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02 18 14 entire issue lo res

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The Corne¬ Daily Sun

Amid Commons Construction, Retailers Face Drop in Sales

Following multiple delays on the completion of the Commons construction project, downtown retailers saw a 10 percent decrease in foot traffic and sales in 2014 compared to 2013, according to a report from the Downtown Ithaca Alliance

Compared to last year, downtown businesses saw a six percent average decrease in sales for the entire year, with retailers experiencing a 14 percent decline for the holiday season Of the 150 businesses eligible, 55 responded to the survey

The report titled “Trends in Downtown Business Sales: 2014” and first reported on by The Ithaca Voice sought to examine both the state of businesses downtown and the affect businesses felt during

COMMONS page 4

Snow slowdown | Stores in downtown Ithaca experienced lower foot traffic in 2014, as the Commons undergoes construction

Lambda Chi Alpha Suspension Lifted

The University restored recognition for the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity Friday following its suspension on Feb 2, according to Joel Malina, vice president for university relations

“The chapter can resume all activities except social activities, and may not host guests at the house other than for chapter business, pending a Greek Judicial Board hearing later this semester, ” Malina said in a press release

Malina announced Feb 4 that the fraternity had been placed on interim suspension two days prior, pending an investigation On the morning

of Feb 1, the Ithaca Police Department responded to a reported sex offense at One Edgecliff Pl , where Lambda Chi Alpha is currently located as its house undergoes renovations

However, Malina’s announcement on the lifted suspension did not provide a reason why the fraternity was originally suspended

This is the second time this semester the administration has suspended a fraternity On Jan 30, Cornell suspended the Psi Upsilon fraternity following claims about an alcohol and illicit substance incident that were later found unsubstantiated

Contest Gives Cornellians Opportunity To Design College Avenue Complex

An architecture competition is providing Cornellians with the opportunity to personally shape Collegetown by designing a future apartment complex at 315 College Ave

Hosted by Lambrou Real Estate, the architecture competition ends its first phase today and was open to anyone affiliated with Cornell who wanted to design the planned development that sits north of The Nines restaurant

The development will set a “ new national standard for student housing,” according to Evan Lambrou, who is leading the project Lambrou said he hopes the development

See COLLEGE AVENUE page 4

MICHAELA BREW / SUN SEN OR PHOTOGRAPHER

Putting up a facade | Lambrou Real Estate is hosting a competition, open to all Cornellians, to redesign 315 College Ave , pictured left

Vacation time | Above: Students brave Libe Slope on a snowy day Inset: Ithaca’s travel website urges tourists to visit Florida rather than Ithaca

In the midst of a particularly frigid winter, VisitIthaca com the Ithaca Conventions and Visitors Bureau’s website began urging potential tourists to visit the Florida Keys and Key West instead of Ithaca Sunday night

“That’s it We surrender Winter, you win Key West anyone?” read the message, which was displayed at the top of a pop-up on the VisitIthaca com website The message linked visitors to the tourism site for the Florida Keys

“Due to this ridiculously stupid weather, Ithaca invites you to visit The Keys this week,” the website also read “Please come back when things thaw out Really, it’s for the birds now ”

Bruce Stoff, the Ithaca Visitors Bureau director who came up with the idea, said he, along with millions of other Northeasterners, was fed up with the brutal winter and hoped the unconventional message would be a unique way to engage with customers, according to The Ithaca Journal

Stoff said he pitched the idea which was not part of any Florida Keys advertising campaign to the Florida Keys Tourism Council last week, according to CNN

Andy Newman, a spokesperson from the Florida Keys Tourism Council, said the idea was “the wackiest thing [he’s] ever seen in [his] life from a tourism marketing standpoint,” CNN reported

While the website no longer displays the pop-up, it has attracted thousands of online visitors, trended on social media websites and been covered by numerous news outlets, including USA Today, National Public Radio and The Telegraph

VisitIthaca com had gained about 10,580 hits by early afternoon Monday, according to The Journal

Compiled by Gabriella Lee

Ithaca Visitor Site: Visit Florida Keys Instead
Sofia Hu can be reached at shu@cornellsun com
By CHRISTOPHER BYRNS Sun Staff Writer
In Good Taste
Cornell Close-ups profiles
chef Hans Butler, who started his own restaurant before joining Risley Dining
Throwing Shade Tyran Grillo grad says he thinks Fifty Shades of Grey is

Ash

Super-Earth and Super-Venus 3:30 - 4:30 p m , 2146 Snee Hall The Making of an Avant-Garde: The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies 5:15 p m , Milstein Hall

C U Music: Cellist Elizabeth Lyon 8 - 9:45 p m , Barnes Hall Auditorium

Technology Distractions in the Classroom: How to

weather FORECAST

Weird News of the Week

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Man Creates Black Ice To Mask Drunk-Driving Crash

SPARTA, N J (AP) A man poured water onto a freezing road to try to fool police officers into thinking the cause of his drunken car crash was black ice, authorities said Bryan Byers hit a guardrail after running a stop sign in a BMW early Saturday morning, police said Shortly after the crash, they said, a friend, Alexander Zambenedetti, showed up in his own car and they then dumped five-gallon buckets of water onto the road to create black ice, a thin film of ice that is transparent enough for the roadway to be seen through it

court Thursday

Police said it took a half-ton of salt to melt the ice and make the road passable

“I’ve seen a lot of dumb stuff,” police Sgt Dennis Proctor said “But not this dumb ”

The officer who initially saw Byers running toward his friend’s car, also a BMW, believed that he was a deer or maybe a bear on the road, Proctor said

He said Byers drove his car to his home, about a halfmile from the crash, after hitting the guardrail before returning But the officer said Byers’ car ’ s license plate was still on the road

Boar Causes Ruckus In Spain Airport

An officer on patrol in the area saw Byers walking in the road and Zambenedetti sitting in his car with two buckets of water in the back seat at around 2:45 a m , police said Zambenedetti was not wearing a shirt despite a wind chill of 15 below zero, they said Byers, who lives in Sparta, confessed to the plan, which left skid marks visible under the thin layer of ice at the intersection, authorities said Byers was arrested Saturday and was charged with drunken driving and other offenses His friend also was charged with drunken driving Byers could not be reached for comment by telephone Tuesday Zambenedetti did not immediately return a phone call Both men are due in

MADRID (AP) Spain’s airport authority says a wild boar that broke through a perimeter fence at Madrid’s international airport caused runways to be shut briefly and two landings to be delayed

The beast set off security alarms late Friday and when cameras focused on the spot, operators observed it turning around and loping off through the hole it had made

The incident happened 100 yards from the nearest stretch of runway It delayed an incoming flight from London 20 minutes and a domestic flight from A Coruna 10 minutes, the airpor t authority’s statement said Saturday Today Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Chef Hans Butler introduces local food to Risley Dining

Hans Butler’s colorful, more than 20-year-long journey through the restaurant industr y has led him to become a chef at Risley Dining and remain at the forefront of local food trends

Butler said his path to Cornell Dining began when he entered the dining industr y as a dishwasher when he was 14, and worked as a sous chef for Dano’s when it was on Cayuga Lake when he was 20 After leaving Ithaca to work and attending school in Texas and Michigan, he said he returned in 2005 to found his own restaurant called Watercress on Triphammer Road

dried beans There, he said he taught classes and developed recipes on how to use whole foods and dr y beans He has also worked at a bean farm and at Mexeo, a former Mexican restaurant in Collegetown

Butler said he used to make his own cured, smoked and fresh sausages from scratch, which cultivated his passion for fresh, organic ingredients

“ When I learned about breaking down whole animals, making sausage and pickling, that was a breakthrough This was great, ” Butler said “ You didn’t need to buy it in the store You can make it yourself You can put your own twist on it ”

“ That’s where I really transitioned from fine dining to fine dining that was sourced from local ingredients, utiliz-

i n g t h e f

menus, ” he said

After his restaurant closed, Butler said he worked at Cayuga Pure Organics, a company that sells grains and

At Panel, Myrick ’09

w

s o b e r, ” My r i c k s a i d “ It’s t o u g h e n o u g h t o s l e e p o n t h e s t re e t w h e n i t ’ s w a r m ” My r i c k , a l o n g w i t h G we n Wi l k i n s o n , To m p k i n s C o u n t y d i s t r i c t a t t o r n e y a n d A n d re w Ta y l o r, s u b s t a n c e u s e o u t re a c h s p e c i a l i s t So u t h e r n Ti e r A I D S Pro g r a m , a d d re s s e d i s s u e s o f d r u g c r i m i n a l i z a t i o n a n d a n s we re d

c o m m u n i t y m e m b e r s ’ q u e s t i o n s a t a p a n e l f o l l ow i n g a f i l m s c r e e n i n g o f T h e H o u s e I L i v e In a t t h e

C i n e m a p o l i s T h e f i l m w h i c h d i s c u s s e s t h e Un i t e d St a t e ’ s w a r o n d r u g s a n d t h e h a r m t h a t m a s s i n c a rc e r a t i o n h a s c a u s e d t o c o m m u n i t i e s a n d l owe r - i n c o m e f a m i l i e s a c t e d a s a b u i l d i n g b l o c k f o r t h e q u e s t i o n a n d a n s we r s e s s i o n a f t e r w a rd s T h e d i s c u s s i o n f o c u s e d o n h ow a c t i o n c a n b e t a k e n i n t h e It h a c a c o m m u n i t y t o c h a n g e t h e c u r re n t d r u g a n d c r i m i n a l i z a t i o n c yc l e “ [ We ] h a ve t o c h a n g e o u r p r i o r i t i e s a t t h e f e d e r a l a n d t h e s t a t e l e ve l , ” My r i c k s a i d “ We h a ve g o t t o g e t b e t t e r h e a l t h c a re a n d b e t t e r m e n t a l h e a l t h We h a ve t o i n ve s t m o re i n e d u c a t i o n i n s t e a d o f c u t t i n g i t We h a ve

t o i n ve s t m o re i n j o b t r a i n i n g p ro g r a m s ”

While Butler said keeping local food on the menu is “kind of challenging,” he has prioritized the quality and origins of food throughout his career “ You can do e v e r y t h i n g local, but we ’ re i n a g l o b a l economy so you h a v e t o p i c k and choose and be conscious of why you ’ re buying something,” Butler said “So I think that it’s important to be c

c i s i o n s n

j u s t s h o o t i n g from the hip all the time ” Bu t l e r s a i d

he felt equipped to tackle large-scale college dining because he worked as a catering super visor at EatZi’s which he described as “the closest thing I’ve done that was comparable to collegiate dining ”

Butler, who trained at the culinar y school of the Art Institute in Houston, Texas, said he encouraged students

interested in the restaurant industr y to attend a culinar y school or apprentice in a countr y where they enjoy the cuisine

“Even if you go to culinar y school, that’s only one step, ” he said “ You definitely need to be applying all that stuff you ’ re learning in a practical environment ”

Butler, who began working at Cornell a year and a half ago, said he was impressed by the diversity of Cornell’s dining menu

“ When I was researching and comparing Cornell’s dining menu, the menus were so creative and much more ethnically diverse than a lot of other collegiate dining menus, ” he said “ We’re doing a lot of fresh food, whole foods, local foods and seasonal foods ”

As a chef at Risley, Butler said he has been “tweaking stuff,” including the dishes that the North Campus dining hall ser ves

“ We’ll have monotony breakers ever y once in a while where I’ll just delete the menu and we’ll come up with a theme,” he said

Butler said he uses these “breakers” to introduce new recipes that often include local goods Beyond Risley Dining, Butler also said he competed with three other

“We’ll have monotony breakers every once in a while where I’ll just delete the menu and we’ll come up with a theme ” H a n s B u t l e r

Cornell chefs in the American Culinar y Federation cooking competition in Januar y, where the team won silver honors

Butler made a French pastr y with spiced sweet potato diplomat cream, walnut brittle and blood orange compote

“As a chef I’m allowed to be creative and come up with the recipes,” he said

Jonathan Dawson can be reached at jdawson@cornellsun com

for Housing Plan to Combat Poverty

In o rd e r t o c re a t e t h e l a r g e s t i m p a c t o n d r u g c r i m in a l i z a t i o n , c i t i ze n s m u s t vo t e f o r l e a d e r s a t t h e s t a t e a n d f e d e r a l l e ve l w h o p r i o r i t i ze s o l v i n g t h e “ 4 0 - ye a r - o l d p ro b l e m , ” My r i c k s a i d Eve n t h o u g h t h e i s s u e i s l a r g e r t h a n j u s t o n e m u n i c i p a l i t y, i t i s n o t a n e xc u s e f o r t h e c o m m u n i t y ’ s i n a c t i o n , a c c o rd i n g t o My r i c k “ L o c a l l y, we h a ve t o f i g h t t o m a k e h o u s i n g i n t h e c i t y o f It h a c a m o re a f f o rd a b l e , ” h e s a i d “ We g o t t o b u i l d m o re j o b s i n t o t h e c i t y o f It

h

t p e o p

c

“We got to do all parts to just fix this system instead of waiting for someone at the state or federal level ” M a y o r S v a n t e M y r i c k ’ 0 9

l i f t t h e m s e l ve s u p [ w i t h ] We g o t t o d o a l l p a r t s t o j u s t f i x t h i s s y s t e m i n s t e a d o f w a i t i n g f o r s o m e o n e a t t h e s t a t e o r f e d e r a l l e ve l ” My r

r

n

e It h a c a c o m m u n i t y “ [ T h e a d d i c t i o n s u p p o r t re s o u rc e s a re ] f a r b e t t e r t h a n m o s t a n y c o m m u n i t y yo u’l l f i n d o u t t h e re , b u t t h e o n e t h i n g t h a t I t h i n k we c a n re a l l y f o c u s o n i s h o u s i n g : b o t h a f f o rd a b l e h o u s i n g a n d t r a n s i t i o n a l h o u s i n g , ” My r i c k s a i d Wi l k i n s o n ,

t h e p a n

k e r s , s a i d d u r i n g t h e q u e s t i o n p e r i o d t h a t t h e f i l m e x p re s s e d “ t w o i m p o rt a n t t r u t h s ” “ Fi r s t a n d f o re m o s t , s u b s t a n c e a b u s e i s a p u b l i c h e a l t h i s s u e a n d i t ’ s p u b l i c h e a l t h s o l u t i o n s t h a t we n e e d i f we a re g o i n g t o h e l p p e o p l e a n d o u r s e l ve s , ” Wi l k i n s o n s a i d “ Se c o n d l y o n e o f t h e n o t s o o bv i o u s t h i n g s [ f ro m t h e f i l m ] i s t h e s o r t o f a p e r f e c t s t o r m o f re a s o n s c a u s e s a n d e f f e c t s o f t h e w a y we d e a l w i t h s u bs t a n c e a b u s e i n o u r s o c i e t y a n d o u r c o u n t r y ” Ta y l o r s a i d h e b e l i e ve s It h a c a “d o e s n o t h a ve a c o mp a s s i o n p ro b l e m ” a s a c o m m u n i t y w h e n h e l p i n g t h o s e s u f f e r i n g w i t h s u b s t a n c e u s e d i s o rd e r He s a i d h e e m b r a c e s t h e i d e a t h a t f o r m e r a d d i c t s c a n f i n d a w a y t o d o g o o d a n d h e l p o t h e r s s u f f e r i n g w i t h a d d i c t i o n “ In s t e a d o f s e e i n g t h a t p o p u l a t i o n [ o f a d d i c t s ] a s a l o s t p o t e n t i a l , we c a n s t a r t t o g e t e xc i t e d t h a t w h e n t h e s e p o l i c i e s c h a n g e a n d w h e n we g e t b e t t e r re h a b i l it a t i o n , t h e s e p e o p l e w i l l b e t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o s o m e o f o u r b e s t c i t i ze n s , ” Ta y l o r s a i d “ T h e y we re n o t p

Despite Efforts to Push Downtown Shopping, Retail Sales Drop in 2014

Downtown retailer Jerry Martins said that compared to last year, foot traffic for his store, Now You’re Cooking Ithaca, decreased

the Commons construction

According to Gary Ferguson, executive director of the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, the report suggested that whether sales increased or decreased depended on the type of business

“We found that the retail field probably had the slowest time [in 2014],” Ferguson said “There were retailers who were down and there were retailers who were up, it just seems to be more that were down ”

“There

Stores in the restaurant and services sectors, however, had stronger foot traffic and sales in 2014 than retail stores, with service sector businesses even showing signs of growth

“[If ] you look at the restaurant sector, and then even more so, the ser vice business sector, they actually did progressively better,” Ferguson said “So there were restaurants which were in the middle and actually if you look at the service business sector, in general, some solid growth ”

While Ferguson said the survey helps highlight business trends downtown, the direct effect of the Commons construction on downtown businesses is difficult to tell

“It’s hard to tell But I think what we can say is that certainly year over year, there certainly seems to be some, ” Ferguson said

The commons project, which began in the spring of 2013, was originally scheduled for completion in July 2014 and was later postponed to November The construction’s end date is now slated for this spring

While Martins said he attributes the decline to construction, programs from the Downtown Ithaca Alliance that encouraged people to go downtown such as giving customers two hours of free parking with a stamped receipt have helped

“A lot of the things we got the city to allow us to do [like] the two hours of free parking, we now pay for,” Martins said “We’re very happy to make people feel happier by coming down ”

The Downtown Ithaca Alliance has also hosted several downtown events and launched a marketing campaign to promote downtown shopping, according to Ferguson “ We certainly have continued and actually ramped up our special events so that even during the construction we ’ ve been trying to bring people downtown to have a good time,” Ferguson said

Michael Kuo, project manager for the Commons reconstruction project, said he hopes that following completion of the construction, stores can begin seeing better business and increases in revenue

“We do everything we can to make this place as hospitable as possible,” Kuo said “Over the course of two years that doesn’t feel good for them, but when we ’ re working and solving problems and having to work in a particular area we ’ re always thinking about pedestrian access into those buildings ”

Winning Student Design to Be Chosen in May

-ment will be “ energy independent” and set “milestones for sustainability ” “[ The competition] is incredibly open, and there aren ’ t many

r ules or design constraints,” said Kelsey Kr use ’16, a student organizer of the event The competit

design in any format

The future development will p o s s i b l y i n c l u d e a re s t a u r a n t , lounge and student residences,

Additionally, the ne w building will incorporate several products a

Cornellians

I n t e

t provider founded by Jeff Shaffer ’12 and Jaeil Lee ’15 will provide telecommunication ser vice to the development, Lambrou said The development will also use Yorango, an online platform for rental real estate created by Adam Kirsch ’15, for leasing and proper ty management “ I n

scope and

to students, t

d global publicity for Ithaca, I invited par ticipation from the beautiful minds of the students, faculty and other stakeholders,” Lambrou said

The first stage of the competition involves submitting conc e p t s a n d s k e t c h e s b y Wednesday Finished drawings and schematics are due April 7, and the winning design will be chosen by May 17, according to Kr use

Housing, Lambrou Real Estate and a panel of professors from the College of Architecture, Ar t and Planning who have yet to be determined, Kr use said Ultimately, the competition aims to “normalize the concept o f e n e r g y - e f f i c i e n c y f o r

students,” and “develop a ne w standard in student housing,” Kr use said

Ride-Hailing App Uber To Target Taxi Licenses

NEW YORK (AP) Uber, the popular ride-hailing app, is hitting taxicabs where it hur ts: the medallion business

Taxi companies make money by charging drivers for medallions, or licenses to drive their cabs

In a note to investors on Tuesday, Jefferies analyst Sean Darby said taxi medallions are not the “safe haven” in terms of investing that they used to be as taxi companies face increasing competition from Uber and similar ser vices

“After many years of rising prices due to limited supply, the average price of a single [Ne w York City] taxi medallion fell around 20 percent from their peak in 2013” because of the growing popularity of Uber and other car-hailing apps, he wrote He said the situation is similar in Boston and Chicago

He said it might be time to bet against taxi medallions in 2015

Report: Foreign Military, Businesses Targeted By Malware

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)

Did the National Security Agency plant spyware deep in the hard drives of thousands of computers used by foreign governments, banks and other targets under surveillance abroad?

A new report from Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab said its researchers identified malicious programs or worms that infected computers in multiple countries Targets appeared to be specifically selected and included militar y, Islamic activists, energy companies and other businesses, as well as government personnel Without naming the United States as the source of the malware, the report said one of the programs has ele-

ments in common with the socalled Stuxnet computer virus that the New York Times and Washington Post have said were developed by the U S and Israeli governments to disrupt Iranian nuclear facilities

The malware was not designed for financial gain but to collect information through “ pure cyberespionage,” said Kaspersky’s Vitaly Kamluk

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines declined comment, but cited a 2014 presidential directive that instructed U S intelligence agencies to respect Americans’ privacy while continuing to conduct overseas operations necessary to guard against terrorism or other threats

Baseball Player Alex Rodriguez Issues Apology on Drug Use

Rodriguez might detail his drug use is on a witness stand

The ever controversial New York Yankees star decided against holding a news conference ahead of his return to the team following a one-year absence He issued a vague five-paragraph handwrit-

mistakes that led to my suspen-

specifics about how and why he

enhancing drugs for at least the second stretch of his celebrated career

Readying to report back to t

unprecedented season-long ban

agreement and labor contract, Rodrigue z apologized to team officials in person during a meeting at the ballpark on Feb 10

They suggested he hold a news conference before the star t of spring training this Friday and o

Stadium

Rodriguez declined He held an apologetic session with reporters in 2009 at the team ’ s facility in Tampa, Florida, after he admitted using banned PE D

f ro m 2001-03 That was before Major L

d r u g agreement with penalties

“ The only thing I ask from t h i s g r o u p t

d a y a n d t h e American people is to judge me from this day for ward,” he said then

ANDREW NELLES / THE NEW YORK T MES
Agapita Montes, center, grieves at the scene of the shooting of her son, Antonio Zambrano-Montes, who was shot and killed while running from police last week in Pasco, Washington, on Monday

CATHERINE CHEN ’15

Business Manager

CAROLINE FLAX ’15

Associate Editor

NICK DE TULLIO 15

Web Editor

RACHEL ELLICOTT 15 Blogs Editor

ELIZABETH SOWERS 15

Editor

CONNOR ARCHARD 15

ANNIE BUI ’16

Editor

KAITLYN TIFFANY ’15

& Entertainment Editor

KATHLEEN BITTER 15

CHARDAE VARLACK 15

EMILY BERMAN 16

NICOLE HAMILTON 16

EMMA LICHTENSTEIN ’16

Independent Since 1880

132ND EDITORIAL BOARD

HALEY VELASCO ’15 Editor in Chief TYLER ALICEA ’16

Editor

STEELE ’15

Manager SCOTT CHIUSANO 15

REHBERG 16

YANG 15

RANKIN 16

ANUSHKA MEHROTRA ’16

SEAN DOOLITTLE ’16

XIAO 16

ALTSCHULER 16

FASMAN 16

RATHORE 15

SHIM ’15

WORKING ON TODAY’S SUN

EDITOR IN CHIEF Tyler Alicea 16

MANAGING EDITOR Annie Bui 16

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Alex Rehberg ’16

ARTS EDITOR Jael Goldfine 17 NEWS DESKERS Sofia Hu ’17 Phoebe Keller 18

SPORTS EDITOR Anna Fasman 16

SCIENCE EDITOR Noah Rankin 16

DESIGN EDITOR Jayne Zureck ’16

Letter to the Editor

Some empathy for Deon Thomas

To the Editor:

Re: A Call to Empathize With My Pain,” Feb 3

You know Deon, as a black female, I empathized with every part of the struggle you describe because it so closely resembles my own I paused when I read “My head quickly falls from the clouds and the insecurities come rushing back Despite my successes, achievements and work toward assimilating, I can ’ t help but be reminded that, in the eyes of many, it doesn’t matter ” My heart sank Then I thought, well, perhaps the reason you are so struck by someone calling you the N-word at this institution is because you forget that this institution this space was never intended for people like us Attending this University, it can certainly feel like someone casually erased the words landed, wealthy, white, heterosexual and male from Cornell’s mantra, “Any person, any study,” considering the incredible amounts of racial and sexual violence we are expected to endure here on a daily basis I mean, Goldwin Smith was a known anti-Semite and yet his name remains prominently plastered to the arts and sciences building

Don’t get me wrong, the fact that anyone called you that word is abhorrent and you are entitled to every ounce of anger it incited Casual micro aggressions and blatant acts of racism, prejudice or ignorance no longer fill me with shock and awe, especially when they occur in predominantly white spaces they still hurt, though They always hurt I have yet to encounter someone calling me the N-word on this campus and it’s unlikely that I would have responded any differently Nonetheless, I would not have been surprised I mean my H R professor definitely said something along the lines of, “Yes, why would you teach kids you know are going to fail” just the other day Apparently, she saw no faults in that logic or considered the racial and socioeconomic implications of that sentence However, I’ve come to realize that these spaces with racism, sexism, indigenous genocide and all other manner of oppressive system irrevocably embedded within it’s very history, just can not and will not allow us to feel as at ease with ourselves and with our position here as we might like

In no way do I wish to demean or undermine whatever level of comfort you may have found here please continue to write about our struggle But, also consider that you don’t have to assimilate to whiteness or adhere to the politics of respectability All of us black folk ought to be whoever we are to the fullest extent of whatever that means Granted that can be exceedingly difficult having grown up middle class and surrounded by people who look nothing like you but that doesn’t mean we can ’ t explore the parts of our identity we haven’t been socialized to adopt Though I would love to exist in a world where race is not a factor that tends to determine where you live, what your chances of graduating high school are, whether or not you are going to college, if you will be stopped by the police, if you will be incarcerated or if you will be treated either implicitly or explicitly as inferior or criminal, that is just not the way our society is currently structured Despite the post-racial rhetoric many people love to invoke nowadays, King’s dream has been and is still a far cry from our reality

A More Permanent Solution

Un i o n a n d i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a r i g h t t o c o n s u l t a t i o n a n d d i s c u s s i o n w i t h t h e

d e n t s i s r a re l y s o u g h t , o f t e n s i d e l i n e d a n d f req u e n t l y i g n o r e d C o r n e l l i s o u r

Un i ve r s i t y a n d i t i s t i m e t o d e m a n d a s e a t a t t h e t a b l e Me m b e r s o f t h e St u d e n t A s s e m b l y w ro t e a n o p e n l e t t e r t o T h e Su n e x p re s si n g t h e i r d e s i re f o r t h e S A t o b e c o m e i n d e p e n d e n t f ro m t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

T h i s i s a p owe r f u l f i r s t s t e p t ow a rd t h e

S A g a i n i n g t h e re a l p owe r n e c e s s a r y t o re p re s e n t s t u d e n t s It i s n o s e c re t t h a t , a s i t e x i s t s t o d a y, t h e S A i s a r u b b e r - s t a m p f o r a n y n e w p o l i c i e s t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n h a n d s d ow n Bu t i t d o e s n o t h a ve t o b e s o T h e s e a re e l e c t e d re p re s e n t a t i ve s w h o s h o u l d h a ve t h e p owe r t o e n a c t c h a n g e T h e p ro b l e m i s t h a t t h e i r p owe r i s s e ve re l y l i m i t e d by C o r n e l l , a n d u n j u s t l y s o T h e w a y t h i n g s c u r re n t l y s t a n d , t h e S A c a n o n l y r e c o m m e n d p r o p o s a l s f o r t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n t o c o n s i d e r T h e

Un i ve r s i t y a l w a y s h a s t h e f i n a l s a y

St u d e n t s a re d e m a n d i n g c h a n g e t o t h i s b ro k e n s y s t e m We a re c a l l i n g f o r t h e c re a t i o n o f d e m o c r a t i c i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t g i ve s t u d e n t s a s e a t a t t h e t a b l e T h e f o ll ow i n g p ro p o s a l i s a t r u e m o d e l o f s h a re d g ove r n a n c e

A P r o p o s a l f o r R e f o r m :

Un d e r t h e c u r re n t s y s t e m , t h e C o r n e l l

Un i ve r s i t y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d B o a rd o f

Tr u s t e e s h a ve u n re s t r a i n e d p owe r i n a l l a s p e c t s o f Un i v e r s i t y m a n a g e m e n t Va r i o u s f o r m s o f s e l f - g o v e r n a n c e o n c a m p u s a re a f a rc e d e s i g n e d t o s h u t o u t

s t u d e n t a n d f a c u l t y d i s s e n t

T h i s p ro p o s a l l a y s d ow n s u g g e s t i o n s f o r a m o d e l o f s h a r e d g o v e r n a n c e

b e t w e e n t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d s t u -

d e n t s , b u t i t i s by n o m e a n s c o m p l e t e

We h o p e C o r n e l l s t u d e n t s c a n u s e t h e i r

c o l l e c t i ve b r i l l i a n c e t o e x p a n d a n d t h e n i m p l e m e n t t h i s m o d e l : 1 C r e a t e a n d m a i n t a i n a n i n d e p e n -

d e n t S t u d e n t Un i o n f o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f

c o l l e c t i v e d i s c u s s i o n , c o o r d i n a t i o n o f c o l l e c t i ve a c t i o n a n d o t h e r p u r p o s e s T h e S A m a y s e r ve a s t h i s u n i o n ’ s re p re s e n t a -

t i ve s , p e n d i n g n e w e l e c t i o n s

2 G i v e t h e i n d e p e n d e n t S t u d e n t

Un i ve r s i t y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n re g a rd i n g a n y n e w Un i ve r s i t y p o l i c i e s b e f o re re p re s e nt a t i ve s o f t h e s t u d e n t b o d y b r i n g s u c h p o l i c y t o a vo t e A c o l l a b o r a t i ve e f f o r t b e t w e e n t h e St u d e n t Un i o n a n d t h e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n w i l l

PHOTO NIGHT EDITOR Alex Hernandez 16 EDITORS IN TRAINING G u e s t s u b m i s s i o n s m a y b e s e n t t o o p i n i o n

d e n t s ,

n

s o na b l e o r u n j u s t i f i e d s t a f f i n g o r c o mp e n s a t i o n c h a n g e s , a n d c h a n g e s t o s t u d e n t s e r v i c e s a l l f a l l u n d e r t h i s d e fi n i t i o n c “ Ne w Un i ve r s i t y p o l i c y ” d o e s n o t i n c l u d e s t a n d a rd Un i ve r s i t y p o l ic i e s re l a t e d t o t h e d i re c t p h y s i c a l s a f et y o f s t u d e n t s , s u c h a s t h e m a i n t en a n c e o f s i d e w a l k s a n d ro a d s , t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e C o r n e l l Po l i c e o r a c t i o n s n e c e s s a r y t o c o m p l y w i t h l o c a l , s t a t e a n d f e d e r a l l a w T h e I d e a l W e C a n S t r i v e F o r : A Un i ve r s i t y i s a p l a c e u n l i k e a n y o t h e r i n t h e w o r l d A g o o d Un i ve r s i t y i s a p l a c e w h e re s t u d e n t s c a n d e vo t e t h e ms e l ve s t o t h e p u r s u i t o f k n ow l e d g e s o t h a t t h e y c a n m a k e t h e w o r l d a b e t t e r p l a c e A g re a t Un i ve r s i t y i s a p l a c e w h e re a n y p e rs o n c o u l d f i n d i n s t r u c t i o n i n a n y s t u d y O u r Un i v e r s i t y c a n a c h i e v e t h e s e n o b l e g o a l s by h o l d i n g i t s e l f a c c o u n t a b l e t o s t

Also, you don’t need to ask any student here to recognize, accept and respect your human dignity If this university is the great, “diversity-loving” place the University wants to claim that it is, then the question of legitimating your pain and righteous anger should never be asked Some people will struggle to empathize with our struggle, some will wholly refuse to and others might be able to get close enough I’m just saying: Don’t expect this institution or even most people at this university to hear you because “[This place] never loved us ” And that’s not a fact we have to accept quietly

SCIENCE

Early bird gets the worm | A specimen of Capillaria contorta, a type of parasitic nematode found in seagulls, is enlarged by a microscope

S a r a G o n z a l e z ’16 E x a m i n e s P a r a s i t i c Wo r m s i n S e a g u l l s

On a t y p i c a l Ju l y m o r n i n g l a s t s u m -

m e r yo u c o u l d f i n d Sa r a Go n z a l e z ’ 1 6 a t

Sh o a l s Ma r i n e L a b o r a t o r y o n Ap p l e d o o r

Is l a n d , Ma i n e , m ov i n g b e t we e n s e a g u l l n e s t s o n t h e h u n t f o r m i c r o s c o p i c

w o r m s Mo r e s p e c i f i c a l l y, G o n z a l e z s t u d i e d e n d o p a r a s i t e s s m a l l o r g a n -

i s m s t h a t c a r r y o u t t h e i r l i f e c yc l e s i n s i d e

o r s n a i l a n d t h e c yc l e re p e a t s “ It’s i m p o r t a n t t o l o o k a t t h e b i o l o g y o f c e r t a i n s p e c i e s o n t h e i r ow n , b u t I ’ m r e a l l y i n t e r e s t e d i n h o w t h e w h o l e e c o s y s t e m f u n c t i o n s t o g e t h e r, ” Go n z a l e z

i d At Sh o a l s , Go n z a l e z s t u d i e d t h e p re se n c e o f t h e s e p a r a s i t e s i n t h e f e c e s o f g u l l s a n d t h e i r c h i c k s , a s p a r t o f a n i n t e r n s h i p p r o v i d e d b y C o r n e l l ’

“[Parasites] go through all of these organisms in a way that really ties together the ecosytem.”

S a r a G o n z a l e z ’ 1 6

o t h e r c re a t u re s O n e t y p e o f e n d o p a r a s i t e , t r e m at o d e s , b e g i n t h e i r l i ve s l i v i n g i n s m a l l e r

o r g a n i s m s s u c h a s a q u a t i c s n a i l s T h e s n a i l m i g h t t h e n b e e a t e n by a f i s h o r a

c r a b, w h i c h i s i n t u r n c o n s u m e d by a

g u l l T h e p a r a s i t e p a s s e s i n t o i t s n e w

h o s t ’ s d i g e s t i ve t r a c t , w h e re i t l a y s e g g s T h e p a r a s i t e a n d i t s e g g s a r e t h e n

e x p e l l e d t h ro u g h f e c e s , a t w h i c h t i m e t h e e g g s h a t c h a n d t h e yo u n g p a r a s i t e s t a k e u p re s i d e n c e i n a n o t h e r e a r t h w o r m

r e n t s w i l l re g u r g i t a t e f o o d f o r t h e c h i c k s , s o t h e g u l l s w i l l g e t t h e i r m e a l

t

e c h

n t h

h e y ’ re e a t i n g d i re c t l y w h a t w a s i n s i d e t h e p a re n t , ” Go n z a l e z s a i d G o n z a l e z t o o k t h e s e s a m p l e s a n d d i l u t e d t h e m w i t h w a t e r i n a t e s t t u b e b e f o r e a d d i n g a s p e c i f i c s u g a r s o l ut i o n t h a t a l t e r e d t h e d e n s i t y o f t h e

s o l u t i o n , a l l ow i n g a n y p a r a s i t e s t h a t

OF

we re p re s e n t t o f l o a t t o t h e t o p Sh e t h e n

p l a c e d a s a m p l e f ro m t h e t o p o f t h e t e s t t u b e u n d e r a m i c ro s c o p e , a n d l o o k e d f o r

p a r a s i t e s “ T h e p a r a s i t e s t h a t I e n d e d u p f i n di n g we re n ' t a c t u a l l y t h e o n e s t h a t I

e x p e c t e d t o s e e , ” Go n z a l e z s a i d

H o w e v e r, s h e d i d

f i n d n e m a t o d e s , a n o t h -

e r c l a s s o f e n d o p a r a s i t e , i n g u l l c h i c k s t o o l

Ne

m a t o d e s a r e c o m -

m o n l y f o u n d i n e a r t hw o r m s , w h i c h g u l l s a l s o e a t a n d re g u r g i t a t e t o t h e i r c h i l d re n

Go n z a l e z f o u n d t h a t n e m a t o d e s we re m u c h

m o r e p r e v a l e n t i n c h i c k s u n d e r 1 5 d a y s o f a g e S i n c e n e m a t o d e s

Michael Merrill can be reached at mmerrill@cornellsun com

PHOTOS COURTESY
SARA GONZALEZ ’16

Tr enel Francis ’16 Analyzes ‘Hook-Up Cultur e’

Study finds little effect of hook-ups on perception of future long-term relationships, marriage

While many college students may be familiar with the idea of “hooking up ” as a routine social interaction, Trenel Francis ’16 analyzed the phenomenon more closely in a study she performed last summer with the University of Cincinnati Francis set out to

s e e w h e t h e r h o o k i n g u p which she defines as “ a shortterm, casual sexual encounter between two uncommitted partners ” has any effect on how f u t u re re l a t i o n s h i p s a re p e rceived

“I directly worked with [a University of Cincinnati gradua t e s t u d e n t ] w h o h a d b e e n working on two projects at the time,” Francis said “ The first was on couples’ interactions via a private therapy study and the

gram] wants you to do is to get undergraduate research experience, ” Franci said “I applied to a number of research programs o u t s i

accepted into the University of C i n c i n n a t i’s Re s e a rc h Experience for Undergraduates program for psychology ” Using data procured by Prof Sa r a h W h i t t o n a n d g r a d u a t e student Eliza Weitbrecht of the Un i ve r s i t y o f C i n c i n n a t i ,

Francis focused on analyzing future relationship expectations of “emerging adults” based on three variables the perceived value of being in a long-term re l a t i o n s h i p, p e rc e i ve d l i k e l ihood of marriage and the intention to be in a long-term relationship in the future All of the p a r t i c i p

n

“We found that hooking up is one of the more prevalent behaviors that emerging adults tend to engage in.”

second was about hooking up The latter sounded more interesting to me, as well as more relevant to a college experience, so I decided to focus on hook-up culture ”

A human development major and education minor, Francis became involved in her research last year through the Robert E Mc Na i r Po s t b a c c a l a u re a t e Achievement Program, which

p rov i d e s re s e a rc h s u p p o r t t o

u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s f ro m

u n d e r re p re s e n t e d m

n

r i t y groups or low-income families

“One of the things [the pro-

we

a l s o a s k e d w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e y h a ve hooked up with someone “ We focused on the period o f ‘

because it is

f e period in which m

n y yo u n g adults have the o p p

t u n i t y t o explore their sexual identity,” she said “ We found that hooking up is one of the more prevalent behaviors that emerging a d u l t s t e n d t o e n g a g e i n Em e r g i n g a d u l t h o o d o c c u r s between the ages of 18 and 25, which usually coincides with college years ”

Ac c o rd i n g t o Fr a n c i s , t h e study evaluated 287 University

o f C i n c i n n a t i u n d e r g r a d u a t e s based on frequency of hook-ups and number of hook-up partners Of the total participants, 136 had participated in hook ups and 151 had not

“ We asked, ‘how important to you is being in a long-term committed relationship in the future?’ The participants had to rank this importance on a scale of zero to three, with zero being not important and three being

more likely to place a lower va l u e o n l o n g - t e r m re l a t i o nships,” she said “But despite the prevalence of hooking up and the current trend towards the delay of the onset of marriage, the vast majority of participants

extremely important,” Francis said “For those who hooked up, their average value was about 1 41, while those who never hooked up had an average value of 1 71, and there was a statistic a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e re n c e between the two ” The findings of the study, according to Francis, were fairly surprising “ We found that those who h a d h o o k e d u p b e f o re we re

still plan on getting married in as early as five years and value being in a long-term relationship in the future ”

However, Francis added that the lack of explicit use of the word “future” in the poll questions and the fact that over half of the participants were freshmen may have influenced the results “It could be that some of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t e r p re t e d t h e

question of the importance of being in a long-term relationship as right now as opposed to s o m e t i m e i n t h e f u t u re , ” Francis said “Fifty-four percent of the participants were freshmen so it could be that they were thinking ‘presently ’”

Francis also said she thought it would be helpful to follow up w i

study to see if they committed to their predicted behavior

“ It w o u

whether or not participants who had hooked up ended up actually having long-term relationships or getting married,” she said

Francis, who is currently is studying abroad in London, said she plans to explore other psychological topics that affect college students once she returns to the United States According to Francis, she is set to work with Prof Robert Sternberg, human development, on her next project

“I’m interested in Cornell or other Ivy League students’ perceptions of their own intelligence, ” she said

Fo

Cornell, Francis said she plans on participating in Teach For America or a similar education fellowship before pursuing her PhD in either education or education administration

“I’m actually torn between teaching kindergarten or first grade and teaching high school,” she said “ They’re obviously ver y different and I love kids, but my dream as far as teaching is concerned might be more fulfilled by teaching older children ”

Shira Polan can be reached at spolan@cornellsun com

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

5 0 s h a d e s o f p r e y

On Valentine’s Day, Fifty Shades of Grey hit major theaters like a riding crop Despite being among the many who abhor the premise of E L James’s bestselling novel of abusive male dominance, far be it from me to deny its fans’ fulfillments But whether you see Fifty Shades the book as an abomination to women ever ywhere or a wor thy instr uction manual for couples wanting to spice the tepid gumbo of their sex lives, Fifty Shades the movie should frighten you Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s anticipated drama draws faithfully enough from its source text, following the sexual awak-

“A

Christian Grey, a billionaire Adonis with a tragic past Yet where the book is a fantasy crafted by a woman with women in mind, the film has only men and men ’ s standards in its crosshairs In confronting vie wers with explicit visual suggestions of how one should consume the exploits of characters better left to private imagina-

t

mines any therapeu-

y might have held Fo r p r o o f , o n e need only look at the f i l m ’ s t e c h n i c a l

g r a m m a r Fr o m i t s over whelmingly gray

p a l e t t e ( h ow m a n y brain cells got freaky to make that cine-

50 Shades of Grey

Christian if he is gay for the sole reason that he never goes out in public with a woman on his arm In addition to confirming the stereotype that men and women think differently by sheer vir tue of their biological divergence and that both

Christian’s sexuality reinforces the notion that men straight m

y

design This double standard is clearest in the film’s treatment of the body at play We can set aside the camera ’ s over-emphasis on Ana’s bare breasts and c

penis this is in keeping with the already sexist standards of what is permissible by the Motion Picture Association of America’s R rating We can even ignore that only the exploits of the film’s most “beautiful” people matter this despite the fact that on the page

Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson

Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle

m a t o g r a p h i c d e c ision?) and over t phallic symbols (to wit: Christian’s towering office building and the monogrammed pencils on his desk, subject to the occasional suggestive close-up) to Ana’s incessant lip-biting (I stopped counting at 30 instances) and painless loss of virginity, the film’s pathos lends itself to effor tless critique Fifty Shades was filled with laughs its makers didn’t take the film too seriously but I’m willing to bet this was a calculated strategy to diver t gazes away from the injurious messages at its core It’s right there in the opening credits, over which Annie Lennox’s retread of “I Put a Spell on You” lays down the line: “I put a spell on you because you ’ re mine You better stop the things that you do ” Christian may not be equipped with magic, but he has the next best thing: Capital During their first inter vie w, Ana is as much attracted to his wealth and power not to mention the rockin’ bod that seems to hug the skeleton of anyone in Hollywood with a fe w Benjamins to r ub together as to the broken child cowering beneath it all Were it not for his rare combination of material assets, Ana would have no interest in Christian Hi s w e a l t h “ j u s t i f i e s ” h i s a b u s i v e behavior.

Whatever the reason, a connection is born that neither of them is able to f i g h t Su c h i s t h e f i l m ’ s r i d i c u l o u s attempt to justify all that follows: Both are imper fect souls in a world brimming with them, and it’s all they can do to keep from tr ying to per fect each other I get that But as their relationship develops and the scent of their pheromones becomes too concentrated to snee ze out, a morbid game of give and take begins Christian bids Ana to sign a detailed sexual contract that outlines his dominance and her submission in kind, while ensuring that love never enters the equation Beyond the fact that even Bondage, Discipline and Sadomasochism ( B D S M ) a d vo c a t e s h a ve b a l k e d a t t h i s u n re a l i s t i c premise (theirs, in fact, has been the most cogent denouncement so far), more troubling symptoms of gender bias lurk within

“gamine and gorgeous, ” while Ana str uggles with her plain self-image What does deser ve our attention is that Christian’s feelings matter far

m

Regardless of the intensity of any given sex scene, Ana never reaches orgasm on screen While this might seem a clever way to avoid turning each of their encounters into a money shot, it puts a question mark above the goals of the characters involved Fur thermore, this downplaying of Ana’s pleasure has two unforgivable side effects First, it brightens the spotlight on Christian’s needs It’s no coincidence that he obtains the greatest and most obvious pleasure from Ana’s pain, as when he whips her with his belt in response to her demand that he dole out the most extreme punishment of which he’s capable This incident moves Christian’s infatuation for Ana outside acceptable BDSM terms and into the realm of sexual sadism. Second, it proves that the fantasies put for th by the novel can ’ t hold up on the big screen When he tells Ana, for example, “I don’t make love I fuck Hard,” one has to wonder how such a statement could be in any way alluring

Whatever we may think of Christian’s physical attempts at capturing her for his prey, they’re nothing compared to the verbal tactics fed him by screenwriter

she continues to pine for his increasingly violent affections In contrast to the young Christian, Ana is inundated with responsibility, as he requires her to follow his ever y word, down to what she eats and drinks. Though Fifty Shades the book has affectionately, I might add been called “ mommy porn, ” the film is more dangerous than pornography In no uncer tain terms, Hollywood’s capitalization on the book’s film potential is a mirror of the stor y ’ s gross sexual politics: A patriarchal moneymaking machine dominating a global market of feminized submissives without consent Some would point out that, because the film was written and directed by women (even if Marcel’s script was tweaked by action veteran Mark Bomback, best known for The Wolverine), it’s somehow okay Such an argument, however, smacks of reverse sexism and puts me in mind of Audre Lorde’s oft-quoted but rarely heeded prophecy: “ The master ’ s tools will never dismantle the master ’ s house ” In this case, the master ’ s tools be they signs of wealth or the instr uments of tor ture arrayed in Christian’s infamous “Red Room of Pain” only intensify the questionable nature of his reformation

COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

None of the above criticism is about me being too cool for the stor y (and in case you ’ re wondering, I’ve read it) It’s about the ongoing sickness of equating male domination with female empowerment Let it be known that at the end of the trilogy Christian admits to Ana holding all the power in their relationship, but that it requires him to speak said power into being before she can claim it for her own He is the one who defines it And if self-empowerment can only be had through abusive tr ust, at what point does real abuse begin? It’s a vague proposition, and one that recalls the kind of rhetoric recently spouted by Utah State Representative Brian Greene, who questioned whether or not sex with an unconscious person counts as rape As any BDSM practitioner will tell you, tr ust grows not through blind submission, but in active and mutual par ticipation It’s about offering, not sacrifice And if the end result of apparent love is selfgratification through the reinforcement of a dominant male fantasy, then we might as well throw away the last centur y of feminist progress along with one of Christian’s spent condoms

Fifty Shades is a master class in heterosexism This is obvious as early as the fateful inter vie w, when Ana asks

Kelly Marcel By its third iteration, his “It’s the way I am ” mantra loses all effectiveness and imbues the proceedings with cheap desperation The only function of that statement is to pave Ana’s submission as a path to his devotion Yet the film suppor ts a greater hypocrisy when their conversations turn to a family friend who made Christian his submissive from age 15 to 21 Christian reveals that this relationship was a healthy one for him, insofar as it freed him from the burden of responsibility at an impressionable age, and that they continue to be in regular contact Ana grows jealous and condemns his “teacher” as a “child abuser,” even as

All told, my biggest worr y is neither that men will think this is what women want nor that women will think this is what they need It’s that those who identify with neither Christian nor Ana will feel left out of the conversation, and that those who witness this homophobic nightmare will never think to question the outdated gender dichotomy on which its stor y depends

If this is what love looks like, then I shudder to think what hate might look like

Tyran Grillo is a graduate student at Cornell University He can be reached at tgrillo@cornellsun com

COURTESY OF UN VERSAL PICTURES

Music and Film: An Unnatural Pairing?

Music is sexier than movies, and I imagine few would jump to disagree Movies follow people as they bumble and chat and fight, and the good ones will make you feel for those people and understand the context and causes of their unrest Good music, on the other hand, rides a melody or groove or just a feeling from start to finish, sometimes telling a story through lyrics but more than anything expressing joy or longing in a word, energy toward some thing, which even if afforded a name (for Bob Dylan, Johanna, for Mac DeMarco, Viceroy cigarettes) can always, for the listener, stand in for something or someone else

This is my roundabout way of saying I saw Fifty Shades of Grey The movie frontloads most of its heat, with bitten lips, steely eyes and rattled breaths overwhelming the first 20 odd minutes It’s the kind of experience you ’ re implicitly paying for, and the kind of gazefueled desire that movies, whether they aspire to high art or schlock, do best But when it’s time for the cuffs and cat o ’ nine tails to come out, the film cools, stringing together flicks and shudders into montages only a notch hotter than the wind currently barreling over Cayuga Lake Fifty Shades of Grey lacks music

slings, arranged before walls of red deep within Christian’s antiseptic Seattle penthouse The 13th time Christian pesters Anastasia to sign her submissive’s contract, I swear the leather evolved to become the most sentient creature in the room With too many studio notes to film a love scene as elliptical as Don’t Look Now or Out of Sight’s, and with too much money to just make pornography, director Sam TaylorJohnson settles on an aesthetic somewhere between bad camp and HGTV

The almost yearlong lead-up to Fifty Shades roped in the collusion of a real artist, that of course, being Beyoncé Accompanying last summer ’ s debut trailer, her remix of “Crazy in Love” swaps fast for slow, horns for strings and her pop-perfect voice for a feistier tenor scratched up through a filter similar to Julian Casablancas’ In duration and texture, Beyoncé’s new “Crazy in Love” is a better Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation than the feature film, conveying and sustaining a d a n g e r o u s intimacy for as long as an entertainment medium can For all the

Adapting an erotic bestseller for an audience wide enough to deliver a $94 million opening weekend presents few opportunities for music anyway The sex scenes are the selling point, so they demand center stage, and not just the sex but the gear, too leather and ropes and

Zachary Zahos

A Lover’s Quarrel with the World

pushback on the sexualization of popular music, sex is something music not only sells but understands, and Beyoncé deserves all the praise for long fashioning the eroticism of her voice and image into messages of empowerment and pride

There is a lot of strong, lovely music making waves right now, Björk’s Vulnicura being one of the most notable It aims to fill the heart just as it breaks it, with Björk’s infinitely malleable

voice oscillating between defeat and hope as it is besieged by violins, synthesizers and drum machines Björk is a capital-A Artist, the first popular musician to receive a full-scale career retrospective at the MoMA (due in March), and the indeterminacy of her music lends itself to unfiltered, bewildering expression, which makes her success all the more remarkable

Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear, released last week, takes a more deceptive approach to the love album, tempering fuzzy feelings with liberal irony and self-loathing In “Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins),” after telling his love she is “something else I can ’ t explain,” Father John Misty adds, “You take my last name, ” in effect mocking his gendered obligation of ownership via marriage

The song sounds blissfully radiant, with a mariachi band blasting over the bridge, but Father John Misty can never seem to give himself a break There’s a poetic density, and not to mention a stand-up’s hilarity, to his lyrics and his particular pairing of word to melody produces an album open to interpretation even as it serves many pleasures

You can say movies are too burdened by images, and thus some kind of aesthetic obligation to the real world, to capture and critique one man or woman ’ s personal expression And so, love and film is not the most natural pairing, even if it is regularly attempted and often enjoyable, if only in spite of its sincere intentions

The sexiest films need the help of music, whether literally on the soundtrack or spiritual-

ly through the movement of camera and assembly of images, to power through the awkwardness and achieve a transcendent effect Classic Hollywood excelled at this better than the studios today, while the French, naturally, are masters to this day

There is a moment in 35 Shots of Rum, a Claire Denis film from 2008, when the action comes to a full stop and the four main characters find themselves fortified in a bar on a nasty, rainy night Their taxi broke down, and they missed their show, and not one of them knows what to do, until music starts to play: “Nightshift,” by The Commodores It’s a slinky, funky song, bringing the characters, one by one, to their feet and to previously untapped life The dance ends on a note of discomfort, as a young man carries his affection for a girl too far, but there is no disputing there was life on screen for that brief glimpse of time, a connection between clothed bodies more felt than seen

Zachar y Zahos is a senior in the College of Ar ts and Sciences He can be reached at zzahos@cornellsun com A L ove r ’ s Qu a r re l

usn alternate Wednesdays this

Women Honor Three Senior Forwards, Finish Home Games

W HOCKEY

Continued from page 16

a shot on goal Sophomore goalie Paula Voorheis saved the first shot but was unable to stop the rebound Nineteen seconds later, Harvard capitalized on the resulting penalty when one of its players picked up a rebound and drove a quick wrister into the net

In the second period, Cornell was able to keep Harvard at bay and create some goal scoring opportunities However, the team was unable to break through Harvard’s strong defense With 5 6 seconds remaining in the period, Daniels backhanded the puck past Voorheis to extend Harvard’s lead by two goals In the final period, Harvard gained another goal, winning 4-1

Fulton said she believes the team needs to be more steady and have a stronger defense Once the team improves in this area, it will be stronger and more dangerous

“We definitely need to tighten up the defensive end of our game We’ve been producing offensively, but we can ’ t continue to rely on scoring four goals [per] game in order to win,” she said “If we can establish a consistent performance defensively in the coming weeks, we’ll be a greater threat to opponents ”

The following day, Cornell honored the hard work of its three senior forwards, Brianne Jenner, Fulton and Jillian Saulnier, in an emotional ceremony after the game at center ice The senior front line combined for both goals and all four Cornell points in its game against the Green, but this was not enough to overcome Dartmouth

Dartmouth jumped on Cornell’s defense 24 seconds into the game when its forward, Ailish Forfar, drilled a rebound into the net However, Cornell tied the game when Saulnier chipped the puck into the Dartmouth zone, confounded a defender, corralled the puck at the right wall, decked out another Dartmouth player and then snapped a righter into net Just five minutes later on a power-play, Cornell gained a 2-1 lead when Fulton and Jenner set

up Saulnier for her second goal of the night

The Red controlled the play for the majority of the game but Dartmouth snuck two goals past Voorhies at the end of the second and the beginning of the third With 30 seconds left in the game, the senior line had one final push with three shots on net, but was unable to cash in on any of them

Even though the result was not what the team had wanted, Fulton thought the squad did a better job pushing the puck towards the net

“I felt we picked up our forecheck a bit more and started putting more pucks to the net, ” she said “ We dominated Saturday’s game with shots but it was those few defensive errors that had us boggled down ”

In order to achieve the team ’ s goals, Fulton said she believes the group needs to improve defensively and continue to push itself to the limits in games

“We definitely need to tighten up our defensive side of our game but as a team we are going to continue to leave it all on the ice We want to own each moment and let it be ours, ” she said “Our goal is to win an ECAC championship and a National Championship In order to do that we just need to take each moment one step at a time We need to focus on the ECAC tournament and playoffs first and foremost ”

While this weekend was filled with many ups and downs, Fulton is happy to have celebrated senior weekend with her friends, family and teammates

“This weekend was definitely an emotional roller coaster It’s hard to believe my four years is almost up wearing a Cornell jersey, but I’m glad I’ve gotten to do it beside two of my best friends, Jill Saulnier and Brianne Jenner,” she said “It also gave the team a chance to sit back and enjoy Lynah Rink and our friends and family and also a chance to refocus on what lies ahead for us in the rest of the season ”

Danielle Letourneau can be reached at dletourneau@cornellsun com

Garrett Notches 100th Win

WRESTLING

Continued from page 16

career has been shaped by his time traveling, the friendships formed within the team and the support of his coach Villalonga said these are his favorite parts of being on a sports team at Cornell

“The [team is made up of ] a great bunch of guys, and when you go through the types of things that we go through each season, you create friendships and a brotherhood that lasts a lifetime,” he said While the end of the road is surely bittersweet, Villalonga noted that the support from his coaches stood out to him the most this past weekend against Drexel

“My coaches just told me to go out there and have fun, they reminded me that it was my last chance to do it here at Cornell, so that’s exactly what I did,” he said Next weekend, the Red travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for National Duals where the men will face the

top eight colleges and universities in the country

“We are competing against the best teams in the country, and I’m most excited about showing the country how tough we are when our line up is at full strength,” Villalonga said

Next week Cornell will come into the duals ranked at No 5 in the lineup of the Top-eight schools The other seven schools will include the University of Iowa, the University of Missouri, Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota, Lehigh University, the University of Illinois and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

It will be Villalonga’s last time wrestling for the Red in this tournament and his last chance to show the intercollegiate world his success and stregnth as an athlete

Hannah Noyes can be reached at htn27@cornell edu

Penn Finishes Regular Season

Princeton

After 15 regular season matches, the Princeton wrestling team will face just three more oponents before heading into the EIWA Championships on Friday and Saturday of the first weekend in March

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b e h i n d t h e Re d i

Tied for Second in League

The Tigers have had a strong season, standing at 9-6 overall and 3-1 in Ivy League matches leaving them in second place in the league just behind Cornell Princeton still has yet to face Penn, who also stands at 3-1 as well

in league standings The match will be a tough one for the squad, as the Quakers and the Tigers have been evenly matched until this point However, before Princeton takes on Penn, it still has yet to face Rider College and the University of

and

Red to Honor Seniors This Weekend at Lynah Rink

Continued from page 16

from the game, including a very strong showing from its penalty kill unit The Red knows that its not easy to win in the conference, and down the line it will have to be efficient in all facets of the game if it wants to make a run at a conference title

“Every team is going to give you its best shot A team ’ s record doesn’t matter; it’s going to be a battle every night,” said head coach Mike Schafer

After the loss, the Red made the trip to Boston on Valentine’s Day to take on Harvard The Red defeated the Crimson on a last minute goal at Lynah Rink just three weeks ago It was another tight game between the two sides, highlighted by a 35 save performance from sopho-

more Red goaltender Mitch Gillam The Red played a possession heavy first period, which sometimes led to transition opportunities for Harvard, but Gillam was up for the challenge and held the Crimson scoreless in the period Bardreau gave the Red the lead in the next period with his second goal of the weekend

Halfway through the third, the game was deadlocked at 2-2, and it looked like the next team to score would be the winner So, when Crimson junior Jimmy Vessey scored with five minutes remaining, the Red looked finished However, an unlikely hero in freshman forward Jared Fiegl tied the game just 63 seconds later to secure a tie for the Red

“We were able to regroup after the goal and tie it up, which says something about this team We played a great team in a great atmosphere and are now looking forward

to the next one, ” Schafer said The Red will take on RPI and Union this weekend, with an eye on gaining momentum heading into the ECAC tournament in a couple of weeks Friday’s game against RPI will be the squad’s “Pink at the Rink” game The Red will wear new pink uniforms and are encouraging fans to attend the game in pink attire in support of the fight against breast cancer Saturday’s game against Union will be the final regular home game of the season, and will serve as the squad’s senior night The Red will honor seniors Bardreau, Ryan, forward Madison Dias, forward Joel Lowry, defender Jacob MacDonald and forward John McCarron

Amir Patel can be reached at apatel@cornellsun com

M HOCKEY

Red Finishes Last Two Home Games, Celebrates Seniors

Senior icers | Senior forward Jillian Saulnier, pictured above, was one of the three seniors who was honored this weekend, along with teammates and forwards Brianne Jenner and Emily Fulton

Men Defeat Drexel, Head

Into National Dual Meet

The Cornell wrestlers came out of this weekend with yet another win under their belts Drexel University traveled up to Ithaca and left with only six wins, trailing Cornell by 31 points With only three meets left in its season, the Red has successfully held its record at 15 wins and one loss

Senior captain Christopher Villalonga fought in his last home meet this weekend He explained that for him, this weekend was a chance to have one final strong home dual

“Being able to go out there for my last home dual of my career and put up a lot of points and give the home crowd a show was definitely my highlight,” he said Villalonga competed in the 149 and 157 weight classes for Cornell and had a tremendous season last year Winning the Binghamton Open and

the New York State Intercollegiates were two of the major highlights from his 2013-14 season Additionally, Villalonga has been a NCAA Qualifier for his entire Cornell wrestling career

As a whole, Villalonga said the team performed “ very well ” Conviction and endurance has led the men through a successful season, as well as the support of their three captains

“We went out, pushed the pace and dictated each match,” Villalonga said Junior captain Nahshon Garrett, won his weight class and left the weekend as the 22nd man to successfully win 100 career matches He noted that his team ’ s motivation has been a highlight for him this season

“My favorite part about being on the team right now is the goal oriented mindset of everyone on the team, ” Garrett said

As a senior, Villalonga’s Cornell

See WRESTLING page 14

Cornell women ’ s hockey (14-10-3, 12-6-2 ECAC) returned to Lynah for its last two home games of the regular season against Harvard (20-42, 15-3-1 ECAC) and Dartmouth (13-11-2, 9-9-2) Despite the team ’ s hard-fought efforts, it was unable to walk away with a win this weekend, losing, 4-1, to Harvard and, 3-2, to Dartmouth

In the first matchup on Friday against Har vard, Cornell stole the lead two and a half minutes into the game when junior for ward Taylor Woods

“We definitely need to tighten up the defensive end of our game. We’ve been producing offensively but we can’t continue on relying on scoring four goals per game ”

senior for ward

Emily Fulton, who cut to the

Maschmeyer

Until the last six minutes of the first period, Cornell possessed the puck for the majority of the time However, 13:41 into play, Harvard’s Sydney Daniels gained possession of the puck, charged the net, fought through a holding penalty on freshman defender Erin O’Connor and got

Upper class ice | Senior defender Joakim Ryan will be honored with other Red seniors

Red Drops Game Against Green, Ties Harvard Match After Overtime

The Cornell men ’ s hockey team (10-11-4, 88-2 ECAC) hit the road for the first time since January to take on Dartmouth and Harvard this past weekend It was a disappointing trip as the Red fell to Dartmouth, 2-3, and tied Harvard, 3-3, putting the squad in a tie for seventh place in the ECAC

The Red hit a wall early against Dartmouth, conceding a goal just 19 seconds into the game At 8:11 in the first period, the Red went down, 0-2, when its defense scored an own goal to extend the Dartmouth lead The Green then got into penalty trouble, which eventually led to the Red having a two-man advantage halfway through the first period It took all of nine sec-

onds on the power play for senior forward Cole Bardreau to score on a one-timer off the face-off and make it a 1-2 game Senior defender Joakim Ryan then tied the game off of a beautiful transition sequence that saw Bardreau pick up his second point of the night on a backhand assist coming from behind the net He hit a streaking Ryan down the middle of the ice late in the first to bring the game to 2-2

Dartmouth’s Eric Neiley scored the winning goal with eight minutes left in the game to give the Green a 3-2 victory over Cornell The Red defense was in a scramble off of a missed clearing attempt, giving Neiley space to work into the slot and score Despite the disappointing performance, the Red had much to take away

KELLY YU / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
BRIAN STERN / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Nahshon duals | Junior captain Nahshon Garrett, pictured above, has been a key wrestler for the Red Garrett notched his 100th career match this weekend

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