Mulaney quotes to the audience an extended GQ interview he did the week before he went to rehab (and which he has no memory of whatsoever). Read with very little interjection or commentary from Mulaney, the interview (though funny) is equal parts painful and viscerally gross

knowing the context, and reading it directly on the page. With little effort, Mulaney is able to thoroughly indict a news media that’s feasted on his private tribulations just as it farmed content while they were occurring.

All told, “Baby J” is something completely different from Mulaney, but not too different all things considered. His private life may never really be private again, and his specials might increasingly involve the personal retelling of events we’ve all now experienced through the tabloids, but his storytelling skill remains as sharp as ever. The line between tragedy and comedy is blurred (erring more towards comedy than the average “tragicomic” special) and honesty turns out to be a great recipe not just for getting the audience on your side, but also for producing a pretty damn funny special.

Te Concert Experience and Anticipation

AYESHA CHARI SUN ARTS COLUMNIST

This summer, I am seeing Beyonce live for the first time.

Her upcoming Renaissance World Tour is, by far, the biggest concert I have ever been to and definitely the most expensive. RENAISSANCE was my most played album of last year, immediately becoming my favorite Beyonce album and one of my favorite albums of all time. Beyonce is known for her fantastic showmanship, and I knew that she would outdo herself for her latest tour.

I admit, I did not do any of the work to acquire the Renaissance tickets. In fact, it was my friend who had the verified presale and that sat at the computer, pressing the exact buttons at the right time (I had class). He wanted a good seat. Beforehand, he asked me for a price of which I would opt out. I told him a high bound, hoping that, in the case I regretted my decision, I could at least sell them for a profit. I was right, as the tickets in my section are now worth 2 to 3 times what I paid for.

So here is my question: How much should one prepare for a concert?

The answer to this question is, of course, it depends. It depends on how you gauge your utility from anticipation, AKA how you can most enjoy not only your time in the concert, but the time beforehand.

“Congratulations, let the anticipation begin” Ticketmaster says once your tickets have been bought. And anticipation is important. Behavioral economists have studied the happiness one gets from waiting for a fun event such as a concert, and theorize that it is

higher for experiences than for goods. For Beyonce fans that are lucky enough to get tickets, it isn’t just the concert that makes them happy, it’s the announcement of the tickets, the rush after purchasing and the days and even months leading up to the event.

In my experience, people tend to fall into one of two camps when greatly anticipating a concert. Type A vow not to be spoiled beforehand and avoid the internet like the plague. To them, the element of surprise maximizes the utility of anticipation, and they enjoy the mystique around the set list. Maybe they view a concert like a film in a familiar cinematic universe, where they are comfortable with the characters and setting but don’t want the intricacies of the plot revealed.

Type B are exactly the opposite: They Google the setlist beforehand and engage in conversation with others about what they are most excited about. I know that I fall into this camp. Here’s my reasoning: For a concert as expensive and as hyped up as Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE tour, I would consider my experience less of a chronological film and more of a small vacation. And it is wise to prepare for a vacation so you can get the most out of it.

Another observation: Type A people tend to be very immersed in the world around an artist. I definitely like Beyonce’s music and appreciate her as an artist, but I don’t think I’ve earned the label of a superfan. In fact, while there are a lot of artists that I love, I wouldn’t really consider myself a superfan of any of them. Therefore, I don’t know every single one of their songs. This is important because it is much more fun to sing and dance to a song you know than one you don’t.

I’m sure some of us have seen an artist live where the audience only knows one or two of the songs played (most of these are opening acts). The crowd enjoys themselves more on those songs. Or forget live music: At parties, I always choose to take breaks when songs I don’t know come on. Now, for an audience as devoted as Beyonce’s, who are literally traveling trans-Atlantic to see her, I feel something akin to an obligation to myself to do my research and maximize my own enjoyment.

Notably, it seems as if Beyonce is keeping hush about her tour during rehearsals, so I will have to wait and see what’s in store for my tour date. But in general, I would recommend fully leaning in into the excitement of whatever upcoming event you have this summer, even if it feels silly. Art and culture is not only supposed to be enjoyed in the moment; t’s supposed to be talked about and looked forward to. And in a time of school stress, I know I have my anticipation of great memories as a tool to keep me going.

Ayesha Chari is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at asc294@cornell.edu. A Column of One’s Own runs alternate weeks.

Max Fattal is a sophomore in the School of Industrial Labor Relations. They can be reached at mfattal@cornellsun.com.

MAX

SARA NAOMI LEWKOWICZ / THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Isabelle Pappas Like it Iz

Te Best Iz Yet To Come

For my graduation column, I don’t want to write about all the things I could have done differently at Cornell — all the invitations I should have accepted, all the classes I could have taken if I had stayed another year. Instead, I want to cherish the three years I had at Cornell exactly as they were — in all their inconsistency and imperfectability. As a student who entered Cornell as a freshman during the COVID-19 pandemic and will be graduating this May, I can say that approximately half of my time at Cornell occurred under pandemic restrictions. Unlike some students in my original class of 2024, I found myself ready to leave just as Cornell was beginning to return to normal. After a quick tally of credits, I realized that I could, in fact, graduate in three years. So the decision was made to graduate a year early, and I have not regretted it since.

When I tell people I plan to graduate early, I am met with raised eyebrows and wide-gaping mouths. Most are completely surprised at the notion that I would not want to spend as long as humanly possible at an institution as great as Cornell. They recall stories of their own college experiences before me, claiming those to be “the best four years of their lives.” They feel sorry for me that I won’t get to experience the “senior year” that I deserve. I rush to their aid to explain my rationale for graduating early, which many students have

people around us. We watch people crack and thrive under pressure and hear about each others’ slip-ups and successes. As an English major, I suppose I am naturally interested in reading and listening to stories that are not my own. If Cornell has taught me one thing, it’s that people love

done before me for various personal and financial reasons. I tell them that college can’t possibly be the “best four years of my life.” I tell them that I want more than to pull all-nighters and to drown myself in energy drinks and alcohol on the weekends.

While, at times, I find both of these things thrilling (in moderation), I think that there’s something about Cornell campus culture that makes many students take one or both of these to the extreme. These sorts of self-destructive behaviors are learned, and Cornellians are trained to be good learners. We’re not only good learners but also good listeners and thinkers too. We learn from lectures and, even more, from the conversations that we have with each other.

During my time here on the hill, I realized there is so much to learn from the

telling their stories and desperately want to feel heard. Offering others a genuine ear takes very little effort on the part of the listener and means the whole world to the speaker. Anyone who knows me knows that I talk a lot, but I hope to graduate listening more and talking (a bit) less.

My time volunteering at Cayuga Medical Center in the Mental Health Unit has allowed me to do just this, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to listen to so many stories. What started out as a pre-med volunteer opportunity evolved into something much greater.

As a volunteer, my job was to socialize with the patients, and I became genuinely interested in all that they had to share. My time volunteering in town made me realize that there is so much more to my college experience than directly relates to what takes place on the hill. At times, Cornell can feel all-encompassing and somewhat suffocating, but it’s important to remember that we all have lives off campus that are just as unique and complex as those on campus.

I hope to take the stories of both locals and non-locals, Ithacans and Cornellians alike, on my journey to wherever I go next. I plan to stay in touch with professors and peers who have made my time here more than just bearable. I don’t really think my college experience will end when I graduate. I suppose that’s why I’m not too bothered by my decision to shorten my stay.

I like to think of the real college experience as one where we learn, think and grow into young adulthood. I don’t think that I will stop doing these things when I leave.

I hope to look onto the rest of my life with ease and satisfaction with how the cards played out. Cornell is part of my story now, and I know The Best Iz Yet to Come.

I tell them that college cant possibly be "the best four years of my life."

I hope to take the stories of both locals and non-locals, Ithacans and Cornellians alike, on my journey to wherever I go next.

Roei Dery Te Dery Bar

The other day, I spoke with a friend who asked about how I liked my time at Cornell. To that I said, “I got lucky.” I got lucky starting a fantasy football league with two podmates on the fourth floor of Kay Hall. I got lucky randomly sitting next to a student at Appel, who later that night introduced me to a fellow physics major. Tey are all now my closest friends. I got lucky that home was a two hour bus ride away, and I could go see family and reset whenever I needed. I got lucky that I had a support system around me that talked me out of stupid decisions like pulling unnecessary all-nighters, and talked me into stupider ones like bat hunting in McGraw Hall.

It was not too long ago that I was sitting alone in the silence of my room on North Campus after my parents had dropped me off for orientation week. My door was cracked open in the hope that a friendly face would come walking in, but none did. At that moment, I could not conceive the enriching experience that my four years on the Hill would turn out to be. I wouldn’t trade in my four years here at Cornell for anything.

Tank you, Paris, for your warm welcome to Cornell that summer night in 2019 when I received the “Welcome to Opinion!” email. I will always cherish the opportunity to write my first column, Take Your

One Last Lick

Headphones Off, before even taking my first college course. And the moment at the beginning of French class where my professor shouted out Stop Glorifying Busy. I even cherish that time I wrote my first article after getting sent home for COVID, sluggishly typing every letter with my index finger as I layed sideways in bed.

As the years have gone by, for better or worse, I started to wear headphones a little more, and my schedule has only gotten busier. Aside from winning a Pets of Becker competition by submitting pictures of my friends and me, I never really did feel the dorm pride either. What I value most from reading Te Dery Bar over the years, however, is that I can unlock memories of anecdotes that documented each chapter at Cornell. I do not know what the right graduation column looks like, but in this last lick at Te Dery Bar before it all melts away, I only hope to be able to unlock a memory or two when reading this down the road.

I did not know it as an incoming freshman, but Te Cornell Daily Sun, and by extension Te Dery Bar, was the only club I would join. I do not necessarily regret this — it meant that the (albeit limited) amount of time outside of physics was time without structure. I gained two main skills: Te first is spontaneity, a trait I grew into over my time on the Hill and will embrace for the rest of my life. Te other is Mario Kart.

I believe that my Cornell experience lacking diversity in activities is not an anomaly. A Cornell education, if done to its fullest, is highly rigorous and offers so many leads to take. I was soon faced with defining what are and are not valuable investments of my short time here. Unfortunately, for much of my time, a problem set was more important to me than that orientation week party, and eventually more important than joining clubs, and not too long after that, more important than hobbies, too.

Once I’ve fallen down this slippery slope of skewed priorities, I find it hard to change. Long nights carried into weekends, ensuing prelim seasons, then finals weeks and eventually, semesters — now I find myself weeks from graduation still having a problem set to finish tonight. I’ve never been much of a hobbyist, but I’ve learned that Cornell takes any priorities you may have and exacerbates them to the maximum. I hope to reintroduce hobbies back in my life as I leave the Hill, and I encourage any young Cornellians to think critically about priorities — and divvy up four years’ worth of time here accordingly.

Tank you, Morrill Hall, for being my study spot and second home on campus for four years. My first memory was stumbling into the room closest to the Southern entrance and FaceTiming my mom in despair after my first ever prelim. I’ll miss the little walks from Morrill to Libe Cafe for lunch, and hearing the Chimes on my way back, hands full with a PB&J sandwich, cheese stick and chocolate milk.

Morrill Hall sheltered me during the November 2021 bomb threat. It spectated hours of catch on the Quad and falling asleep during an all nighter only to be woken up by the janitor. Morrill bore witness to other successful all nighters that blended into West campus breakfasts. It watched as I stumbled in, exhausted and sunburnt after my first Slope Day. Indoor cricket games. Pasta night. Falling asleep after movie night and getting kicked out by another janitor. Writing my last column. It will certainly be my first stop whenever I come back to visit.

As for myself, Cornell has presented me with many challenges — both academic and personal — and I am richer for it. In four years, I have grown remarkably in my ability to perceive, do thoughtfully and, more importantly, do spontaneously. I am going to miss the people the most, but I am ready to graduate. I think any more time spent here would just have me burrowing further down the same rabbit holes I have nestled myself into. I can look at my time on the Hill in the eye and give it a confident smile. Maybe even take it out to dinner. But then again, I do have that problem set due tonight. . .

Te Great Regional Delicacies of Upstate New York

Maximalism. Te Garbage Plate: the pride of Rochester, so much so that it’s got a baseball team named after it. Take everything you get at a July 4th lakeside barbecue — burgers, hot dogs, home fries, macaroni salad, baked beans and a healthy helping of ketchup and mustard — throw it all together and top it with onions.

Daniel Bernstein

Feel the Bern

Daniel Bernstein (he/him) is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at dgb222@cornell.edu. Feel the Bern runs alternate Tursdays this semester.

Minimalism, maximalism, perfectionism — what power can an idea, or a concept, hold over a piece of artwork? I’d like to draw a geographical triangle to represent these concepts, or schools of thought: from the Southern Tier in Binghamton, to the top of the Finger Lakes in Rochester, connected by a corner in the jewel of Western New York, Buffalo.

Minimalism. Te Spiedies Sub, originating in Binghamton, is simple. Marinated chicken on a perfectly toasted fresh Italian roll. But it’s the “best sandwich you’ve never heard of,” according to Bon Appétit, and according to those who grew up on it.

Perfectionism. Buffalo Wings. Te crisp and crunch. Te dominant heat and tender meat. Each wing must be carefully crafted in a laboratory of cuisine — the spice, flavor and texture are all calculated decisions. Buffalo Wings are certainly the most widespread of Upstate foods, but they never forget where they come from.

Upstate New York is known for its beauty. I contend that the most prized spectacles are not the deep rushing gorges or the long and slender lakes; its greatest cultural successes are not the poets nor its history (although I acknowledge the natural wonders and historical significance of the region). But rather, these regional delicacies stand on a podium before the land that we as Cornellians call home. Tey are perhaps the finest pieces of art Upstate has to offer.

I’d be remiss to not mention the countless other delicacies that Upstate New York produces. Maybe the most notable I’ve left off of my Big Tree is Chicken Riggies, the Utica based pasta dish. Tere’s also Tousand Island Dressing from the Tousand Islands region, Beef on Weck from Buffalo or the inaptly named Michigan Hot Dogs, which originated near Plattsburgh.

But the Spiedies Sub, Te Garbage Plate

and Buffalo Wings are of particular interest, I believe. For one reason, in addition to being incredibly popular at home, they are relevant to Cornell: Binghamton is especially close to Ithaca, Cornell has a sizable student population from Rochester and Buffalo Wings are massively popular wherever you go. For another, I think each food represents important qualities of what makes Upstate so great.

“[Te Spiedes Sub] has perfection in its simplicity,” says Quintin Pezzino ‘24,

Pezzino said. “I’ll defend the Spiedie to my dying breath.”

Te Garbage Plate, meanwhile, reaches its conclusion in an entirely different fashion. A hodgepodge pot-pourri mishmash collection of flavors, fixings and feelings, if the Spiedie is simple, the Garbage Plate is all over the place. But it’s bigger than its 2000+ calories and the bliss of drunk food. “It represents our camaraderie, our hard working spirit, the friendships, the late nights, our comfort and pride,” says Jack Callard ‘22, originally from Fairport, New York — just 15 minutes from Nick Tahou Hots, where the Garbage Plate was founded.

“It represents so much more to Rochester than just the glistening pile of toppings,” Callard said. “It’s our home.”

a native of Greene, New York, a suburb of Binghamton. When I first heard of the sandwich, I didn’t believe it. It’s basically chicken, marinated in Italian dressing, on a roll — that’s it. “Real quality spiedies stand alone on the sandwich,” Pezzino told me. “If you top the sub with condiments, you’re just wrong.”

I thought it was crazy — but that’s the beauty of this sandwich. It’s not overly complex. Tere are no fancy toppings or sauces: it’s simple, affordable and delicious. It does its job and it does its job right. “It’s the best kept secret of New York’s Southern Tier,”

I think the reason behind the adoration of the Garbage Plate is that it symbolizes a sense of cohesion for Rochester: You can throw everything and everyone in that city together, and regardless of how it looks to an outsider, they come out as one. “Tey’re special at home because they’re just so good,” said Nate Lamm ‘22, a Buffalo native. “When I’m back in town I make it a point to get some, because very few places outside of Western New York can do them justice.”Lamm mentioned a “really deep local talent pool” as part of what makes the wings in Buffalo so great. You’ve got Anchor Bar and Duff’s, two restaurants who both claim to be inventor of the Buffalo.

Still, great wings are found all over. While other delicacies like Spiedies and Garbage Plates remain relatively local, Buffalo Wings demonstrates the gastronomic influence and potential of Upstate New York.

Roei Dery is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at rd462@cornell.edu. Tis is the final installment of his column Te Dery Bar.

These regional delicacies stand on a podium that we as Cornellians call home

What I value most from reading The Dery Bar over the years, however, is that I can unlock memories of anecdotes that documented each chapter at Cornell.

Tunnel 1

SLOW HAND

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)

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Tunnel 2

Tunnel 3

Student Trustee Candidates Share Opinions at Debate

TRUSTEES

Continued from page 1

The year’s eligible candidates are Andrew Juan ’25, Bahram Mehretu ’26, Audrey Pinard ’25, Veronica Lewis ’25 and J.P. Swenson ’25. A sixth candidate, Heily Gonzalez ’26, dropped out of the race this week.

According to the 2023 election website, candidates must be a fulltime undergraduate student registered in good standing throughout their two-year term.

Among other requirements, candidates must also petition for at least 150 undergraduate signatures and attend the candidate forum. At the forum, candidates were asked seven questions about experience, relations with other trustees and the University, constituent needs and priorities for their term.

Andrew Juan

Juan is a sophomore in the Brooks School of Public Policy who is running on a platform of improving health, access and spirit. He described his vision for how the Cornell community can improve access to healthcare.

“Ever since the pandemic, our generation as a whole has lost a sense of belonging because we’ve all been separated for so long,” Juan said. “Now that we’re all back together, we need to work to [foster] social connection. We need to bring back that sense of belonging. We need to make sure that every student at Cornell feels welcome and feels like they belong at Cornell.”

Juan specifically mentioned that negative perceptions of Cornell Health discourage students from seeking out assistance. He believes community engagement is the way forward.

“The Board of Trustees needs to ensure that we increase funding towards building social communities at Cornell through clubs, activities [and] athletics,” Juan said.

In order to do this, Juan said he would draw on his previous experience in administrative bodies. Juan is currently an undergraduate representative on the University Assembly and a chair of the U.A. Campus Welfare Committee.

“I will be doing nothing more than just continuing the work that I already do just on a larger scale with the Board of Trustees,” Juan said, “ensuring that I can balance what our institutional focuses are with the focuses and needs of the student population.”

Bahram Mehretu

Mehretu is a first-year student in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations who hopes to address housing, food and financial insecurity at Cornell. He emphasized that ensuring basic needs are his top priority — and that he would be firm in demanding them.

“I believe that one of the largest issues that we face on campus is basic needs and insecurities,” Mehretu said. “These basic needs are somewhat hidden from the larger Cornell population, but these are insecurities that we see on a daily basis. We know that students aren’t on the meal plans, we know that students are struggling to find housing in their junior and senior year [and] we know that students are struggling with their finances. This is because of a lack of centralization of resources, as well as a lack of resources.”

Mehretu said that he believes that the Board of Trustees should

advocate for a central basic needs center to boost access.

“Let’s house a financial aid office that can provide other options besides high interest loans. Let’s provide housing offices that can provide you aid to find a property that isn’t predatory,” Mehretu said. “Let’s focus on creating food depots where students can come and take food privately, without having shame.”

Mehretru also emphasized that he will advocate for student needs on other important issues like Title IX reform and mental health.

“I would look to keep [relations with the Administration] cordial and respectful, and at the same time

be firm on very important issues,” Mehretu said. “When it comes to [mental health, basic needs and Title IX reform], amicability is not going to be my first intention. I will be going in there with respect and cordiality, but I will not be looking to give [the] Administration leeway or give administrators grace in some of these situations, because they are too important.”

Mehretu also emphasized a desire to bolster mental health services. In order to achieve his goals, Mehretu said he would draw on previous leadership and advocacy positions in social justice organizations. He noted that these positions taught him to speak up and to

compromise.

“Before I came to Cornell University, I was the executive director of a social justice organization. Within this position, I was meeting with politicians. I was meeting with the city council and the mayor. I was meeting with the state senate and state representatives,” Mehretu said. “In these interactions, I’ve learned the skills of when to recognize to compromise and how much to compromise.”

Audrey Pinard Pinard, a sophomore in the College of Engineering, wants to make sure students’ voices are heard in the decision making process, and is advocating for improved sustain-

ability efforts, equal opportunities and simplified misconduct reporting services. Pinard explained how she believes Cornell’s mental health system is the largest challenge facing the University.

‘I definitely think we have to address the mental health crisis on campus,” Pinard said. “With the increasing academic pressure and stress levels, students are experiencing higher rates of anxiety, depression and also other mental health challenges.”

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

Allyson Katz can be reached at ak2264@cornell.edu.

Men’s Lacrosse

Men’s Lacrosse Clinches Ivy Title

Te Red defeated Princeton in overtime to win its 31st Ivy Title

By GRAYSON RUHL

Sun Sports Editor

Trailing No. 20 Princeton by one with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the game, No. 6 men’s lacrosse was at risk of having the Ivy Title slip through its fingers. With a raucous Schoellkopf crowd cheering the team on, the Red came out of a timeout, needing a goal to send the game to overtime.

It was Senior Day for Cornell, and fittingly, it was a senior who catapulted the Red to its second consecutive and 31st overall Ivy title. Senior midfielder Aiden Blake scored on the Red’s ensuing possession and, in the sudden death overtime period, went top shelf to secure the victory, 14-13.

“We prepare for these moments all year,” Blake said. “It can really be anyone at any moment, it just happened to be me both times. But we trust anyone and we trust our teammates to make a play.”

The Red (11-2, 5-1 Ivy) struck first in the opening quarter, as senior attacker Michael Long set up a top shelf goal from junior midfielder Ryan Sheehan. Four-and-a-half minutes later, it was Long cashing in, beating his defender with a question mark move before firing a shot into the bottom-left corner.

Cornell grew the lead to four in the middle of the quarter. Senior attacker Billy Coyle contributed to both points, assisting on a goal from junior midfielder Hugh Kelleher before scoring himself off a feed from junior attacker CJ Kirst.

The Red’s defense was dominant in the opening quarter. Senior goalkeeper Chayse Ierlan saved seven of eight shots on goal, with the lone Princeton (6-6, 4-2 Ivy) score coming with a minute-and-a-half left in the period. Senior defenseman Gavin Adler had himself a day in his last regular season game, finishing with three caused turnovers and six ground balls.

Schoellkopf faithful in an uproar.

The Red’s high was short-lived, however, as the Tigers roared back into the game. Princeton capitalized on eight Cornell turnovers in the second quarter, scoring six of the final seven goals to close out the half.

The lone Cornell goal within the Tigers’ run came from Kirst, who was able to lose his defender behind the net before wrapping around and scoring. After holding a comfortable lead, the Red went into the locker room tied, 7-7.

The second half started as a defensive battle, as both teams fought to break the tie. After nearly nine minutes of scoreless play, the Red took the lead back, as Kelleher converted on Cornell’s sixth shot of the possession.

away early in the fourth, and the Tigers responded with three unanswered goals. The third came with just under eight minutes left in the quarter and gave Princeton its first lead of the game.

Needing a goal to draw even, the Red’s offense struck back on the following possession. Starting at the top of the box, Kelleher rotated around to the right side and fired a low liner into the back of the net.

After four minutes of scoreless play, the Tigers got the lead back. With less than three minutes of play remaining in regulation, Cornell trailed and was in danger of losing the Ivy title.

“We know we got one of the best in the country, if not the best in the country [in Adler],” said head coach Connor Buczek ’15. “We know when the stakes are highest, we can count on 77 and he had a heck of a game and paced us to that win.”

The Red continued to grow the lead early in the second quarter, scoring two goals in a 15-second span. First Sheehan notched his second of the day, finding space in the middle of the box and firing a low liner.

Cornell won the ensuing faceoff, and Coyle set up junior long stick midfielder Walker Wallace for a long pole goal. Wallace’s goal put the Red up by six and had the

The Red won the ensuing faceoff, looking to build its lead further. After moving the ball around the box, Kirst used a stick fake to create space before zipping a shot past the Princeton goalkeeper.

After the extended period without scoring, it was a back-and-forth end to the quarter. A low angle score from senior midfielder Spencer Wirtheim was bracketed by two Princeton goals. Cornell took a 10-9 lead into the final 15.

The Red won the opening face-off of the fourth quarter, but pressure from the Tigers’ defense threatened to force a turnover. With the ball about to roll out of bounds, Kirst made a highlight reel play, throwing his stick out to save the possession, wrapping around the back of the net and scoring.

Cornell was unable to put Princeton

Nevertheless, with its back against the wall, the Red found a way to prevail. Blake scored the final two goals of the game, and Cornell topped Princeton, 14-13.

“Especially in this league, nothing comes easy,” Buczek said. “Every day is big… credit to these senior leaders, they’ve done an outstanding job sending that sense of urgency and making sure every day is a big day. So when the moments are biggest, we’ve been there.”

Today’s game wraps up the regular season for the Red. Cornell enters the Ivy Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 4 Yale on Friday, May 5 in New York City. With its loss today, Princeton enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 2 Penn.

The Red’s game is set to start at 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

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

Blake comes in clutch | Senior midfielder Aiden Blake scored the winning goal in overtime, defeating Princeton and securing the Ivy crown.

AARON SNYDER / SUN STAFF WRITER

“It can really be anyone at any moment, it just happened to be me both times. But we trust anyone and we trust our teammates to make a play.”

Aiden Blake ’23