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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 143, No. 3 Arts & Culture

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 n ITHACA, NEW YORK Sports News

Dolly Parton, Country Queen

Student Assembly

The Arts Department celebrates Dolly Parton’s lifetime of ambition and achievement as the country mourns her death.

Student Assembly hosts its first meeting of the semester.

| Page 15

| Page 4

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Volleyball Preview

A look into what to expect for The Red’s upcoming volleyball season. | Page 16

Plane Crashes Near Ithaca, Professor Dies By SHUBHA GAUTAM Sun Assistant News Editor

Aug. 31 — Adjunct professor David Kornreich Ph.D. ’01, 52, and Andrew Harrell, 31, died after Kornreich’s plane crashed in Ithaca’s neighboring town, Enfield, on Sunday afternoon, according to a release from the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office. The plane, which did not hold passengers other than Kornreich and Harrell, was cleared for takeoff from the Ithaca Tompkins International Airport on Sunday morning and a witness reported its crash at 12:35 p.m. the same day. No other injuries or damages were reported in the crash, which occurred on North Applegate Road. Deputies described the 1977 Lake model

LA-4-200 plane as a “small Cessna-style aircraft.” The plane appeared to be experiencing a mechanical issue before crashing 10 miles east of the Ithaca airport, according to Syracuse.com. Witnesses at the Hillendale Golf Course, located approximately half a mile from the crash site, said they noticed a plane flying low and heard its engine sputtering, although the crash itself was not heard, according to the course’s owner, Mary Novickas, who was interviewed by Syracuse.com. “This is a terrible and tragic situation,” said Tompkins County Sheriff Osborne in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the friends and family of the victims.” Agencies including the sheriff’s office, New York State Police, Tompkins County Department of Emergency Response and fire departments

from Ithaca, the Ithaca airport, Enfield and Trumansburg arrived at the scene. Kornreich was pronounced dead at the scene, while Harrell was found in critical condition. Emergency response services transported Harrell to Cayuga Medical Center where he later died due to his injuries. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board continue to investigate the cause of the crash, according to a statement by the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office.

Shubha Gautam can be reached at sgautam@cornellsun. com.

Coalition Hosts ‘Students Not Bombs’ Protest

Students for Justice in Palestine, Young Democratic Socialists of America and Jewish Voice for Peace rallied outside Day Hall. By MARY CAITLIN CRONIN Sun News Editor

on manufacturers tied to Israel. Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war with Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the United Nations. There is currently a warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. In her speech, Masoud said that complicity comes from Cornell investing in weapons manufacturers with ties to Israel, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and L3Harris. “Money is not neutral. Investments are not neutral. Silence is not neutral,” Masoud said. Prior to the demonstration, a white banner was hung from the roof of Olin library reading “Students not bombs / Divest from Israel / Invest in Ithaca,” spraypainted in the colors of the Palestinian flag. No individuals or organizations have taken credit for hanging the banner, but YDSA, SJP and JVP posted a photo of the banner onto their Instagram accounts. The banner was removed before the demonstration began.

Aug. 27 — Over 40 demonstrators gathered outside Day Hall at noon on Monday to urge the University administration to divest from weapons manufacturers that provide arms for Israel. The event, advertised as a “press conference,” was organized in coalition with Students for Justice in Palestine, Young Democratic Socialists of America and Jewish Voice for Peace for their “Students Not Bombs” campaign. Eight speakers took the megaphone during the half hour-long conference, including Cornell undergraduates, Ithaca locals, Cornell Graduate Students United UE Local 300 members and Ithaca City Common Council members. The speakers criticized Cornell for its current investments and demanded that it redirect them to local causes. “While Israel commits war crime after war crime, while Palestinians are killed in thousands and while basic humanitarian aid is systematically denied for them, our administration has remained complicit,” said Yasmeen Masoud ’28, SJP president and Student See PROTEST page 5 Assembly vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion. Yasmeen Masoud ‘28 criticized the University’s investments in weapSTEPHAN MENASCHE/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

STEPHAN MENASCHE/SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

2 The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026

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Wednesday

Thursday

Midday Music: Annette Richards & David Yearsley 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Sage Chapel

Cornell Career Network Block Party 4 - 6 p.m., Ho Plaza

Back-to-Class Bingo Night 5 - 7 p.m., Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room

Beginnings Summer Concert Series 5 - 8 p.m., Ithaca Commons

Sidewalk Showcase 5 - 7 p.m., Ithaca Commons

Free Zumba 6 - 6:45 p.m., Noyes Community Recreation Center

Trivia Night 7 - 9 p.m., Ithaca Beer Company Verano de Jazz 9 p.m. - midnight, Tres Leches

Nighthawk Watch 7 - 8:15 p.m., Back Deck of Rensselaer Hall

Friday

Saturday

Tea & Tarot 10:30 a.m. - noon, Anabel Taylor 114

Dragon Boat Practice 9 - 10:30 a.m., Cass Park Docks

Ithaca Gallery Night 5 - 8 p.m., Ithaca Commons CUPB Musical Comedy DUKES! 7 - 9 p.m., Statler Auditorium Game Night 7:30 - 11:30 p.m., Olin Hall 245 Open House at the Fuertes Observatory 8 p.m. - midnight, Fuertes Observatory

Sunday AVAST! Flying Trapeze Show 10 - 11 a.m., Hupstate Circus Festival Souls of Sithis: Tabletop & Live Action Roleplaying 1 - 2 p.m., 415 N Tioga St. BreakFree B2S Int/Adv Workshop 3 - 5 p.m., Physical Sciences Building Ithaca Sunday Squares 7 - 9 p.m., 29 Auburn Rd.

Ithaca Farmers Market 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Ithaca Farmers Market Botanic Gardens Highlights Tour 10 - 11 a.m., Cornell Botanic Gardents ClubFest Fall 2026 Noon - 4 p.m., Arts Quad The Pieces - Hupstate Circus Festival 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., Hupstate Circus Festival

Welcome Class of 2030! As you embark on your journey at Cornell, we invite you to take some time and reflect on who you are at this point in your lives. Last year, The Sun launched its inaugural Senior Sunset Survey. To continue this effort to connect with students, we now are creating our first annual Freshman Survey. You can fill it out at the QR code above.

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The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026 3

PHOTO

SUNBURSTS: Shoot Your Shot

Sun photographers and editors dug through their archives to share a few of their favorite shots taken on assignment. They also reflected on why you should consider joining the department! By SUN PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT

Stephan Menasche / Sun Senior Photographer FRONT LINES | “It is a privilege to be a Sun photographer because I am given the opportunity to capture pivotal on and off-campus moments.”

Riley Smith / Sun Staff Photographer EYE OF THE STORM | “It pushes me to think harder about the purpose of a photo and what I am trying to communicate, thus helping me become a better photographer!”

Nathan Ellison / Sun Photography Editor ONE SHOT | “Every day is something new and I’m constantly adapting and expanding my skill set. As an editor, it’s a privilege to work alongside a team which appreciates the power of the image.”

Howie Wang / Sun Staff Photographer PRESS ROW | “Taking photos for The Sun has opened so many doors for me, from exploring events I would not have even heard of, to allowing me to photograph The Chainsmokers.”

Samantha Miculinich / Sun Staff Photographer MOMENT CAPTURED | “I get to take part in making moments of joy, change or beauty last forever. How powerful and precious a story can be, especially when the camera keeps it alive.”

Adelaide Chow / Sun Assistant Photography Editor VISUAL PERSPECTIVE | “Being a Sun photographer has taught me the power of visual storytelling, pushing me to capture the decisive moments that make each event unique.”

Nathan Bo / Sun Assistant Photography Editor FREEZE FRAME | “Joining The Sun allowed me to expand my palette, both literally and figuratively.”

Julia Leavitt / Sun Staff Photographer REIN FOCUS | “I get to capture dynamic moments and showcase the spirit of riders and their horses.”

To see more photos, please visit cornellsun.com.

NEWS

4 The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026

New AI Critical Literacy Cornell, Others May Appeal Class Program for All First-Years Certification in Fin Aid Antitrust Suit By CORAL PLATT Sun News Editor

Aug. 25 — All first-year undergraduate students at Cornell will be enrolled in the University’s newly-developed AI Critical Literacy Program after its Spring 2026 launch, according to the Cornell Chronicle. The two-hour long Canvas course discusses four different topics related to AI: how AI works, the ethical implications of AI, the impact of AI on education and tools to create a personal “AI policy.” The course is required for all first-year students at the beginning of the fall semester. The program aims to “help participants make more informed decisions about how and whether to use AI in general, and to inspire conversations where faculty and students can learn from each other,” according to its website. While first-year undergraduate students are automatically enrolled in the course, other members of the Cornell community, including upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff, are able to self-enroll in the course for their own personal interest. During the pilot period, the course was tested in programs across undergraduate fields. Throughout the courses that partook in the pilot program, “measurable gains in literacy” were observed in students, according to the Chronicle. “We received a lot of positive feedback from students on how much they

learned about a number of ethical issues they hadn’t been aware of before,” said Rob Vanderlan, executive director of the Center for Teaching Innovation, in an interview with the Chronicle. “We also saw some really good evidence of students reflecting on their own behaviors and use of AI to benefit their learning.” The program was created in conjunction with the University’s Core Principles for Generative AI in Education, which was developed by the Generative AI Education Working Group, a group of faculty, staff and students that helps develop AI-related policy measures. There are seven ideas outlined by the group, ranging from “the centrality of faculty judgment and expertise in the classroom” to a “responsiveness to real student needs and uses,” according to the Core Principles. Prof. Andrea Stevenson Won, communication, a member of the Generative AI Working Group, explained how the program can help students make decisions regarding AI in their learning, in an interview with the Chronicle. Won also served as a pilot participant for the program. “The program is about helping students decide whether their use of AI is actually contributing to their learning or not,” Won said in an interview with the Chronicle. “But it’s also designed to be built into classes as a way to foster these conversations between faculty and students.” Coral Platt can be reached at cplatt@ cornellsun.com.

By CHRISTINE SAVINO Sun Senior Writer

Sept. 1 — The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted Cornell and four other elite universities permission to appeal a federal judge’s decision to certify a class of approximately 200,000 current and former students in a long-running antitrust lawsuit on Aug. 24. In a class action lawsuit, one or more plaintiffs file the suit on behalf of a larger group, known as the class, whose members may receive compensation based on the harm done to them. Certifying a class means allowing the contended group to proceed with litigation. The decision to certify the class, which partially relied on a regression analysis by the plaintiffs’ expert, substantially increased the number of students estim a t ed to have suffered economic injury. This increased the potential damages from $100,000 to over $1.7 billion. The lawsuit, Henry et al. v. Brown University et al., alleges that 17 highly-selective universities including Cornell created an unlawful price-fixing scheme that reduced competition for financial aid and favored wealthy students under a group JULIA NAGEL / SUN FILE PHOTO known as the

568 Presidents Group, which would violate the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Act federally prohibits monopolistic competition in interstate trade and commerce. Between 2023 and 2025, 12 of the accused universities settled for nearly $320 million in total, with some payments reaching Cornell students and alumni over the summer. Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University and the University of Notre Dame are the five remaining defendants in the suit, which was filed in 2022. The appeals court based its decision to allow the universities to appeal on whether or not the study, a regression analysis done by the plaintiff’s expert, was “adequately analyzed” by Judge Matthew F. Kennelly, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. In their argument, attorneys for the universities claimed that the expert used a flawed statistical model to establish economic injury across the class, including results “untethered from … common sense,” with estimations that had “wild and inexplicable year-to-year swings” in students’ charges. If the universities choose to appeal and succeed, the approximately 200,000-person class could be narrowed or decertified. Kennelly scheduled the trial to begin on Nov. 4. A University spokesperson declined to comment on the update to the case. Christine Savino can be reached at csavino@ cornellsun.com.

Student Assembly Opens New Term With New Standing Rules, Committee Appointments By EMMA SPINDLER Sun Senior Writer

Aug. 28 — The Student Assembly opened its 2026-2027 term on Thursday by electing committee chairs, adopting new standing rules and outlining plans to increase member accountability and student engagement. The Thursday meeting was the first regular meeting led by President Eeshaan Chaudhuri ’27 and Executive Vice President Hayden Watkins ’28, who were elected last spring after campaigning in part on improving the Assembly’s internal operations and restoring student trust. “I’m really excited for the year [and I’m] excited that we had a lot of participation across the board,” Chaudhuri said in an interview with The Sun. He pointed to the number of contested committee chair races and members volunteering for liaison positions as an encouraging sign for the new term. “Generally, we don’t usually have this many contentious races for chairs,” Chaudhuri said. “It’s always a really big struggle to fill these liaison positions and University Assembly positions, so that’s really nice to see.” Assembly Adopts New Standing Rules The Assembly unanimously adopted Resolution 1, which establishes its standing rules for the 2026-2027 term. The rules govern the Assembly’s internal procedures, including meetings, absences, voting, the legislative process and committee operations. Voting members must belong to at least two Student Assembly or University Assembly committees. Absences from Executive Board meetings will also count towards Executive Board mem-

bers’ attendance records. Assembly leadership highlighted changes intended to increase committee participation and update portions of the governing documents, including revisions to outdated language and pronouns. Vice President of Communications Alexander Walters ’28 outlined one such change: a proposed engagement point system that would track whether members fulfill outreach and participation requirements. Under the proposed system, members would receive points for completing responsibilities such as constituent outreach, tabling and participating in Assembly programming. Members who fail to meet these requirements could lose their voting privileges. Chaudhuri emphasized that the system is not intended to create new responsibilities but rather to enforce duties that already exist in Assembly governing documents. “There’s so many things that the Student Assembly is supposed to do and just hasn’t done,” Chaudhuri said in an interview with The Sun after the meeting. He cited an existing requirement for an Assembly-wide outreach event each semester, saying he had never seen one held during his time at Cornell. “I want this point system to be a system where it’s just a checklist for members so they actually know what their roles and responsibilities are [and] a signal to people to get with the program because it’s time to get to work,” Chaudhuri said. Assembly Elects Committee Chairs Much of Thursday’s meeting was devoted to filling committee leadership positions. Julian Kimball ’28, the Duffield

College of Engineering representative, was elected chair of the Dining Services Committee after telling members that his experience with food allergies shaped his interest in making Cornell Dining accessible to students with dietary restrictions based on culture, religion and allergies. Saanya Agarwal ’27, the women’s issues representative, was selected to continue as co-chair of the Student Health Advisory Committee. Agarwal discussed her work with Cornell Health during the previous term and said she hoped to continue addressing barriers to student healthcare, including transportation to Cornell Health from North Campus. Jai Anand ’29, representative at-large, was elected chair of the Environmental Policy Committee and Walters was selected to lead the Academic Policy Committee. Jana Orief ’29, the minority students representative, won a contested election to chair the Technology Committee, which serves as the Assembly’s primary body for undergraduate input on University technology policy, including generative artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital platforms and accessibility. The committee was created last fall. Saphira Augustin ’29, the first-generation college students representative, was elected chair of the Financial Aid Review Committee. Augustin pointed to difficulties students face regarding which expenses financial aid will cover, including travel to and from Cornell. Augustin said she hoped the committee could make information about available assistance clearer and push the University to address financial aid gaps. Amelia Lyons ’29, the College of

Architecture, Art & Planning representative, won a three-way race to chair the Student Assembly Infrastructure Fund Commission. This commission evaluates applications to the Student Assembly Infrastructure Fund that finances infrastructure projects around campus. During debate over the chair election, Vice President for Finance Christian Tarala ’27 described the commission as “probably the most important committee” on the Assembly because of its ability to directly fund projects. “As opposed to our other committees, where we’re lobbying other people,” Tarala said. “We have money and we can pay for it. We can make it happen.” Darin Lee ’28 was elected chair of the International Student Affairs Committee. Lee said he hopes to improve communication between international students and University offices on immigration documents, employment and other issues affecting students coming to Cornell from abroad. Lee, who is from Hong Kong and Malaysia, currently serves as the Assembly’s international students representative. Watkins was elected chair of the Campus Pulse Committee, where he said he wants to use both surveys and in-person outreach to better understand student concerns about campus culture. The Assembly also filled seats on University Assembly committees and student health advisory bodies and confirmed non-assembly member Xavier Rolston ’28 as deputy director of elections. Emma Spindler can be reached at espindler@cornellsun.com.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026 5

News

PROTEST Continued from page 1 In addition to divestment, the coalition also demands that the University severs its ties with Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, end recruitment for weapons manufacturers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Cornell Career Services, create an independent ethical research review board and redirect investments towards students and the Ithaca community. In the Spring 2024 referendum, the majority of student voters voted in favor of the University divesting from weapons manufacturers with Israeli ties and calling for a ceasefire. The referendum passed by a 2:1 ratio, where 46.77% of Cornell undergraduate students participated. President Martha Pollack rejected the referendum. The “Students Not Bombs” campaign now re-sparks divestment demands. Several speakers highlighted ways Cornell could redirect its investments towards students and the Ithaca community. Charlene Luciano, an Ithaca native who has experienced homelessness in Ithaca, urged Cornell to invest in Ithaca’s unhoused population, stressing that funding for Ithaca Code Blue Shelters has been cut from $2 million to $800,000 in the past year. Common Council member Jorge Defendini ’22 argued that Cornell should redirect funding to the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, the local bus system, criticizing the University for initially offering the TCAT $31k in funding when asked for $500k last fall. “That’s not even half a semester of tuition,” Defendini said.

“If Cornell refuses to divest and stop taking grants [that fund weapon manufacturers], we will force them to. We will force them to by refusing to do any research for these organizations that are committing genocide.”” Andrea Cicirello CGSU-UE President Eva Nizałowska criticized the University for threatening to cut Momodou Taal’s and Amandla Thomas-Johnson’s funding if they do not return to the United States, claiming it is a “clear violation of our union contract” which states that Ph.D. candidates in good academic standing must be funded for the duration of their degree. Taal and Thomas-Johnson are Cornell graduate students who both fled the U.S. last year out of fear being deported due to their pro-Palestinian activism on campus. Both Taal and Thomas-Johnson have yet to return to the U.S. out of those same fears of detainment and deportation upon arrival. “We know that an institution with an $11 billion endowment has the money to fund [Taal] and [ThomasJohnson],” Nizałowska said. “This is a question of priorities.” Andrea Cicirello, CGSU-UE financial secretary and Ph.D. candidate in material science and engineering, spoke about mobilizing graduate workers. “If Cornell refuses to divest and stop taking grants [that fund weapon manufacturers], we will force them to,” Cicirello said. “We will force them to by refusing to do any research for these organizations that are committing genocide.”

“We know that an institution with an $11 billion endowment has the money to fund [Taal] and [Thomas-Johnson] ... This is a question of priorities.” Eva Nizałowska After the speeches, demonstrators marched inside Day Hall to present President Michael Kotlikoff with a printed list of their demands. However, Kotlikoff was not in his office at the time, according to his secretary, who took the copy on his behalf. The coalition opened a petition urging the administration and Board of Trustees to comply with their demands. The petition had 61 signatures at the time of publication. When asked to give a comment by The Sun, the University did not have a statement on the event. Mary Caitlin Cronin can be reached at mcronin@cornellsun.com.

6 The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Opinion

The Corne¬ Daily Sun Zachary Stephens Independent Since 1880 144th Editorial Board SOPHIA DASSER ’28 Editor in Chief

SOPHIA ROMANOV IMBER ’28 Associate Editor

VARSHA BHARGAVA ’27 Managing Editor

RAYEN ZHOU ’29 Opinion Editor

KATE TURK ’27 Assistant Managing Editor

ZARA CHEEK ’28 Opinion Editor

CORAL PLATT ’29 News Editor ATTICUS JOHNSON ’28 News Editor MARY CAITLIN CRONIN ’28 News Editor EVERETT CHAMBALA ’27 Assistant News Editor

JADE DUBUCHE ’27 Multimedia Editor BENJAMIN LEYNSE ’27 Multimedia Editor KENDALL MURPHY ’28 Business Manager CHARLIE CLARK ’29 Director of Revenue & Partnerships VICTORIA WROBLEWSKI ’28 Human Resources Manager MELISSA MOON ’28 Arts & Culture Editor JAMES PALM ’27 Assistant Arts & Culture Editor MATTHEW RENTEZELAS ’28 Assistant Arts & Culture Editor HAZEL TJADEN ’28 Assistant Arts & Culture Editor MARC STAIANO ’27 Assistant Arts & Culture Editor KATELYN HALVERSON ’28 Lifestyle Editor AVA BETNAR ’29 Assistant Lifestyle Editor SANIKA SARAF ’28 Assistant Lifestyle Editor KATHERINE ISTOMIN ’29 Marketing Manager JOIE JEAN-PAUL ’29 Assistant Social Media Editor ASHLIN KWONG ’28 Graphics Editor TAVAN BHATIA ’27 Games Editor RENA GEULA ’28 Layout Editor

SHUBHA GAUTAM ’28 Assistant News Editor GISELLE REDMOND ’28 Assistant News Editor ANGELINA TANG ’28 Science & Technology Editor TANIA HAO ’28 Science & Technology Editor SIMRAN LABORE ’27 Weather & Climate Editor MATTHEW LEONARD ’28 Sports Editor GRACE REUBEN ’28 Sports Editor JANE HAVILAND ’28 Features Editor NATHAN ELLISON ’28 Photography Editor NATHAN BO ’28 Assistant Photography Editor ADELAIDE CHOW ’29 Assistant Photography Editor MIA SOFIA ORENGO ’28 Video Editor OAKLEY DECRISTOFARO ’29 Video Editor DEAN THAKUR ’27 Newsletter Editor SMRITHE RAJESH ’29 Newsletter Editor AMELIA GARCIA ’27 Data Editor HUNTER PETMECKY ’28 Layout Editor

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Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America Cornell Young Democratic Socialists of America is a registered student group whose mission is to educate and organize students to aid in a principled movement for social justice. We meet every Monday at 6p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall, room B27.

Students of the World Unite

he leaves are not the reds in Ithaca. Cornell’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America is busy organizing toward a just, ethical and socialist society. We are living during a time of extreme wealth inequality, racial injustice, military spending and environmental destruction. The U.S. government bails out banks and big businesses while cutting welfare, Medicare, educational funding and other social services. While thousands of Americans die every year because they lack health insurance, the ruling class spends billions on a military budget that upholds the genocide in Palestine and massacres innocent civilians abroad. Mining, deforestation, industrial farming and oil drilling have destroyed the environment, unsustainably extracting every resource for profit. Oil companies and big businesses work tirelessly to prevent climate legislation, the implementation of sustainable living methods and renewable energy research, all while pinning the blame for their crimes on regular people. Workers struggling through long shifts with little benefits have no control over their wages, environment or hours. Democracy and justice are foreign concepts to the capitalist workplace. Those who own the means of production profit off the working class while using their vast wealth and the legislature to decimate the power of unions in the United States. Since our political system is dominated by elites who only represent corrupt donors and unethical lobbies, voting our way out is impossible. These are not the signs of a broken system. This is capitalism working as intended, generating colossal amounts of wealth for the few at the expense of workers, communities and the natural world. There is but one path forward: socialism. The national DSA and YDSA recognize this need for collective action and transformative change to destroy capitalism. As the largest socialist organization in U.S. history, our main projects include labor organizing, the Green New Deal, electing DSA candidates into office, Medicare for All, Palestine organizing and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As the Cornell chapter of the YDSA, we have adapted this struggle to fit our specific environ-

Zachary Stephens is a 5th-year architecture student in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. He can be reached at zis6@cornell.edu.

“NO RESULTS FOUND” for Disability Planning at AAP

earch "disability" on the Cornell Journal of Architecture's website, and you will be hit with a “NO RESULTS FOUND” screen. Not one thesis project, not one critical essay, not one mention of the word or architectural design for people with disabilities in four and a half decades of faculty and student writing in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. For an architecture school long regarded as one of the best in the country, that silence should be concerning. Walk through Milstein Hall, the building where architecture students spend their studio years, and you'll find a single elevator serving as the primary means of vertical circulation for people with a physical disability. It reflects a missed opportunity where the void under the 14,000 square-meter complex reads as an unused space that could carry a ramp. The elevator is notorious for breaking down consistently. Many times, I’ve walked past it with the gears turning aimlessly while not even in use, signifying that a mechanical component has constantly misfired, leaving anyone with a physical disability unable to move up or down reliably. The open floor plan floods students with typical office lighting, with no place of respite for neurodivergent students who are particularly sensitive to office environments. Moments of privacy within the desk space and allowing more opportunities for personal lighting adjustments would rectify this while integrating options for personal comfort in their studio. Sensory sensitivities are not covered in the Americans with Disabilities Act and are therefore often not taught or valued when building and designing accessible architecture. Milstein Hall is held up as one of the most architecturally ambitious buildings on campus. Still, it shows how little accessibility factors into that ambition. What passes for disability education in most architecture programs is compliance training to know the ADA and the minimum clearances — essentially training students to avoid a lawsuit. That's liability management, not thoughtful design. It primes students and professionals to understand disability as a checklist to satisfy rather than a condition to design and empathize with. I saw the cascading effects of this in the profession when I brought up my interest in design for people with disabilities at career fairs. After showing a professional at the firm Kohn Pederson Fox my portfolio — which had a mix of general architecture work and a winning competition entry for a contest dedicated to accessibility — the moment I talked about hoping to work with people with disabilities, the conversation steered toward ADA consulting. I was pushed away from being a licensed architect and toward becoming an accredited specialist in a single conversation. Someone whose respon-

sibility is designated after the design has been made and ensures ADA compliance rather than what I hoped to become: an architect engineering creative solutions to disability issues. Wanda Katja Liebermann, a historian and licensed architect who studied at The University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University before spending over a decade teaching architecture, wrote an entire book about this pattern called Architecture’s Disability Problem. She argued similarly that architectural education on disability stays minimal and compliance-driven, treating accessibility as legal exposure. Particularly, in her experience teaching and as a student, she states, “I can think of only a handful of students with disabilities.” If a scholar with that much distance from Cornell can describe the same pattern, it isn't a Cornell problem so much as a discipline-wide one that our university happens to reproduce. This offers a unique opportunity for the program to become a pioneer in the field, much like courses today that have become increasingly accustomed to sustainability research and design. A required course in the first or second year of study could have students take existing buildings, including ones on our own campus, and redesign them for accessibility in ways that go above code minimums, using them as a generative constraint rather than an obstacle. This could be taught in conjunction with the ARCH 2102: “Integrative Design Studio,” as is done for sustainability in the ARCH 2616: “Environmental Systems II” course. There was an announcement of a studio this semester that addresses the topic in depth; however, it is only offered in the fourth or fifth year of education, when established norms of design for disability are already reinforced. The same cascade that permeates the industry today needs to be disrupted in the first or second year or study in architectural education, leading to greater representation of disabled architects and designers in the academic and professional scene. The main pushback I can imagine from an idea like this would be toward the notion that this is outside the scope and specialization of architects; however, architects are some of the most influential people in deciding how accessible a space is. To leave disability entirely to ADA consultants and compliance minimums means the people setting the vision for a project never had to think about disability. Cornell trains people who will go on to design some of our most remarkable buildings at the most regarded architecture firms. If they leave here having never seriously engaged with disability as a design question beyond ADA, we leave an entire discipline to have another 45 years of a page stating, “NO RESULTS FOUND” when you search “disability.”

ment. Elite universities are fundamentally capitalist institutions. Cornell in particular is invested in numerous weapons manufacturers guilty of enabling genocide. It funnels students into the military-industrial complex while lacking resources for socially beneficial engineering or the humanities. Founded by the unlawful and unethical seizure of Indigenous land, Cornell continues to act as a parasite, starving the Ithaca community of resources through its tax-exempt status. Through our privileged position as students, Cornell YDSA is committed to fighting for affordability on campus, investment in Ithaca and an end to the University’s complicity in genocide. While our priority campaigns have ranged from elections to sanctuary campus to divestment, our committee structure allows us to tackle a wide range of issues. Our Labor Committee has done extensive research for the United Farm Workers, raised money for labor organizing and hosted educational film screenings. With our elected YDSA Ithaca Alderperson Hannah Shvets, our Electoral Committee engages in policy work in Cornell and Ithaca, including TCAT negotiations and tenant protections. Taking charge of last year’s sanctuary campus campaign, our Queer Solidarity Committee organized tabling for ICE Off Campus, engaged in negotiations to protect gender affirming care on-campus and hosted an incredible drag show. Our Eco-Socialism Committee has been organizing against the construction of a data center in Lansing, New York, which, if built, will permanently destroy Cayuga Lake’s ecosystem. The committee’s other projects include volunteering at the Ithaca DSA Public Garden and promoting alternative gardening practices. Our Political Education Committee regularly hosts reading groups and events discussing communism, anti-imperialism and labor organizing. All the while, our Communications Committee keeps everyone up-to-date on important events, rallies, socials and successes. Starting this semester, Cornell YDSA is committed to divestment as its priority campaign. In coalition with Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace, we are demanding that Cornell divest from genocide and invest in its community.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026 7

COLUMNS

Austin Franco and Us Ezra Galperin Ezra's Cornell

Ezra Galperin '27 is an Opinion Columnist and a Government and Jewish Studies student in the College of Arts and Sciences. His fortnightly column, Ezra's Cornell, discusses campus politics and how they are affected by the wider political climate. He can be reached at egalperin@cornellsun.com.

ornell is a place where you can find many interesting characters: the Cornell Batman, the students who skinned a bear in their dorm kitchen and that guy who dances everywhere he goes around campus, to name a few. Some of these people rise to fame on campus, whether on purpose, like in Batman’s case, or by accident, as in the case of the young hunters. Sometimes these people are loved by all. At other times, they are neither loved nor hated. However, it is rare, if not unheard of, for a student to descend into such universal infamy. Then came Austin Franco. “Not interested in working for a Jew,” he told Aiden Einhorn of VrfyID (now known as Nessoo), who still wanted to interview Franco for an internship after Franco had not attended a company meeting.

Antisemitism has skyrocketed both in the United States and abroad since Hamas’ massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023. With that rise in antisemitism, there has been no shortage of debate over how to define antisemitism. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the Nexus Project and the Jerusalem Declaration diverge in a number of ways, particularly on speech about Israel. Francos’s remark, however, meets the criteria for antisemitism under all three. Cornell has stopped short of adopting one definition, though it is arguably bound by the Department of Education’s adoption of the IHRA definition. However, you do not need to adopt a single definition to see the antisemitism in Franco’s words, not only in his initial message to Einhorn, but also in his subsequent conduct, accepting donations captioned “sick and tired of Jewish terrorism against Americans,” “Franco did nothing wrong,” and “Free Palestine.” The University knows this and rightfully denounced the comments Franco made on Piers Morgan Uncensored. In that statement, University President Michael I. Kotlikoff wrote that “Cornell has an obligation to fiercely defend freedom of speech – even when we find that speech abhorrent.” President Kotlikoff is right: Franco’s interview, in which he made comments that are even worse than his original message to Einhorn, is protected by the First Amendment. However, Kotlikoff’s statement notably omits any direct reference to Franco’s original message, whose status is not so simple. Franco’s exchange with Einhorn was not some casual exchange. Franco used Handshake, a platform provided to him by Cornell, to direct a flagrantly

discriminatory remark at a Jewish man, in a pretty glaring violation of University Policy 6.4.1. While the University may be precluded from releasing specific information about Franco’s case, Franco stated that he has faced no disciplinary action and presumably would have said otherwise if he had. So, even though Cornell cannot comment, they must surely know that whatever they do in such a situation will become public information. At a time when higher education is facing unprecedented scrutiny from every possible source, good public perception matters. There is no need to speculate about the reputational damage this has done. This story has made its way into many publications, from our very own The Cornell Daily Sun to national outlets like Fox News. The story has even made its way abroad, running in The Independent and The Times of Israel. This isn't a case of some kid saying something stupid for attention. He had multiple opportunities to apologize. Instead, he invoked physiognomy, which is widely considered a pseudoscience. He defended his remarks before millions of people on Piers Morgan Uncensored. He accepted tens of thousands of dollars in donations from neo-Nazis. Cornell cannot keep pretending this problem does not exist. One of its students used a platform it provided to discriminate. That student has not only refused to apologize, but has doubled down in every imaginable way. This is not normal. He cannot possibly be trusted to treat his Jewish peers with dignity. This reflects poorly on all of us. It is time for the University to act accordingly.

No Mourners, No Funerals? Leah Badawi

Leah Down The Law Leah Badawi '27 is an Opinion Columnist and a Government and English student in the College of Arts & Sciences. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Rainy Day Literary Magazine. Her fortnightly column Leah Down The Law reflects on politics, history, and broader culture in an attempt to tell stories that are often left between the lines. She can be reached at lbadawi@cornellsun.com.

lone army officer walks down an empty road, among the remnants of a destroyed bridge. Rubble of cars and the shells of objects and papers and blankets are scattered across the sidewalks. The road is identical on either side, disappearing into the horizon. Thin lights hang over the way, as if to usher the ghost of the cars that once passed through this street. Their electricity is gone, and the sky is a flat blue, cloudless, as if it had been pressed against a blank page. I wonder what stories sat at each wheel. If words do not suffice, I beg of you to just look, to fix your eyes on the sheer devastation that we have allowed to go unrestrained. The dead in Sudan are visible from satellites, but somehow still invisible to us. Mounds of bodies pile on top of each other other near hospitals and neighborhoods. This morning I walked out of Goldwin Smith Hall and tried to imagine such a thing, but I could not, because I do not think that the human mind can even grasp such a level of unhumanity. I must amplify the struggle of the people of Sudan. Since the civil war began in April of 2023, I could hardly find any articles, and no op-eds in the Cornell Sun written urging people to do so much as acknowledge that this crisis is happening. Imaging from Sudan in 2025 showed discolored clusters identified as mounds of human bodies piled on top of each other. What level of carnage does it take for the deceased to appear on a lens thousands of miles from the ground? The largest humanitarian crisis of our generation is happening right in front of our eyes, and nothing has been done to stop it.

The pressing situation in Sudan has its roots in more than decades of internal conflict, but it most recently erupted in April 2023 when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary RSF. Since then, more than 150,000 people have been confirmed dead, though the true number is expected to be much higher. Sudan has been called an “epicenter of profound suffering,” and a prolonged siege of El Fasher in late October of last year has brought unbelievable atrocities to light. Hospitals and schools have been used as killing fields, where people are subject to mass executions and torture. We can view the consequences of this genocide so impersonally. Someone who could’ve been a mother, father, sibling, friend, is reduced to no more than a speck on a grainy image. As we look through a microscope at these lives that could’ve been, we have the privilege of comfort, analysis and even debate. That’s revolting. These people had passions and dreams, swept into an insurgency that they had no control over, and now they are plastered on every mainstream news source like CNN, BBC and NPR, and yet they continue to be ignored. Most disturbing is how the plight of the Sudanese people went from a topic of contention to one that was pushed aside. This crisis does not stop when we turn away. Over 1,000 days of war is never without massive repercussions — over 12 million people have been displaced, and 33.7 million are in need of humanitarian support. 90% of school-aged children now lack formal education, and high school students haven’t been able to take their exams since 2023, pushing back the future of an entire generation. Sudan’s healthcare system has collapsed, which is disastrous at a time where deep famine ravages the already suffering population, and attacks on aid workers and hospitals have only worsened the situation. The dire food shortage has left people vulnerable to illness and infection, and the numbers have risen so that more people in Sudan are living in famine than the rest of the world combined. In almost every war, civilians are the ones who suffer most, and Sudan is unfortunately one of the most extreme examples. Women and girls are subject to brutal sexual violence, sometimes raped in front of family members, some in their own homes and some even detained in groups and held in conditions of sexual enslavement, chained together, assaulted on a daily basis for months on end. Médecins Sans Frontières reports a number of stories from anonymous Sudanese women who were taken in by their team in Darfur. When recounting a night where houses in a neighborhood were raided

by members of the RSF, one woman said, “The men were hiding in toilets or in some rooms where they could close the doors. The women didn’t hide because it was just beating and rape for us, but the men would get killed.” Another survivor, a 17-year-old girl who was gangraped by seven different soldiers, said while recounting the event, “I wanted to lose my memory after that.” This is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a feminist issue, and our continued silence allows more and more civilians to fall victim to this lengthy list of atrocities. Truthfully, I am at a loss of any idea of how to mobilize this campus. Students walk over to me and thank me for my work. Sometimes others stare at me wordlessly. Others scrutinize my work in silence, or see it as some aspect of my nature, characterizing me as an activist or a protestor. Reader, am I an activist for caring about human life? Am I outspoken for writing about something that can be of access to you with a simple google search? I am disappointed that I have become intellectualized simply because I possess empathy for others. Now resistance is shared in empty condolences and passing remarks. Martin Luther King, Jr. called silence a betrayal. It is true, that we have not only betrayed the people of Sudan, but we have also betrayed humanity by doing nothing. Allowing such events to unfold is an insult to humanity. We must mobilize and act for Sudan as soon as possible, because the conflict only worsens as the days pass. Displaced people and survivors are in dire need of medical care, psychological support, healthcare and basic human needs such as food, water and shelter. None of these should be a privilege for the people of Sudan. It is easy to think that we are ordinary people on the other side of the ocean, and providing such aid is out of our control. But this is far from the truth. The easiest thing to do is educate yourself and others about this issue. Write about it, speak about it and keep it in the public eye. We cannot let this become a forgotten crisis. Next, it is vital that we completely boycott the United Arab Emirates, a nation that is greatly supplying the RSF with weapons and encouraging this war for monetary gain, particularly Sudanese gold. Without the UAE, the conflict would have never escalated to this level. Moreover, if you are able, please consider donating to organizations such as UNICEF USA, the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International and even online fundraisers for individual families living through these horrific events.

8 The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Science

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Prof. Robert Howarth to Retire After 30 Years By LEAH CHANG Sun Staff Writer

After three decades of teaching and renowned global research impact, Prof. Robert Howarth, ecology and evolutionary biology, will retire in December. For Cornell students, Howarth was best known for teaching BIOEE 1610: “Introductory Biology: Ecology and the Environment,” but his work expands beyond campus to encompass science in education and policy efforts. As he wrapped up his last semester teaching BIOEE 1610 in the Spring 2026

semester, The Sun spoke to Howarth about his career as an impactful figure in the world of environmental science. Catalyst for Global Change From making Time Magazine’s 2011 list of “People Who Mattered” to being featured in The Wall Street Journal as “someone fossil fuel companies should fear” for outraging fracking industry executives with the political influence of his research, Howarth’s work has powered changing minds. “I like the challenge of answering a question,” Howarth said. “But I also like pulling science together, synthesizing science in

JING JIANG / SUN FILE PHOTO

Researcher retires | Prof. Robert Howarth, pictured at a 2019 University Assembly meeting, will retire in December after three decades on the Hill.

a way that can have impact in the policy world or with the public.” Exploring solutions to the most pressing climate catastrophes of our time through the lens of biogeochemistry, ecology and other intersections of environmental science has brought Howarth’s work to light at the international stage. With decades of building policy connections upon the backbone of climate science, he has increasingly integrated research and advocacy over the course of his career. In 2007, while working on coastal nutrient pollution from agriculture, Howarth testified in federal court as “one of the key witnesses” in a case that got offshore oil banned off the coast of New England and then the entire Atlantic coast. At this time, Howarth began facing political pressure and threats of funding cuts from companies like ExxonMobile. “One day, I got a telephone call from the director of the lab I was working in. And he basically said that I was causing them problems with raising funding from Exxon. And I had to stop. I couldn’t do this line of work anymore,” Howarth said. Refusing demands to strictly focus on science and decrease visibility in the policy world, Howarth moved to a tenured position at Cornell. Before that, the U.S. Senate had charged the National Academy of Sciences to examine nitrogen pollution in Chesapeake Bay and phosphorus pollution in the Mississippi River. Appointed as the chair of the investigation committee in 1998, Howarth spent two years testifying before the Senate to provide urgent updates which resulted in President Bush signing an executive order

to confirm the impact of nitrogen in 2001. In addition to being one of the most highly cited marine scientists in the world, Howarth has also been involved in energy policy. Examining methane from natural systems was part of his Ph.D. work, and at the time it was seen as an engineering challenge that had not been previously worked on. The Power of Policy Students of BIOEE 1610 get a snapshot of the policy work that Howarth engages with, but this arena carries influence across the globe. Howarth has also tackled nutrient pollution issues in coastal oceans and lakes. His research provided clarity on the nutrient most responsible for polluting coastal oceans — nitrogen — which has policy implications. “Once you accept that it’s nitrogen in coastal oceans versus phosphorus [in lakes], then you start taking on different management practices,” Howarth said. Howarth had also been a co-chair on the Scientific Committee of Problems of the Environment that dealt with issues as a standing body of counsel of science, its work culminating in an international scope nitrogen project. “That’s had a huge influence on how people think about nitrogen, both in the science world and in the policy world,” Howarth said. To continue reading this story, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Leah Chang can be reached at lchang@ cornellsun.com.

‘Whole Person Health’: Inside Weill Cornell Medicine’s Research in Integrated Opioid Use Disorder Care By SOFIA ROMERO Sun Contributor

More than 806,000 Americans have died from opioid overdose since the opioid epidemic began in the 1990s. Effective opioid use disorder treatments exist, and ensuring that patients can access care remains essential to tackling the crisis. Here’s how researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine are taking an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the barriers between impacted Americans and access to opioid use disorder care. Barriers to OUD Care Substance use disorder treatments have not historically existed as integrated parts of mainstream medical care. For patients with mental or physical health conditions in addition to OUD, this separation may result in structural barriers to receiving care, according to Kayla Tormohlen, senior research associate in population health sciences at Weill Cornell and research director of the Cornell Health Policy Center. “Thinking about all these different aspects that we as humans deal with…if you have to get your substance use disorder treatment here, your mental health disorder treatment here [and] your general medical care somewhere else, that creates barriers to care,” Tormohlen said. In the case of OUD, medications like buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone reduce opioid cravings and have existed for decades. However, methadone, for example, must be dispensed through an opioid treatment program outside of a typical clinical setting, according to the Substance Abuse and

Mental Health Services Administration. Understanding Current OUD Care Integration Tormohlen researches how policies influence healthcare access and how they might be used to improve access to care. One area of her research centers on health systems — defined as healthcare organizations that include hospitals and physicians — with integrated substance use disorder care. The goal of this research is to better understand how these health systems improve care quality and patient outcomes. “There’s really this idea around coordinated management of whole person health in which OUD is co-managed alongside other comorbidities such as mental illness and chronic pain,” Tormohlen said. Tormohlen leads a project studying these integrated health systems alongside Beth McGinty, chief of the Division of Health Policy and Economics at Weill Cornell and a founding director of CHPC. The ongoing project — conducted through the National Institutes of Health’s HEAL Data2Action Program, which supports research aimed at mitigating the opioid crisis — maps health systems to provide a visual representation of how substance use disorder treatments, including OUD treatments, operate within the system’s context. “It’s been different across each of these systems, and not necessarily in negative or positive ways,” Tormohlen said. “The way their health systems are structured then impacts the way that they integrate care.”

The maps consider factors such as the departments in which this care might be delivered and whether the treatment is inpatient or outpatient. Understanding substance use disorder care integration within health systems can then be used to inform researchers and health policy leaders on how barriers to care might be addressed.

“It’s always a goal [to understand] how existing policies, or a lack of policies, impact the way that people access care.” Kayla Tormohlen This project also maps links between types of services — such as referral systems or team-based care involving primary care providers, addiction specialists and pain specialists — to show how and where OUD care, as well as substance use disorder care more broadly, is integrated. “It’s always a goal [to understand] how existing policies, or a lack of policies, impact the way that people access care,” Tormohlen said, “and then being able to understand ways that we can change or implement policies to improve access to care.” Analyzing the Costs of OUD Care Integration Through its partnership in the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorders, HCV and HIV, Weill Cornell also approaches OUD care integration

through an economic lens, studying its associated costs, benefits and outcomes. “We have a limited amount of money, so how do we most efficiently allocate that money to have the biggest impact?” asked Prof. Bruce Schackman, population health sciences, the director of CHERISH. A recent study led by Danielle Ryan, senior research coordinator in population health sciences, in collaboration with CHERISH affiliates analyzed the costs of implementing emergency department-initiated buprenorphine, which is one way that OUD care can be integrated into mainstream healthcare. Unlike methadone, buprenorphine is an OUD treatment that does not require participation in an opioid treatment program. ED-initiated buprenorphine refers to buprenorphine treatment that is begun in the ED of a medical facility and followed by referral to ongoing care, according to the NIH. While a 2015 study found that starting buprenorphine care in the ED was associated with an increase in OUD patients continuing to receive care, implementing this care comes with logistical and systemic barriers, including the preparedness of ED physicians for treating OUD. “We want to … keep the focus on what works so that we continue to see that trend go down,” Schackman said, “but [we] also understand that fatal overdoses are only one aspect of the challenges for people who use drugs.” Sofia Romero can be reached at scr226@ cornell.edu.

The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026 9

Lifestyle

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Clubs That Should Exist at Cornell make the case for more fun, casual and open-access clubs at Cornell. Sometimes, students need a place to show up, try something, meet people and enjoy themhen times get tough at Cornell, selves. Here are some clubs that I believe academic, social and profession- should exist at Cornell: al clubs do a lot to keep us 1. Cornell Sports Watchers Club moving forward. Whether they serve as a support system, a social outlet or a good For a school with students from so distraction from classes, clubs mean a great deal to the student population. At many different cities, states, countries and a school where the workload can feel fan bases, Cornell needs a place where overwhelming, doing something purely people can come together and watch because you enjoy it should not feel hard sports. Not play, commentate, manage or analyze sports in a highly technical way. to do. With more than 1,000 student orga- Just watch them. Yes, Cornell already has nizations on campus, Cornell offers stu- clubs related to sports, sports business or dents an incredible range of opportunities broadcasting, but there is still room for to explore interests, meet people and build a more social, low-pressure space where community. In many ways, there really students can watch games, argue statistics is something for everyone. Yet, the sheer and bond over being a fan. Reserve a few number of clubs does not mean every pos- rooms through 25Live, find a couple sible need, interest or type of community of willing participants to hook up their has already been covered. There is always laptops and place a large order from room for new spaces, and especially ones Domino’s or Ned’s. Split up the games by that are casual, welcoming and centered sport or team, and you’ve got a club! This club would be especially necessary during around enjoyment rather than pressure. The argument that Cornell’s campus major sporting events like the Super Bowl, can feel overly competitive and compara- the Masters, MLB playoffs, the World tive rings true at times, even in the world Cup and every other event that is prefof extracurricular activities. There is often erable to watch in a group setting. For an immediate pressure (probably carried students who enjoy these sports and are over from high school) to join as many looking for people to watch them with, clubs as possible. Then, it becomes about a club like this could make Cornell feel a joining the ‘best’ clubs. Eventually, the little more like home. recruitment process begins to feel more 2. Cornell Pottery Club selective, formal and intimidating than students might expect from an activiPottery is an activity that feels like ty that is supposed to help them find it should already be everywhere. It is community. This does not apply strictly to professional clubs. This dynamic can relaxing, creative and exactly the kind of appear in a cappella groups, dance groups, thing Cornell students would partake in performing arts organizations and even if given the chance. I ask you to picture the occasional club that feels like it should it: pottery on the Slope. Paint and pizza be open-access. Therefore, I would like to provided. Thursday at 6 p.m. Music

By KAITLYN BELL Staff Writer

JAEIN KU/SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

playing. I’m there. You’re there. Half the student body is there. Pottery also has the potential to become more than just a fun activity. Students could donate finished pieces to local organizations, sell them for charity or host community-based events. Honestly, pottery goes with everything and considering Cornell students are constantly looking for ways to decompress, a pottery club would offer exactly that. 3. Cornell Casual Debate Club

Casual debate can actually be a very useful skill. It helps people learn how to explain their opinions, listen and find common ground. It gives students who may be nervous about formal debate a way to build confidence, while also creating a space where disagreement feels more lowstakes. It is about learning how to have a conversation with someone who sees the world differently and bridging across those differences. Ultimately, it is exciting that students can have an interest, gather people around it and form a club. That is one of the best parts of a campus like Cornell. Student organizations help students find the corners of campus where they feel most like themselves. As Cornell continues to expand its broad and active student organization culture, I hope there is also room to consider what kinds of spaces students still need.

Cornell students could use a space where students can have productive debates, without needing every conversation to become extremely formal. Cornell Casual Debate Club would be a place for students to debate the calmer questions: What came first, the chicken or the egg? What is the best fast food chain? Is CTB actually worth the wait? The club could also include debates about books, shows, sports, music, food, hobbies and more. Kaitlyn Bell is a member of the Class of But the point would not be to win in the most intense way possible, but to 2028 in the School of Labor and Industrial practice conversation, disagreement and Relations. She can be reached at kbell@corpersuasion in a setting that feels fun. nellsun.com.

Freshman Year Bucket List: Class of 2030 Edition By LIFESTYLE DEPARTMENT

elcome to Cornell, freshmen! If you couldn’t already tell during Orientation Week, Cornell is a huge campus — home to many unique fields, people and backgrounds. However, during your first year, it’s inevitable that you’ll experience the so-called freshman year ‘canon events.’ These are things that, no doubt, every Cornell student has experienced, and are in fact, what makes Cornellians, Cornellians. So while you embark on your first semester, feel free to explore all of what Cornell has to offer and use this bucket list as a starting point. Here are the must-do experiences to check off before your first year is through: 1. Go on multiple coffee chats for a single consulting club, then get rejected. 2. Take a calming walk around Beebe Lake. 3. Attend a hockey game at Lynah Rink.

4. Email a TA or professor after midnight to request an extension. Just don’t expect a reply. 5. Grab a comfort meal at Louie’s Lunch after failing a brutal 7:30 p.m. prelim. 6. Pull an all-nighter in the Cocktail Lounge. 7. Use all of your excused absences for lectures before Fall Break. 8. Take the Flix Bus to New York City for a day trip. 9. Go on a first date in Ithaca Commons ... dinner at a dining hall doesn’t count! 10. Host a friend from another college for a weekend. Be sure to show them a waterfall or two! 11. Run late for class on the date of an important exam or lecture, then miss 14. Attend a concert in Bailey Hall. the TCAT. 15. Go sledding down Libe Slope. 12. Have at least one study session in 16. Research potential transfer schools, every library on campus. Cornell has over then ultimately decide to stick it out. a dozen! 17. Attend Homecoming and St. Pad13. Eat a meal at every dining hall on dy’s Day darties in Collegetown. campus. 18. Slip and fall on an icy sidewalk because you forgot to wear snow boots. Extra points if there’s an audience. 19. Explore Cornell Botanical Gardens. 20. Play a round of Tuesday night Trivia at Collegetown Bagels. 21. Read a physical copy of The Cornell Daily Sun. 22. Attend a Mary Donlon Hall dorm party (extra points if it gets shut down by your RA). 23. Use up all of your Big Red Bucks before the end of first semester. 24. Lock yourself in the Olin Library stacks as punishment for procrastinating. 25. Eat apple cider donuts at Apple Fest. 26. Watch the sunset on Libe Slope. 27. Tour the Johnson Museum of Art. DANICA LEE/SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

SOPHIA ROMANOV IMBER/ASSOCIATE EDITOR

28. Have brunch at Milkstand. 29. Use a projector in Goldwin Smith Hall for a movie night. 30. See an a cappella concert. 31. Survive CHEM 2070: “General Chemistry I” (just barely). 32. Join a bunch of clubs, attend their first G-Bodys and never show up again. 33. Spend an evening at the Fuertes Observatory. 34. Take a walk across all four part of campus (North, Central, West, South). 35. Watch a movie at the Cornell Cinema. 36. Go to office hours at least once. 37. Sit at the base of the A.D. White statue while drinking a Temple of Zeus matcha. 38. Take a picture with Touchdown. The Lifestyle Department covers campus life, academics, dining and housing, fashion trends, restaurants and events in Ithaca, among much more. They can be reached at style@cornellsun. com.

10 The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026

NEWS

Final Report of County Minimum Common Council Opens Wage Study Presented to Public Fourth Ward Applications By DALTON MULLINS Sun Senior Writer

Aug. 31 — The Prof. David Bateman, government, and Prof. Ian Greer M.S. ’03 Ph.D. ’05, global labor and work presented their final report of the Tompkins County Minimum Wage Study on Thursday to an audience of community members and Tompkins County legislators at the Tompkins County Public Library. At the presentation, they explored the landscape of minimum wage workers in the county, and discussed the potential impacts of increasing the county’s minimum wage. The report found that Tompkins County faces a much higher cost of living compared to surrounding counties. Much of the county’s working population earns less than the living wage, with the county encountering a high level of income inequality. The study was conducted by the ILR Ithaca Co-Lab, which utilizes students and researchers from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations to serve the local area of Ithaca on employment, living wage and other worker issues. Thursday’s presentation was the team’s ninth public meeting since the study launched on March 24 after Tompkins County voted in 2024 to allocate $50,000 to the ILR Ithaca Co-Lab to study the potential effects of raising the county’s minimum wage. Bateman explained how the study’s intention was “to explore possible impacts of having a countywide minimum wage higher than the state.” To do this, the team reached out to “as many stakeholder communities as possible” which included business owners, workers, focus groups from the Tompkins County Workers’ Center, Southside Community Center and other community members, in addition to requesting public comments. In the collection of testimonies from the community members, Bateman said the high cost of living persisted as a common issue. “One broad source of agreement that we heard in multiple convenings was that the cost of living in Tompkins County is quite high,” Bateman said. “This places a burden on nearly everyone…it is certainly felt by low wage workers, it’s felt by local businesses, it’s felt by small nonprofits.” The team found that about half of wage earners in the county earn less than the county’s living wage, the income required to afford basic living expenses. The county’s living wage is estimated at $25.08 an hour, according to a 2026 study by Greer, who directs the ILR Ithaca Co-Lab, and Russell Weaver, director of the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab.. Alongside this, Greer noted that Tompkins County had “above average” income inequality across the entire United States and was affected by “extreme disparities” by race in wages. The 2026 Tompkins County Living Wage

Study found that a disproportionate number of Black and Hispanic wage earners earn less than the living wage. The study found that about 67% of Black employees and about 59% of Hispanic employees earn less than the living wage. Meanwhile, only about 47% of white employees earn less than the living wage. Greer also explained that the state minimum wage is struggling to keep up with the increase in the cost of living in Tompkins County, driven primarily by costs of rent and transportation. The current New York State minimum wage is set at $16.00 per hour, though New York City, all Long Island counties and Westchester County have higher minimum wages at $17.00. Greer said it is difficult to compare Tompkins County to other municipalities that have raised their minimum wages because each community is unique. “The problem here is that most of the places with city and county minimum wages are quite different from Tompkins County because they are big cities, or they are suburbs,” Greer said. “There’s not a clear story or a clear pattern about these laws leading to economic growth or economic decline.” Greer also explained the potential costs of raising the minimum wage. According to Greer, businesses could pass on additional payroll costs to their customers. He also said that some minimum wage earners may face a benefits cliff, or a sudden loss in public benefits following wage increases. Christopher Sponn, executive director of Tompkins County Workforce Development, explained that he sees how a minimum wage increase could both help low-wage workers and potentially harm local businesses. “It’s really hard to make ends meet in this community,” Sponn said. “Transportation is expensive, rent is expensive, finding a house is expensive, so it’s really hard for someone to lift themselves out of poverty…but on the other side, I do know businesses would also be significantly impacted by this.” The ILR Ithaca Co-Lab will present their report on Sept. 2 to the Tompkins County Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee. On Sept. 15, the consultants will deliver their findings to the entire Tompkins County Legislature to discuss “next steps,” according to the study’s website. David Ogden, a county employee who attended the event, emphasized the importance of local communities working together to alleviate the high cost of living. “The reality is the cost of living is going up everywhere,” Ogden said. “If the local communities don’t work together to make it better, who else will?” Dalton Mullins can be reached at dmullins@cornellsun.com.

By SHUBHA GAUTAM Sun Assistant News Editor

Aug. 28 — The Ithaca Common Council announced that it is accepting applications from fourth ward residents interested in serving as an alderperson following the resignation of Alderperson Patrick Kuehl ’24 (D-4th Ward). Applicants can apply through an online form through Sept. 11. The vacancy and application were announced via a City press release on Aug. 12. The appointed resident will fill the vacant position until next year’s November municipal election. Kuehl announced his resignation in early July, stepping down two years into his fouryear term to pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Texas at Austin, according to The Ithaca Voice. His resignation became effective on Aug. 5. Alderperson Robin Trumble (D-4th Ward) will continue to represent the ward, which spans the Collegetown area, and said in the press release that the ongoing application will “ensure the ward continues to have strong representation on [the] Common Council.” The applications will be reviewed by a council selection committee chaired by Mayor Robert Cantelmo, M.A. ’20 and including alderpersons Trumble and Ducson Nguyen (D-2nd Ward), according to the press release. Each applicant will have the opportunity to present themselves to the committee and respond to the committee’s questioning, and a candidate will be recommended to the Common Council by Sept. 11. "The Fourth Ward is home to a diverse community with unique needs, includ-

ing the residents, students, businesses and property owners who make Collegetown an important part of Ithaca," Trumble said in the press release. “I encourage residents who are passionate about serving their neighbors and contributing to the future of our community to apply.” Following the recommendation, the council will vote on the proposed appointment at their Oct. 7 regular meeting or during an earlier special meeting. If the appointee receives the majority vote, they will take their seat and assume the duties of their role. Kuehl leaves behind a term initiated by a surprise writein campaign. While a senior at Cornell, Kuehl unseated incumbent Jorge DeFendini ’22 (D-1st Ward) by nine votes in a race with less than 100 total votes, with crucial votes from Cornell fraternities. Kuehl called his experience on the council “truly inspiring” and said he is “proud of how we worked together to deliver results for the community,” according to The Ithaca Voice. Patrick Sewell (I-3rd Ward) said in an interview with The Voice that although Kuehl’s initial appointment was “morally ambiguous,” he became “one of the hardest working members of council.” During his time on the council, Kuehl helped form the Collegetown Community Collective, a nonprofit organization dedicated toward revitalizing the neighborhood through initiatives such as the Summer Concert Series. “I think he has earned our respect,” Sewell told The Voice. “I think he’s done a tremendous job here.” Shubha Gautam can be reached at sgauatam@cornellsun.com.

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By Ashlin Kwong ’28 and Hannia Arevalo ’27

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12 The Cornell Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Features

Mimi Plumb: Shining a ‘Blazing Light’ on Humanity By AVA TAFRESHI Sun Contributor

Full of wanderlust, I found myself serenely roaming around the Arts Quad after dropping a class I had no interest in. Bless. I had some time to kill, so I wondered what I could do instead of spending the day utterly on autopilot and doomscrolling myself into oblivion. I stumbled across the incredible edifice that is Cornell’s Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. As always, I was awestruck. What a blessing it is to have such an incredible cultural hub in the middle of our campus. The museum is studded with absolute gems, transcending time periods and geographic boundaries. In particular, I spent too much time meandering in a carefully curated exhibit named “Blazing Light.”

AVA TAFRESHI / SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Highlighting the work of peerless photographer Mimi Plumb, “Blazing Light” features three vital bodies of work: “Landfall and The Golden City” (1984–2020), “The White Sky” (1972–78) and “The Reservoir” (2021–25). Plumb’s work uses anthropological landscapes to communicate enduring societal issues like climate change, military conflict and destructive capitalism. As an artist based in sunny California, she dims the intensity of the sun’s rays by exclusively capturing black-and-white images. Her gentle technique skillfully highlights the magnificence yet fragility of the American Western landscape while also distinctly depicting urban life. As a young teenager growing up amid the Cold War, she looked to the terrain around her to capture

issues plaguing her lower-income community. She focused on the manufactured environment and the industrial forces humans have imposed on seamless landscapes. Plumb also highlights the excruciating effects the loss of biophilia has on the human condition. Given increasing scientific awareness of climate change, her work gracefully shows the relationship between economic policy, environmental degradation and mental health. First, I walked into the collection of “Landfall and The Golden City,” which distinctly depicts urban life in San Francisco. Its dismal imagery allows the audience to experience the tension of the turbulent times she portrays, exuding an almost dystopian vibe. While I wish I could write an in-depth analytical article on each photograph displayed in this body of work, I was particularly captivated by “17th & South Van Ness, San Francisco.” The intriguing piece puts the ‘Golden City’ on view. While Californian life was glamorized and marketed as utopian, the reality for many residents consisted of searing conditions and expected reticence of the lower class. She emphasizes this underbelly of capitalism, an issue so many are forced to grapple with in silence. Besides solely capturing the harms of stringent laissez-faire economics on the physical landscape, Plumb powerfully exposes the human experience. In “Richard and Girl in the Polka Dot Dress,” the image’s focal points are everyday people sitting still in their anguish. While they seem like simplistic images, Plumb’s work speaks volumes for those unable to advocate for themselves. In “The White Sky” portion of the exhibit, Plumb debunks the fickle facade of the American Dream during the Cold War. While nationwide propaganda ing work of many artists like Plumb allowed Americans to see through this diaphanous guise. In “Lake Nicasio 2,” a man is splayed on a barren desert ground, almost as if he is sunbathing at the beach. The image recalls the rapidly expanding cracks of the American Dream and the drastic differences experienced across socio-economic classes. My favorite piece in this collection was “Boys and Tires, Sears Point,” in which four boys sit in an array of rubber tires, symbolic of the resilience expected of young children during the Cold War. Instead of smil-

ing and playing, children were forced to put up a front and fear the worst from impending nuclear warfare. Finally, “The Reservoir” was the third and most timely collection featured in this exhibition. The displayed photographs plaintively portray the apocalyptic reality of climate change in California. By picturing the ominous changes in the landscape, Plumb shows how sites of leisure are rapidly dissipating. These stark changes are apparent in the series of images called “Tree 1,” “Tree 2” and “Tree 3,” taken across 2021 and 2025, emphasizing drastic waterline recession in a short timeframe. Finally, “The Reservoir” was the third and most timely collection featured in this exhibition. The displayed photographs plaintively portray the apocalyptic reality of climate change in California. By picturing the ominous changes in the landscape, Plumb shows how sites of leisure are rapidly dissipating. These stark changes are apparent in the series of images called “Tree 1,” “Tree 2” and “Tree 3,” taken across 2021 and 2025, emphasizing drastic waterline recession in a short timeframe. Photography is truly worth more than a thousand words. Unfortunately, I am writing this article on a word limit, so it cannot come close to accurately describing the timeless beauty held in each of these unique pieces. So, please take a moment out of your busy schedule to visit this awe-inspiring exhibition in the Gold, Schaenen and Class of 1953 Galleries until Sept. 28, 2026. You may never want to leave. Ava Tafreshi can be reached at atafreshi@cornellsun.com.

AVA TAFRESHI / SUN CONTRIBUTOR

Ancient Objects Hear Their Mother Language Again By ALLEGRA GONZALEZ BARBIERI Sun Contributor

The first thing I noticed when I entered the lower level wing gallery of the Herbert. F Johnson Museum of Art was a large machine sitting in the middle of the room. Black, satellite-like forms stand in a circle with a DJ-like panel at the center, controlling the words the machine plays. Each of the forms is fitted with a glowing yellow bulb which holds a replica Moche ceramic head wearing headphones. Together, they trace what contemporary Peruvian artist Fernando “Huanchaco” Gutierrez describes as the sun’s descent into the underworld. The machines are strange, futuristic and difficult to look away from. Yet, in the exhibition “Checán Stereo,” they’re not really the point. What matters is what the machine is actually doing and what Gutierrez has plugged into

them. A few feet away, inside a glass case, sit several Moche ceramic heads from the Johnson Museum’s own collection. Unlike the ones inside the machines, these are not replicas, but originals sculpted on Peru’s North Coast sometime between 400 and 850 C.E. One of them wears headphones, listening to the same recording that plays throughout the gallery. This visual of an ancient artifact wearing a pair of headphones truly encapsulates the way the exhibition is meant to be seen, experienced and understood. The Huaco (an ancient Andean ceramic object, often created for ceremonial or burial purposes) is no longer displayed as archeological evidence of an ancient civilization. Now, for the duration of the exhibition, the ceramic head becomes a listener, undergoing a transformation. The voice coming through the headphones and heard throughout the whole space speaks

JULIA NAGEL / SUN FILE PHOTO

Muchik, a language once spoken along Peru’s northern coast by communities including the Moche and later the Chimú. Although spoken Muchik has long gone extinct, its sound survives through a 1974 recording of Simon Quesquen, one of the language’s last speakers. Gutierrez was able to acquire this recording through a relative in Trujillo, Peru, his hometown. As Quesquen’s voice plays on a loop, the Moche head appears to listen to a language that may have once surrounded objects like it. This moment felt deeply personal to me: my mother was born and raised in Lima, Peru, where much of my family still lives. Peruvian culture was and has always been present in my life and how I was raised. Therefore, I could not look at the ceramic heads as distant archaeological specimens. They felt closer to me and my family than what a museum or archeological text might encapsulate, contributing to the overall liveliness and vividness of the exhibition’s framing. During the artist talk on Friday, Gutierrez explained that moving the Huacos (referring to the ceramic heads in the exhibition) removes them from the relationship that once gave it meaning: its position within a burial, its alignment with the stars and its connection to the seasonal cycles. Once the Huaco is placed inside a museum, it is classified, dated and studied. It becomes an object. Gutierrez wants visitors to consider what is lost in that transformation, rather than treating the ceramics simply as research material, engaging in a hierarchical relationship with academics. The artist asks the public to engage with them as living entities, how they were treated by the Moche and Chimú people centuries ago. “Checán Stereo” attempts to restore one of these lost relationships through sound. Though the installation cannot return the ceramic heads

to their original burials or recover everything that once surrounded them, what it can do is place them in contact with a surviving voice from the region they were created in. Curator Hugo. C Ikehera-Tsukayama told me that the exhibition also created an opportunity to put objects already in the museum collection into collaboration with contemporary artists from the same country and cultural background. Instead of remaining separated by categories like “ancient” and “contemporary,” the Moche ceramics and Gutierreze’s machines now work together on the same show. All of this is unfolding in Ithaca, New York, far from both the artist’s home and the Huaco’s own. That distance, unusually so, feels intentional. Looking towards the future and working within the present, rather than treating the past as fixed, is close to Gutierrez’s central idea for the exhibition: building new ecosystems and ever-changing stories where nothing is strictly labeled or fixed. This conversation continues throughout the rest of the gallery. A brightly oil-painted panel depicts the ceramic heads becoming living beings wearing the same headphones, becoming alive again through the power of their maternal language. There is also a video showing Gutierrez carrying his machines into archeological museums in Peru, performing a similar ritual with their own collections. On the back wall, small oil paintings function as instructions on how the machine operates. All the while, a Muchik recording keeps playing in the background. To continue reading this story, please visit www.cornellsun.com. Allegra Gonzalez Barbieri can be reached at ag2745@cornell.edu.

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ARTS & CULTURE

A & C

HATER FRIDAY | Stop Making TikTok Edits By ALI ALSAIF Arts & Culture Contributor

Michelangelo had his mallet, Daft Punk had their synthesizers and Stanley Kubrick had his ZEISS lenses. The humble TikTok editor has CapCut: an impressive tool — if only they didn’t feel the need to use it on literally everyone and everything. Like most Cornell students, I (unfortunately) scroll. Whether it be Instagram Reels or TikTok, platforms have honed their short-form craft well enough to keep us satiated for hours on end. You might enjoy watching cat videos, fragmented clips of movies and TV shows or brainrot in all its forms. I can get behind most of these, as harmful as this sort of content is for us, but the one thing I simply cannot stand is the current state of the “edit.” But first, what exactly is an edit? Put simply, it is a short video that takes footage of a person, character, celebrity, athlete or some other culturally significant object and slaps music, transitions, effects and text over it until it becomes almost entirely unrecognizable from the original. The goal, presumably, is to make the subject look cool. Sometimes it succeeds. More often, it looks like someone discovered the keyframes tab and immediately lost control of their motor functions. My problem is not that edits exist. In fact, a genuinely good edit can be pretty impressive. There is something satisfying about well-timed cuts, clever use of a trendy song and visual effects that actually serve a purpose. The problem is that social media has collectively decided that every-

thing needs to be edited as if it is the final trailer for a $300 million action movie. Cristiano Ronaldo could simply turn around. Suddenly, the screen shakes. The footage slows to 0.3x speed. A bass-heavy phonk song begins to crescendo. His eyes are sharpened to an almost medically concerning degree. Text appears, typically an obnoxiously large watermark or maybe the usual “AURA” in bold. The frame flashes white. He turns around again, this time in reverse. Somehow, there are now six copies of him. And for what? He was looking for his water bottle. The editing itself often follows a predictable formula. First comes the dramatic zoom. Then the screen shakes. Then some sort of chromatic aberration that makes everything look like it was filmed through a concussion. Finally, there is an explosion of particles. None of these effects are typically bad individually, but together, they communicate the unmistakable message that something happened. What actually happened is less important. Perhaps this is why edits bother me so much: They are less interested in the subject than in manufacturing a reaction to the subject. A basketball player makes a good play, a character delivers a line or some celebrity walks into a room, and the edit insists that is one of the great, grand events of our time. While the edit does not explicate such an idea, how else are you supposed to feel when said individual has been framed by swelling

music and accompanied by the visual grammar ordinarily reserved for coronations, battles and the crossing of the Rubicon? There is no room for subtlety. There is no room for simply thinking someone is cool or attractive. Everything must be INSANE, COLD, HOT or AURA FARMING. The irony is that the best edits are usually the ones that know when to stop. Editing should enhance a moment, not hold it hostage. If I need to watch a 14-second clip six times to feed my dopamine receptors or just to understand what happened, then maybe there are too many transitions. Congratulations, you have successfully edited the entertainment out of your entertainment. So, to the editors all across Instagram, TikTok and even the scant few exclusively reserving their talents for the cultural juggernaut that is YouTube Shorts, please put down CapCut. Let the man turn around. Let the footballer score. Let the fictional character say their line. Not every moment needs to be the hardest thing anyone has ever seen. Sometimes a guy is just walking. He does not have aura. Ali AlSaif is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is a contributor for the Arts and Culture department and can be reached at aea252@cornell.edu. ‘Hater Friday’ runs on Fridays and centers around critiquing media or culture.

TEST SPINS | ‘Beggars Banquet’ By SYDNEY LEVINTON Senior Editor

I was a freshman in high school when I first started writing about music. My English teacher assigned me my first ever research paper — gosh, the innocence — and I didn’t have the slightest idea of what to write about. I brainstormed for days, but all that I could determine was that I wanted my topic to involve people. My teacher recommended that we use ProQuest to figure out our topics (baby’s first database search!) which is how I stumbled upon a little band known as The Rolling Stones. Now, of course I had heard of them before, and I was familiar enough with “Beast of Burden,” but I really didn’t know anything about The Rolling Stones, the people. This research paper ended up being the rabbit hole I never knew I needed. It made me realize not just how important the people behind the music are in the life of an album, but also how vital the listeners can be. Along the way, I learned about the Stones’ 1968 record Beggars Banquet, largely regarded as one of their best albums and a return to regularly scheduled programming after their foray into psychedelia with their dumpster fire-esque 1967 release, Their Satanic Majesties Request. Aside from the obvious jokes that can be made about this record’s title in association with Robert Pattinson’s performance in The Odyssey (See: “Somebody get these beggars out of here!”), Beggars Banquet stands out to me as a plea for forgiveness from the Stones to their fans. It encapsulates the humanity in music, the give-and-take

ARTS

CULTURE

between an artist or group and their fans when music is released — the desire for both parties to be satisfied with the work. Beggars Banquet is a return to the Stones’ roots, the blues rock that spurred the creation of the Stones in the first place, and that established the Stones’ appeal to their fans. And in a way, this is a return to my roots as well; this was the group that originally made me want to write about music, so there is no better way to kick off my final year of writing Test Spins for The Sun than to return to the band that started it all. Beggars Banquet starts off with “Sympathy For The Devil” — a title that overtly reminds the audience of the name of Satanic Majesties — yet this track shares nothing with that record beyond that. Mick Jagger sings from the devil’s perspective here — a choice that garnered a lot of backlash. With lyrics inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita, “Sympathy For The Devil” combines commentary on society with a samba-infused sound, placing the psychedelia of Satanic Majesties firmly in the Stones’ past. Similarly, “No Expectations” is deeply embedded in the blues that inspired the Stones to make music. It is uncharacteristically peaceful; Jagger’s voice takes on a simple, lulling ebb and flow, while Brian Jones uses the acoustic slide guitar to create a softer sound. In “Dear Doctor,” Jagger sings about a man being left at the altar and whips out a faux American accent as Jones wields the harmonica to drive home a more folksy, country-blues sound.

“Parachute Woman” is another bluesheavy track, but it’s more notable for its extremely suggestive lyrics than anything else. “Jigsaw Puzzle” marks a slight shift within the record; Jagger exchanges his grittier vocals from the earlier tracks for a softer sound. In fact, some claim “Jigsaw Puzzle” is derivative of Bob Dylan’s work in the 1960s. The song becomes autobiographical by the third verse, offering a bit of insight into the people behind the band: “Oh the singer, he looks angry / At being thrown to the lions / And the bass player, he looks nervous / About the girls outside / And the drummer, he’s so shattered / Trying to keep on time / And the guitar players look damaged / They’ve been outcasts all their lives.” Notably, the members’ names are not used here — their identities are boiled down to their roles within the band, making the two seem inextricably tied. Meanwhile, “Street Fighting Man” compares the contemporary political state of England with the situations in the United States and France. The song was recorded on Keith Richards’ cassette, giving it a chalky quality and drawing out Jones’ contribution on the sitar. “Prodigal Son” is a cover of Reverend Robert Wilkins’ original song, and it reminds the listener of the Stones’ earlier influences of gospel and other religious music. “Stray Cat Blues” fuses hard rock with blues rock more than any of the other songs on the record, providing a bit of diversity while also hinting at just how far the Stones’ have traveled from their early days. “Factory Girl” leans more folk and sees Jagger waiting

for his factory girl to get out of work. That tawdry accent is back — for better or for worse — in an attempt to convince the listeners that the Stones are just like us. They take it a step further with the final song on the album, “Salt Of The Earth,” in which Richards and Jagger share lead vocals. The song is an acknowledgement of the working class, and it puts a face to the down-and-out American persona Jagger inhabits in the Stones’ return to blues. So yes, Beggars Banquet is both a promise for a return to normalcy and an apology for the breach of the fans’ trust with Their Satanic Majesties Request. There’s a reason the Stones have had such longevity, even releasing music as recently as this past July — they’ve learned (after a few bumps in the road) what brings their listeners back. We all know the saying “Go back to the basics,” and that’s exactly what the Stones have done with Beggars Banquet. The Stones may have lost the plot in 1967 and turned off some listeners in the process, but they found it again in 1968 and reeled them right back in. Not only was that great for the Stones, but it was a magnificent element of drama for my first-ever research paper, and for that, I can’t thank them enough. Sydney Levinton is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a senior specializing in music and was the arts and culture editor on the 142nd and 143rd Editorial Boards. She can be reached at slevinton@cornellsun.com. Test Spins is a fortnightly throwback column reviewing and recommending classic and underrated albums from the past. It runs every other Friday.

A & C

The Corne¬ Daily Sun | Wednesday, September 2, 2026 | 15

Dolly Parton: The Queen of Country GIA LISH ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

This week the world mourns Dolly Parton, the legendary, rhinestone-studded country artist who heralded in a new era for female singers and performers by exemplifying what it means to build yourself from the ground up. As shock ripples across the world, hers is the name on everybody’s tongue, and everyone is suddenly discovering which of their friends are into country music. Parton passed away on Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer, the details of which her family has elected not to share. Instead, her nephew, Bryan Seaver, posted a short, somber video on Instagram announcing her death and reflecting on her fortitude and humility. “Dolly was a farmer, just like her daddy,” he said. “He farmed the soil, she farmed songs and happiness.” Flags will fly at half-mast this week in her honor as the world pays tribute to the Queen of Country whose spirit lingers as delicately as the last chord of a bluegrass ballad. Parton was born and raised in a two-room log cabin in Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children. She honors her humble upbringings in Appalachia in many of her songs, including “Coat of Many Colors” and “My Tennessee Mountain Home.” After receiving her first guitar from her uncle Bill Owens, Parton made her television debut at just 10 years old in Knoxville, and by the age of 13 she was catching the public eye at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Every little girl who puts on informal performances in the living room for their parents imagines such a launch into fame (guilty). In 1966, her song “Dumb Blonde” became her first Top 40 hit when she was only 20 years old, marking the outset of an exceptional career. Throughout her life, Dolly Parton had 25 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country music

charts, setting a record for the only female artist to do so, starred in over a dozen films, including the cult classic 9 to 5 , and even published a trilogy of The New York Times bestselling novels. Yet, her career also included years of significant philanthropic contributions towards education, medical infrastructure, research and disaster relief. She focused her work through her two nonprofit organizations, The Dollywood Foundation and The Imagination Library, which are dedicated to providing educational opportunities for children like her who grew up without the resources necessary to pursue knowledge to the greatest extent. Parton also donated millions of dollars to research on the COVID-19 vaccine, relief efforts after Hurricane Helene in 2024 and scholarships to graduating seniors who have a dream and the drive to pursue it. Her efforts in philanthropy earned her the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, a prestigious award recognizing those who embody “the philosophy of giving.” Though I consider it remarkable enough that one woman was such a paragon of talent and charity, she didn’t stop there. Beyond the money and the awards, Dolly Parton was a role model and an inspiration for working women around the world. Effectively the Elle Woods of country music, Parton used her platform to illuminate gender inequities in the workplace and empower women to demand respect and stand up for their independence. Her brazen ambition and glamorous style served as inspiration for many of the top female country artists of today, including Ella Langley, Carrie Underwood and Shania Twain. Twain posted this response to Parton’s death alongside a video from 2003 of the pair performing together on The Oprah Winfrey Show: “Dolly was pure light sent from heaven. My mentor is gone. My songwriting teacher and hero of grace and humility. There is a hole in my heart but the joy of just

the thought of her smile will continue to fill me with inspiration for as long as I live.” Langley, who recently broke a Billboard Top 100 record previously held by Dolly Parton, wrote in her own response: “You paved the way for so many to be brave. Thank you for being unafraid to show your most authentic self. The world needed Dolly.” “People relate to me because I grew up poor and in a big family. They know I understand all the hardships,” Parton said in a Billboard interview in 2014, “I’m more successful now than I was [in 1964], but I still feel like the same girl. I’m just a working girl.” And, not to mention, one of the most successful female artists of all time. Humility and selflessness were trademark Dolly. Later in the same interview, when commenting on the diversity of her followers, she shared, “I’ve struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. … I try to love everybody.” This sincere altruism is what set Dolly Parton apart from other artists and celebrities of our time. It wasn’t just the rankings of her music or her signature glitz and glam, but rather her genuine humanity and authentic soul. This is an incredibly polarizing time for the United States, and it is almost impossible to find something that you, your neighbors and your online friends can all agree on. Yet, this week our country is united over one ambitious, fiery country girl from Tennessee. With the voice of an angel and a spirit as precious as the stones she wore, Dolly Parton left behind her an indelible mark on all those who heard her music and found themselves within it. There is a special island waiting down the stream for you, Dolly. We will always love you. Gia Lish is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at glish@cornellsun.com.

Tim Curry, ‘Rocky Horror’ Star and Pioneer GUSTAVO PONZOA ARTS & CULTURE CONTRIBUTOR

On Aug. 25, the British actor Tim Curry, celebrated for his roles in Hollywood and on Broadway alike, died at age 80. Curry had suffered a major stroke in 2012 that diminished his health. Most known for his part in The Rocky Horror Picture Show as the cross-dressing Frank-N-Furter, Curry delighted audiences with the unrivaled eccentricity and goofy charm he brought to his performances. Equal parts mad scientist and queer icon, Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his lecherous antics made Rocky Horror into perhaps the quintessential cult classic. Curry’s character seduces a respectable couple into his castle laboratory, where he is making a beautiful he-monster for his personal enjoyment. Chaos ensues, aliens get involved and fashion has never quite been the same. While Rocky Horror itself failed to make a profit at first, it has the same cultural significance as the greatest blockbusters of the era. Light years ahead of its time in terms of making androgyny, pansexuality and playing with gender mainstream, Rocky Horror also possesses one of the most devoted fanbases in all of media. In no other film screening would it be acceptable to swear at the screen for an hour en masse or even ignore the movie entirely to do your own rendition. Thanks to Tim Curry’s electric performance, Rocky Horror has captured audiences for decades, and fans never can get enough of doing the Time Warp in front of the screen. In a 1975 interview, Curry admitted that his role in Rocky Horror would be “a difficult image to shake off.” Though it’s not hard to see why, Curry’s myriad other roles ought to deter you from pigeonholing him as his cross-dressing, murdering, lascivious character in Rocky Horror. Curry

was nominated for three Tony awards during his time on Broadway, including playing Mozart in Amadeus (1981) alongside Ian McKellen and King Arthur in the Monty Python-inspired musical Spamalot (2005). His other noteworthy roles include Rooster Hannigan from Annie (1982), a con artist who kidnaps the titular orphan; Wadsworth in Clue (1985), the frenzied butler; the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance (1982) and Pennywise in the mini-series It (1990). Tim Curry’s legacy lives on through shadow cast portrayals of Rocky Horror, and thanks to the annual production by Cornell’s Risley Theater, that tradition is kept alive on our campus. For 34 years, Risley has performed Rocky Horror, and whoever is lucky enough to be cast as Dr. FrankN-Furter has had the challenge of portraying the cartoon villain-like character with the energy and talent that Curry did. I was a “Rocky Virgin” when I saw Risley’s production of Rocky Horror last year, and immediately I was enthralled by the audience around me. With the fan-made script on my phone and a red lipstick “V” on my forehead, I shouted obscenities and insulted the characters alongside a hundred others in their Halloween costumes. Oftentimes, the biggest struggle of creating an engaging performance is getting audiences to suspend their disbelief, their snarky pessimism or their propensity to deride art. Yet somehow, the box office flop Rocky Horror has turned this challenge on its head by captivating audiences with its very kitschiness and cheapness. Rocky Horror doesn’t stoop to ‘so bad, it’s good’ territory either; it transcends the good-bad spectrum, and the only word that can meaningfully describe Rocky Horror is entertaining. This is, of course, in large part Tim Curry’s doing. He is a great actor, but it’s not his acting chops that makes Dr. Frank-N-Furter so memorable, but rather Curry’s personality which

shines through his character. This week we’ve seen two beloved figures of pop culture leave us, and now more than ever is the time to appreciate and remember them for what they have given us. The next Risley performance of Rocky Horror may carry a doleful air, but I am convinced that nothing could kill the vibes of a Rocky Horror screening. If anything, the chants will be louder than ever, the visual gags more disturbing and the music more spirited. So thank you, Tim Curry, for what you have given us. May shadow cast Frank-N-Furters everywhere continue to be as outlandish as you were.

COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX

Gustavo Ponzoa is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a contributor for the Arts and Culture department and can be reached at gap87@cornell.edu.

ARTS & CULTURE

16 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2026

Sports

The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Why You Should Apply to the Cornell Hockey Beat By TYLER GOLDBERG AND ELI KWAIT Sun Senior Writers

Eli Kwait There came a point during the spring semester of my freshman year when the mushy snow seemed as though it would never leave. Fighting freezing gusts of wind while walking to the dining hall, I wondered: “Why did I ever convince myself I liked winter?” Well, of course there is hockey during the winter. I mean, Cornell is a hockey school. And what kind of hockey school has warm weather in the winter? I had been enjoying my time so far as a writer for the Cornell Hockey Beat, standing in the press box at Lynah Rink during games and interviewing players and coaches postgame. It gave me something to look forward to as I sludged through General Chemistry. But, I needed to reconnect with winter. Because at that moment, it was kicking my butt. As I thought ahead to the upcoming weeks, I saw light at the end of the tunnel. Lake Placid. Two-time hosts to the Winter Olympics and the birthplace of the “Miracle on Ice,” Lake Placid was in my future. The Cornell women’s hockey team was preparing to play in the ECAC Women’s Hockey Championship on the ice of the historic Herb Brooks Arena. Then senior editor Eli Fastiff and I were slated to make the trek northeast to cover the tournament. Despite taking a wrong turn and almost ending up in Canada, the trip was a nice diversion from college life. Touring the Olympic training centers, the museums and covering the tournament reminded me of what I love about winter: hockey and the Cornell Hockey Beat. The beat has been an amazing addition to my experience at Cornell, not only giving me a productive role outside of STEM, but also allowing me to engage with the sport I love. Tyler Goldberg “Why not?” That was the comment I made before opening

the hockey beat application. I never foresaw myself being anything more than a hockey fan, but when I saw a @cornellsunsports Instagram story advertising the application, I ran with it and never looked back. I applied at the behest of my friends and family, who no longer wanted to be the recipients of my game breakdowns and rants about hockey and its relationship to Cornell. I applied with no formal writing experience, as a pre-vet Animal Science major who retired from hockey, only reaching the peaks of the third line on the B team of an Upstate New York hockey club. When I left the Mann Library Cafe after my interview for the beat, I was confident of one thing: I wanted to be a part of this team One year in, this experience has been one of the greatest in my life. It has given me opportunities, friendships and memories that I never could have imagined when I clicked “apply” that day. One of those memories ended at 2 a.m. in New York City. As I stepped out of Madison Square Garden, I reflected on what I had just experienced. Not only was I leaving from a back press entrance that I had no prior knowledge of, but I had just gotten to see the historic press room while representing my school at Red Hot Hockey. I had sat in a press cubicle, imagining the many great events that had been chronicled in that very room. I interviewed NHL first-round draft picks and stood by the tunnel while Cornell took the ice. However, what I truly reflected on was my conversation in the press box with a fellow Cornellian about our Organic Chemistry problem set, the normal, mundane conversations about school life and how to properly spend the thirty-dollar MSG meal stipend. As I finally arrived home, I once again thought about the “why not” question. What I remember from my first year with the Cornell Hockey Beat is how easily the extraordinary became normal, and how quickly strangers became colleagues and friends. The Cornell Hockey Beat is, at its heart, dedicated to providing the Cornell community with accurate, in-depth coverage of both the men’s and women’s hockey teams. In practice, that means a team of reporters and creatives writing stories, cap-

turing photos and recording videos of every game, every award and every unique detail. That’s where you come in. As you may have noticed from our stories, we (Eli and Tyler) are just two people. For the hockey beat to be successful, a team is needed. We want people who are passionate about hockey and who bring creative ideas to light. Take a chance and apply to the Cornell Hockey Beat. Why not? Applications can be found in The Sun’s Instagram biography @cornellsun, and are due at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13.

COURTESY OF TYLER GOLDBERG

Madison Square Garden | The Cornell Hockey Beat reporting rinkside at Red Hot Hockey in New York City. Tyler Goldberg can be reached at tgoldberg@cornellsun.com and Eli Kwait can be reached at ekwait@cornellsun.com.

An Inside Look Into Volleyball’s Upcoming Season By BUZMAEL JOANUS Sun Staff Writer

After a heartbreaking finish to volleyball’s season in 2025, head coach Trudy Vande Berg is looking to revamp the team’s identity. While the previous season featured stellar offense performances, Vande Berg is looking to tap into the team’s defensive edge. “I think we’re going to dig more balls, and we’re going to be much more difficult to score against this year,” Vande Berg highlighted. “[We’ll be] gritty, and feisty, and annoying in a good way.” The team saw five seniors graduate, including four starters. Though the group lost its starting setter in Do a Özalp, both outside hitters and key defensive players, the Red has returned with a new fire to continue building on what was a historic season. “In the offseason, we worked really hard on figuring out who we were going to be for this season and [the team] fell right into it,” Vande Berg said. “The freshmen have been great, so I’m really excited.” During this past recruiting season, Cornell welcomed four freshmen to the team, and they have each made significant impact during preseason training. From outside hitter Kiran Rio’s crafty hitting, to outside hitters Charlotte Nowak and Ellery Williamson’s towering front row presence, to setter Navaeh Tien’s stifling back row defense, it is clear that each of these freshmen put in the work during the offseason to immediately contribute to the

success of the team. In addition, returning starters like senior libero Sara Pomar and sophomore setter Mikalya Gray have established a calming presence to this team’s evolving identity.

“Having played for so long and being part of so many teams, I’ve learned how important the people around you and the culture you create together really are.” Senior Sara Pomar “Going into my sophomore year, I’m focused on being more consistent and taking on a bigger leadership role offensively,” Gray said. “Technically, I’ve been working a lot on keeping a faster tempo across the net and making creative plays to open up the seams.” As the now-quarterback of the team’s offense, Gray has raised the bar for both herself and her teammates, emulating confidence in the face of uncertainty. “I think a big part of my role is making sure everyone feels comfortable communicating with me and knows I have their back 100%,” Gray added. “The more we trust each other, the more natural our offense will flow.” In the back row, Pomar is bringing the same energy that defines her personality and the team’s

defensive identity. “Having played for so long and being part of so many teams, I’ve learned how important the people around you and the culture you create together really are,” Pomar highlighted. “This group genuinely loves being around each other, and every person has an important role both on and off the court.” The Red’s season is slated to start with the Cornell Invitational in just five days, and the pressure is on for the Red to finalize the starting lineup, serve-receive rotations and set plays. “Every year we try to simulate a regular weekend tournament, so we’ll do a red-white scrimmage on Friday night, and then on Saturday we’ll play two matches against Ithaca College,” coach Vande Berg added. “That will get those nerves out, and it’ll help us identify more of a starting line-up without having to figure that out in a match that counts in the standings.” As another season heads underway, there is one philosophy that coach Vande Berg believes has held true in all prior seasons, and will be especially true for this one: “defense wins championships.” The Cornell Invitational will run from Friday, Sept. 4 through the following day at Newman Arena. The Red will take on the Howard Bisons, University at Albany Great Danes and the Syracuse Orange. Further details are available on the Cornell Athletics webpage, and coverage will be available throughout the weekend on ESPN+. Buzmael Joanus can be reached at bjoanus@cornellsun.com.